Riviera Marine (Int.) Pty Ltd., part of a group of Australian companies that manufacture and sell luxury boats, is seeking bankruptcy protection in the U.S., Trade Only Today reported. Riviera CEO John Anderson said in a statement that the filing is not a new proceeding, but "merely a request that the U.S. courts recognize the [Deed of Company Arrangement] process, which was officially completed by Riviera in June 2010 and that allows us to complete our restructure of both our Australian and U.S. operations." The U.S. filing follows a voluntary administration in Australia.

Metrofinanciera SA, a closely held provider of mortgage loans in Mexico, sought bankruptcy court protection from U.S. creditors, Bloomberg reported. The company, based in Monterrey, Mexico listed both debt and assets of more than $500 million in Chapter 15 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas. Chapter 15 protects foreign companies from U.S. lawsuits and creditor claims while a company reorganizes abroad.

Compania Mexicana de Aviacion is unlikely to resume operations after grounding all its flights over the weekend, four weeks after filing for bankruptcy protection in Mexico and the U.S., UBS AG said, Bloomberg reported. That will initially curb air traffic and hurt airport operators, including Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB, Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB, UBS analysts Tomas Lajous and Luis Galvez wrote today in an e-mailed note. “We expect this should be permanent,” the analysts wrote.

Nuevo Grupo Aeronautico SA, the holding company for airline Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, was purchased yesterday by a group of Mexican investors and the country’s pilots’ union, according to a member of the investment group and a union leader, Bloomberg reported. Tenedora K, which was formed in order to purchase Mexicana, bought 95 percent of the airline’s shares, union secretary general Fernando Perfecto said yesterday. The pilots’ union owns 5 percent of the company, said Perfecto, who was involved in the negotiations.

A bankruptcy judge issued a preliminary injunction shielding Compania Mexicana de Aviacion from creditors seeking to seize its U.S. assets, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan ruled in the Chapter 15 bankruptcy case of airline Mexicana's main unit for international flights. The case is a companion of the unit's main bankruptcy proceeding in Mexico.

Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, Mexico’s biggest airline by passengers, agreed to return at least eight leased airplanes and a U.S. judge put off ruling on a bid to shield the company from creditors, Bloomberg reported. Mexicana agreed to return three planes to Wells Fargo & Co. One was returned in July, Arthur Rosenberg, a lawyer for Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NA, said today in an interview. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan today postponed ruling on Mexicana’s request for a preliminary injunction barring legal actions by creditors.

The main unit of Mexicana on Tuesday warned it could face liquidation unless Mexico's largest airline was allowed to keep operating aircraft in the wake of its bankruptcy filing, Dow Jones reported. Compania Mexicana de Aviacion filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Mexico on Monday after failing to reach a new deal with its unions to cut costs after a period of rapid expansion. The airline continued to operate most flights Tuesday, but said in court filings that aircraft leasing companies and owners were taking steps to repossess planes.

A Kazakhstan bank's bid to use the U.S. bankruptcy court to halt an overseas legal proceeding could drag the court into disputes in which the U.S. itself has little at stake, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Kazakhstan's JSC BTA Bank says the U.S. bankruptcy court's decision to grant it Chapter 15 protection in the U.S. after it underwent restructuring in its home country last year extended a key benefit of U.S. bankruptcy law: the automatic stay that halts legal action against a debtor company.

Mexico's third-largest retail chain, Comercial Mexicana, aims to resume modest expansion next year with a handful of new stores once it completes its $1.54 billion pre-packaged debt-restructuring agreement, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Growth at Comercial Mexicana, which runs 231 stores and 73 restaurants, has been virtually on hold since October 2008 when blowout losses on foreign exchange derivatives - wrong-way bets on the Mexican peso - led to a debt default and the restructuring process, which is expected to be concluded within months.

A Mexican provider of tourism services at a beachfront hotel in Cozumel filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal Bankruptcy Beat blog reported. Cozumel Caribe SA blamed its bankruptcy filing on the “drastic” drop in foreign tourists visiting the Hotel Park Royal Cozumel, from where the company operates.