Headlines

The European Central Bank has urged Commerzbank to speed up its restructuring efforts with the region’s top financial regulator expressing concern about lacklustre profitability and a bloated cost base at Germany’s second-largest listed lender, the Financial Times reported. The unusually frank assessment of the strategy of a bank that meets all key regulatory requirements was made by an unnamed ECB official who attended a Commerzbank supervisory board meeting, people familiar with events told the Financial Times.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez has likened negotiating the nation’s debt to playing poker. This week he’ll have to show some of his cards to the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. IMF negotiators land in Buenos Aires on Wednesday for their first mission since the leftist president took office in December. Before agreeing to any changes in the terms of their current deal, they will want to see Fernandez’s blueprint for tackling more than $320 billion in total debt and for rescuing an economy that’s forecast to shrink for a third straight year.

Ghana is seeking to prosecute a former finance minister, industry regulator and deputy central bank governor in a bid to stamp out alleged collusion with company executives that helped contribute to the West African nation’s biggest banking crisis, Bloomberg News reported. The former officials are being charged along with nine other banking executives on charges ranging from money laundering to defrauding depositors in the aftermath of a three-year industry clean-up -- the costs of which could escalate to 20 billion cedis ($3.7 billion).

Squabbling between South Africa’s government and the state-owned airline’s bankruptcy administrator is threatening its chances of survival, Investec Ltd.’s chief executive officer said. President Cyril Ramaphosa in December placed debt-ridden South African Airways in business rescue, a local form of bankruptcy protection, Bloomberg News reported. Over the past few days, there’s been a flurry of conflicting messages from the government and the business-rescue practitioners, leaving investors and customers unclear about whether the carrier has a future.

Two top Bank of England officials suggested that the U.K. financial system’s rules may have to diverge from the European Union’s after Brexit -- a topic that’s becoming as a major point of contention between the two sides, Bloomberg News reported. Outgoing Governor Mark Carney told Parliament on Tuesday that Britain’s view of EU regulation may change over time, especially since it will no longer be able to help set the rules.

Lebanon needs the help of the International Monetary Fund to draft a rescue plan and decide whether to repay its $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing next month, a local newspaper cited a veteran politician and member of the ruling coalition as saying, Bloomberg News reported. With the country facing its worst financial crisis in decades after months of protests, parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon should form a task force comprising the premier, ministers of economy and finance as well as legal and financial experts, Annahar newspaper reported.

Argentina said it won’t make a local bond payment on time after failing to refinance the debt, declaring it won’t be “held hostage” by foreign investors demanding their money back, Bloomberg News reported. The maturity date for the note will be delayed to Sept. 30 from the original Feb. 13, the Economy Ministry said in a statement. The move comes after a local debt sale flopped and only a few investors agreed to participate in a debt swap that would have bought the country extra time to come up with the cash.

Air Italy’s investors agreed on Tuesday to place the struggling Italian carrier into liquidation, the airline said citing “persistent and structural market problems,” Reuters reported. The decision was taken “unanimously”, the carrier said, but in a separate statement Qatar Airways, which holds a 49% stake, said it would have been ready to support the relaunch and growth of the airline. “Qatar Airways was ready once again to play its part in supporting the growth of the airline, but this would only have been possible with the commitment of all shareholders,” Qatar said.

Mozambique on Monday withdrew appeals against a South African court decision not to extradite its former finance minister, Manuel Chang, wanted in relation to a $2 billion debt scandal that plunged his country’s economy into crisis, Reuters reported. Chang, who denies wrongdoing, was arrested in South Africa in December at the request of the United States while Mozambique also requested his extradition, sparking a legal battle over where he should be sent.

UniCredit confirmed plans to cut 6,000 jobs in Italy over the next four years as the country’s biggest bank began the negotiation process with unions on Monday over layoffs and branch closures, Reuters reported. In December UniCredit unveiled a new plan to 2023, under which it would cut 8,000 jobs and close 500 branches, angering Italian unions, which said then that they expected 5,500 layoffs in Italy and up to 450 branch closures.