Upping the rhetorical as well as the financial ante in what has become a high-stakes poker game that will decide the fate of Opel and the rest of General Motor’s operations in Europe, Fiat’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, announced that he would skip government talks Friday in Berlin to provide Opel with emergency aid if G.M. files for bankruptcy, The New York Times reported. Fiat and Mr. Marchionne are still hoping to acquire Opel, and are wary of letting their main rival in the talks, Magna, gain the upper hand.

General Motors Corp.'s Saab Automobile AG Friday won more time to pursue a likely sale and avoid bankruptcy after a local Swedish court granted an extension to the struggling Swedish automaker's creditor protection period. Vanersborg District Court in southwestern Sweden extended the reorganization period for three months until Aug. 20. Loss-making Saab was granted protection from creditors in February, similar to Chapter 11 protection in the U.S., with the aim of reorganizing itself in a bid to become profitable.

Germany's financial regulator warned of serious problems at Hypo Real Estate Holding AG six months before the lender was rescued in a massive bailout, but the regulator lacked powers to act and the government ignored its warnings, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The documents--brought to light in preparation for parliamentary committee hearings Thursday to examine the government's handling of Hypo's bailout--are likely to prove politically charged ahead of national elections in September. For months, Germany lectured the U.S.

Germany hasn't reached a decision yet on providing state-backed bridge financing to General Motors Corp.'s Adam Opel GmbH to give the unit more time to clinch a deal with a new investor because the U.S. parent company has come up with a new cash demand, German government officials said early Thursday. A decision over Opel has been delayed to Friday, Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told reporters after late night negotiations in Berlin that dragged on into the early hours of Thursday.

France's US-owned couture house Christian Lacroix SNC has declared insolvency after falling foul of the global crisis, the company said Thursday. Arguably one of the most exuberant couturiers in Paris, Christian Lacroix SNC said in a statement that the company owned by Falic had declared insolvency before a Paris court due to "the sharp downturn of the luxury market," Agence France-Presse reported.

General Motors Europe said Wednesday that the assets of its Opel and Vauxhall brands are being consolidated under the ownership of its German-based Opel unit to prepare for an investor to acquire the company, The Wall Street Journal reported. Spokeswoman Karin Kirchner said the factories, patents and other assets of the German and British brands are being consolidated debt-free "under Adam Opel GmbH, which belongs 100% to GM." Ms. Kirchner said the move, approved Wednesday by Opel's supervisory board, would prepare Opel and sister company Vauxhall for a sale.

The possible insolvency of German department-store operator Arcandor AG could have an impact on a property-investment consortium led by the Whitehall Funds, which owns a 51% stake in a portfolio that includes 85 of the retailer's Karstadt stores as well as other properties, The Wall Street Journal reported. Some of the buildings are among Germany's top retail locations, such as the KaDeWe store in Berlin or the Oberpollinger store in Munich.

Bankruptcy for Opel, the European unit of General Motors, remains a distinct possibility despite three offers for the unit, the German economy minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, said in an interview published on Sunday, The New York Times reported. Though Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is to meet on Monday to consider the bids, there is no guarantee that any will be accepted, Mr. Guttenberg was quoted as saying by Bild am Sonntag. Speaking to journalists in Berlin on Sunday, Mr.

Loss-making Dutch hotel operator Golden Tulip will file for bankruptcy for 13 hotels in the Netherlands that it directly owns and operates, Reuters reported. The decision will not affect franchised or affiliated hotels, of which there are 720 in more than 50 countries, and the affected hotels will continue to operate during the proceedings, the company said. The group owns 60 hotels directly. The unlisted hotel chain had warned earlier this year that declining occupancy rates and the cost of investing in new hotels had led to losses.

Britain yesterday became the first big economy to be warned in the financial crisis that it might lose its top-notch credit rating, in a move that raised fears of possible downgrades for other large industrialised nations, the Financial Times reported. S&P based its warning on a forecast that net government debt risked approaching 100 per cent of national income and staying at that level. "A government debt burden of that level, if sustained, would in Standard & Poor's view be incompatible with a AAA rating," the agency said.