Hundreds of creditors are lining up to be paid by CanWest GlobalCommunications Corp., as the company attempts to restructure, ranging from a small karate studio in Toronto owed about $25 to some of Hollywood's most powerful television producers that may be owed millions, The Globe and Mail reported. CanWest, which filed for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, is trying to restructure its debt, which reached close to $4-billion this year. The list of parties the company owes money to was released in a 50-page spreadsheet that details how diverse those debts are.

The European Commission will not investigate the improper use of state aid in the ongoing attempts to sell carmaker Opel, Spiegel Online reported. The situation at Opel is so critical that the company would likely collapse before such an investigation could be complete. European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes just last week warned the German government she had "significant indications" the sale to Canadian auto parts manufacturer Magna may breach European single market rules.

Germany’s new finance minister, the veteran conservative politician Wolfgang Schäuble, moved swiftly Sunday to assert his power and tell his compatriots and the world that the finances of the largest European economy were dire and would take years to mend, The New York Times reported. Using the pulpit of the conservative newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Mr. Schäuble warned that there was no chance to balance the budget in the next four years of the new center-right coalition government headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Initial data on British third-quarter growth showed the economy there remained mired in recession, while releases from the euro area Friday presented a picture of steadily improving activity, The New York Times reported. The large debt burden on British consumers is the main reason for the divergent performance, analysts said. A preliminary release from the Office of National Statistics in London showed gross domestic product contracted by 0.4 percent between July and September from the previous three months and shrank by 5.2 percent compared with a year earlier.

Postal and logistics company Deutsche Post AG said Thursday that its DHL express unit is expected to lose 400 jobs in Germany after the closure of mail-order business Quelle, part of bankrupt retailer Arcandor AG, Forbes reported on an Associated Press story. The Bonn-based Post said it planned to close three German logistics locations in Bochum, Nuremberg and Lehrte that worked as the sole logistics provider for Quelle. It was still unclear when the DHL employees would lose their positions, Deutsche Post said.

More than $3 billion can be paid back to hedge fund clients of Lehman Brothers, a London judge ruled on Wednesday, the latest in a string of court cases triggered by the investment bank's failure, Reuters reported. Administrators of Lehman Brothers' London operations, PricewaterhouseCoopers, asked the London high court for a ruling on how to treat cash raised after Lehman collapsed.

Canadians are being urged to pay close attention to the plight of workers from bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp. because it could some day be their own story, The Toronto Star reported. With many company pension plans across the country underfunded, workers could easily see their pensions and other benefits reduced dramatically or disappear if their employer closes the doors for good. Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, predicted that pension and benefit protections will be front and centre in the next federal election.

France Telecom said on Tuesday it would put off any restructuring of sites or offices in France until the end of the year, meeting a demand from labour unions, Reuters reported. The telecom operator has suffered a series of suicides among its workers that has seen 25 people take their own lives since the beginning of 2008. Labour unions blame ongoing cost-cutting and restructuring for creating poor working conditions that are pushing some workers to the edge.

Russia's AvtoVAZ could face bankruptcy if it is unable to reach a debt restructuring deal with its banks, despite support from its 25 percent stakeholder Renault, Reuters reported. Speaking during a presentation at AvtoVAZ headquarters in Togliatti, a company official said the future of the Lada-maker remained on the line and said the company has 22,000 extra staff on its payroll that are not anticipated to have any work before 2012.

France is considering levying a new charge on its banks, in the latest effort by a government to recoup money spent over the past year to bail out the financial sector, The Wall Street Journal reported. According to the Finance Ministry, the government plans to introduce a fee on banks and insurers registered in France to help pay for the cost of financial supervision. A Finance Ministry spokesman said the amount and form of the new fee hadn't been set.