Denmark

Cracks are beginning to appear in the vaunted Nordic model. The four main Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – still grace the top of most global rankings for happiness, competitiveness, the best place to be a woman and even the best place to be born. That has won them a legion of admirers, from Bill Gates to Scottish nationalists and The Economist, the news magazine, who marvel at the Nordic region’s ability to sustain big welfare systems and competitive economies.

The Singapore arm of bankrupt Danish shipping fuel trader OW Bunker will meet with its liquidator KPMG in early December to discuss the firm's outstanding debt, which totals almost $1.5 billion globally, Reuters reported. OW Bunker, a leading supplier of marine fuel oil known as "bunker", filed for bankruptcy in Denmark earlier this month after it revealed losses of at least $125 million at one of its Singapore-based subsidiaries Dynamic Oil Trading, sending the bunker fuel market into turmoil.

Belgian law firm Deminor said it had been contacted by 15 to 20 investment firms considering legal action over the failure of OW Bunker, the world's largest shipping firm which filed for bankruptcy a week ago, Reuters reported. Deminor, which specialises in representing institutional investors in class actions against public listed companies, did not say on Friday which investors had contacted it and gave no further detail on possible actions over the company's collapse. OW Bunker, Denmark's the third-largest company by revenue, said on Nov.

A flurry of firms have filed lawsuits against the Singapore units of bankrupt Danish shipping fuel trader OW Bunker, with claims totalling more than S$5 million, and traders say this is likely just the beginning of a wave of court actions. Court documents seen by Reuters showed that the overall amount of claims made against OW Bunker Far East and Dynamic Oil Trading, both Singapore-based subsidiaries of the Danish firm, over unpaid supplies now total around S$5.3 million ($4.11 million) made by nearly half a dozen companies.

Danish bunker supplier OW Bunker announced Thursday, November 6, that two of its major operating subsidiaries were expected to be insolvent and it is seeking court protection, Platt’s reported. The bunker supplier is seeking protection for subsidiaries OW Bunker & Trading and OW Supply & Trading in the probate court in Aalborg, Denmark, the company said in a statement. "For the time being, the financial impact cannot be assessed, however, it must be assumed that the group's equity is lost," the company said.

Debt-stricken Danish tanker operator Torm said on Monday it had agreed a deal with group of its lenders and Oaktree Capital Management, a large U.S. investor in distressed debt, to restructure the company, Reuters reported. The Danish company is one of the largest product tanker companies in the world, owning 43 tankers, two dry bulk vessels and operating 53 more vessels. Torm's net interest-bearing debt amounts to $1.4 billion. It ordered a series of new vessels in the years before the global economic downturn and was then hit by collapsing freight rates.

Denmark, battling a stagnant economy and concerns about a productivity gap with other nations, is planning to slash its corporate taxes in phases over the next three years to better stack up against other countries in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move, which follows similar tax cuts in the U.K., Sweden and Finland, comes as pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who was elected in 2011; support for her in opinion polls has been softening. A ruling coalition led by Ms.

Troubled Scandinavian airline SAS and its labor unions on Monday pushed on with talks aimed at ensuring the group's survival and avoiding bankruptcy after a midnight deadline for a deal passed, The Chicago Tribune reported on a Reuters story. The Scandinavian airline, hit by competition from lower-price rivals, last week announced plans to cut some salaries by up to 17 percent, reduce overall headcount to about 9,000 from 15,000 and reduce costs.

SAS AB on Monday said it would cut salaries and more jobs as part of a new restructuring plan that is dependent partly on the support of labor unions, as the Scandinavian airline carrier tries to convince investors of its long-term future, The Wall Street Journal reported. The airline, partly owned by the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish governments, said its new plan will include cost savings of around three billion Swedish kronor ($445 million), outsourcing parts of customer service and improvements to information technology.

The Danish bank Sydbank has agreed to take over all activities of local rival Tønder Bank, The Copenhagen Post reported. The deal came after Finanstilsynet (FSA), the financial supervisory administration, said last Friday that Tønder Bank didn't have enough capital to continue as an independent company. Under the agreement, Sydbank will take over around 18,000 customers and a balance sheet of roughly 2.3 billion kroner. Over the past few weeks, regulators inspected Tønder Bank's books and found that they were short 300 million kroner.