The U.S. and Canadian judges overseeing the long-deadlocked bankruptcy of Nortel Networks Corp. have ruled that a joint cross-border trial will be held later this year to determine how to divvy up the defunct company’s remaining $9-billion, The Globe and Mail reported. Mr. Justice Geoffrey Morawetz of the Ontario Superior Court and Chief Judge Kevin Gross of the U.S.

Bankrupt telecoms equipment giant Nortel Networks once boasted of a global operation, but now its former world-wide units are squaring off over its last remaining asset: $9 billion in cash. Two judges, one in Wilmington, Delaware, and the other in Toronto, will jointly hear arguments on Thursday that will ultimately decide how, and when, to carve up that money, Thomson Reuters News & Insight reported. The outcome will determine how much will be available for tens of thousands of retirees, governments and hedge funds investors. "The issues which remain for decision are imposing," U.S.

One year after she predicted massive oil-sands-fueled surpluses, Alberta Premier Alison Redford is taking on debt and rolling out an austerity budget – one that flat-lines spending, abandons many of her election promises and will see the province borrow $12-billion over three years for infrastructure projects, The Globe and Mail reported. Ms. Redford’s budget, tabled Thursday, signals tough times ahead for Canada’s richest province, due in large part to forecasts of plunging oil revenue that would, ultimately, also affect the federal government’s bottom line.

For the first time in a year, Canada’s central bank on Wednesday signalled comfort with the trajectory of household debt, a shift that will allow policy makers to focus more tightly on signs of deteriorating economic growth, The Globe and Mail reported. In a revised policy statement, the Bank of Canada dropped language that was intended to signal a willingness to raise borrowing costs to curb a surge in household borrowing to record levels.

B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong has resorted to corporate and personal income taxes hikes for the first time in his party’s 12 year reign, on the eve of an election that threatens to unseat the B.C. Liberal government, The Globe and Mail reported. In his quest to deliver a $197-million surplus budget in advance of the May 14 election, Mr. de Jong has abandoned a long-standing commitment to driving economic growth through tax cuts to business and high income earners.

Air Canada is contravening federal law by not maintaining heavy-maintenance operations in Canada, the Quebec Superior Court ruled Monday, Global Regina reported on a Canadian Press story. In a 39-page ruling, Justice Martin Castonguay said the airline has an obligation under the Air Canada Public Participation Act to maintain such operations in Montreal and Winnipeg, along with Mississauga, Ont., where smaller overhaul work was completed by Aveos Fleet Performance until it closed last year.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the U.S. parent of an insolvent Toronto company is entitled to the Canadian entity’s last $6.75-million, instead of a group of the firm’s retirees, whose pensions were cut after their employer went under, The Globe and Mail reported. The court’s ruling in the case of Indalex Ltd., which plunged into bankruptcy protection in 2009, was is expected to have broad implications for other companies and pension plans across the country.

Almost eight months after it heard oral arguments in the case, the Supreme Court of Canada will be releasing its decision in Sun Indalex Finance, LLC v. United Steelworkers on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 at 9:45 AM, the Financial Post reported. The case involves an appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal’s April 2011 judgment in Re Indalex Limited, a landmark case holding that pension plan deficiency claims can have priority over the claims of debtor-in-possession (DIP) lenders in the context of Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceedings.

It’s a world where an e-mail that takes just six minutes to write costs more than $100, and where just the act of compiling one month’s legal bill – not the bill itself – costs $40,000. Welcome to the high-stakes, high-priced universe of cross-border bankruptcy litigation, where what remains of Nortel Networks Corp. is being slowly drained away by lawyers and consultants, The Globe and Mail reported. Nortel’s bondholders, pensioners and other creditors have been engaged in an expensive fight over the $9-billion left over from the piecemeal sale of the company.

Talks to divide $9 billion raised from the sale of businesses of Nortel Networks, the telecoms equipment maker that went bankrupt in 2009, ended without agreement, and the mediator said on Thursday further discussions were no longer worthwhile, Reuters reported. The failure of nearly two weeks of talks in Toronto raises the prospect that disputes among various creditors and retirees around the world could lead to years of litigation over how to divide the cash.