Falkland Islands

Some of the world's biggest banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, are fighting Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s plan to spin off an asset management unit, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The banks say the proposal, which Lehman will use to repay creditors owed hundreds of billions of dollars, is being rushed and appears to be unfair to certain Lehman creditors. The objection to the plan, filed Monday afternoon with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, comes as Lehman is set to go to court next week to ask a judge to sign off on the proposal.

Everyone agrees China is in the middle of a spectacular real estate boom. The question is whether it is in the middle of a rapidly growing real estate bubble, The New York Times reported. When other recent booms collapsed — in the United States, for instance — they depressed entire economies. In China’s case, a bursting bubble could affect much of the world. China is the fastest-growing large economy and, so far, a main engine pulling the world out of recession. Beijing is clearly concerned.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the use of credit default swaps to destabilize a country is “counterproductive,” and added the central bank is reviewing the arrangements of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and investment banks with Greece, Bloomberg reported. “We are looking into a number of questions related to Goldman Sachs and other companies and their derivatives arrangements with Greece,” Bernanke said today in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington.

Abu Dhabi's decision to offer Dubai financial succour has bought time for the debt-laden emirate to restructure its troubled Dubai World conglomerate, but the former boom town still faces a severe test, the Financial Times reported in an analysis. Dubai World holds most of the emirate's credit pile, and despite the $10 billion (€6.8 billion, £6.1 billion) support extended yesterday by Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital, the conglomerate must still restructure its debts.

Dubai’s state companies may restructure as much as $46.7 billion of obligations, Morgan Stanley said, ArabianBusiness.com reported on a Bloomberg story. Dubai Holding LLC, Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group LLC, Borse Dubai Ltd. and Dubai Sukuk Center Ltd. may join Dubai World in restructuring debt, Morgan Stanley analysts Mohamed W. Jaber and Paolo Batori wrote in a report. Dubai needs to reach an agreement with creditors that requires a “haircut” of as much as 50 percent to improve its long-term debt outlook, the analysts said.

Credit Suisse Group is trying to sell a $1 billion claim it holds against bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Hedge funds and private equity firms would be among the potential buyers for the Credit Suisse claim, which is tied to about 20,000 derivative contracts, Bloomberg reported. Banks and investors have been selling their claims on Lehman for increasingly higher prices in the last few months.

CanWest Global Communications Corp.'s efforts to restructure its debt have come up against a series of glitches in the past few weeks that are delaying a deal with bondholders, The Globe and Mail reported. At the top of that list may be the most unlikely of culprits – a television show called MasterChef Australia. The popular cooking program has been a major hit on Australian television this year. That has translated into gains on the Australian stock market.

Foreign-exchange traders are losing faith that Mexican President Felipe Calderon will push through the tax increases needed to rein in the budget deficit and stem a rout that has made the peso the worst-performing major currency in the past year, Bloomberg reported. Morgan Stanley strategists say Latin America’s second-largest economy is headed for “unsustainable” deficits as oil output declines while RBC Capital Markets advises investors to sell the currency.

Oilexco Inc., a North Sea producer of oil and gas, lost more than half its market value in London trading today after saying its U.K. subsidiary was likely to file for insolvency administration as early as next week, Bloomberg reported. Calgary-based Oilexco North Sea Ltd. has been informed by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc that lenders aren’t prepared to provide further financing, Oilexco said today in a statement. The unit “does not have any other source of funding,” it said, adding that the parent company “remains solvent.” Oilexco hired Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch & Co.