Headlines

An Italian parliamentary committee is set to approve later on Monday a tax measure to spur mergers among banks based in the country’s poorer south, a lawmaker of the ruling League party said, warning of lenders in the region at risk of default, Reuters reported. “We’re tackling an urgent issue,” Giulio Centemero, a member of the lower Chamber of Deputies, told Reuters. “Banks are key for the Italian economy and ...

Since the failure of merger talks with Commerzbank, there has been speculation that Deutsche Bank would embark on a major restructuring in the hopes of restoring its fortunes. Now, details are beginning to emerge, Forbes reported. According to the Financial Times, the bank’s chief executive, Christian Sewing, plans to create a “bad bank” into which will be placed up to €50bn ($56.18bn) of poorly performing assets, mostly from the troubled U.S. investment bank.

As markets seem prepared to call the European Central Bank’s bluff, we are left with fear and hope — that Mario Draghi and his successor will rise to the challenge, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Story of his life, as they say. Ever since the ECB president took office eight years ago, he has dealt with the consequences of other policymakers’ mistakes, incompetence or inertia. As he nears the end of his term in October, we have lost count of the number of times Mr Draghi has been under pressure to act, having already done the right thing.

Chinese lenders, including China Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Exim Bank of China, have demanded at least $2.1 billion from embattled Indian tycoon Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications Ltd., that slid into bankruptcy earlier this year, Bloomberg News reported. State-owned China Development Bank, with loans worth 98.6 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) was the biggest creditor to the indebted telecom company, according to a filing made by the Indian company to stock exchanges.

Kier is to cut 1,200 jobs and sell large chunks of its business as a crisis of confidence in the UK government contractor’s financial position forces it to begin paying suppliers in advance, the Financial Times reported. Andrew Davies, chief executive, said the company had briefed the government’s Cabinet Office, which accounts for 60 per cent of revenues, ahead of an announcement on Monday in which it said it would divest its mainly private sector-focused businesses in housing, property development, environmental consultancy and facilities management. “We are in regular di

A Brazilian appeals court ruled on Monday that airline Avianca Brasil should be allowed to hold a bankruptcy auction in which it is expected to sell its most coveted airport landing and departure rights, Reuters reported. The bankruptcy auction had been originally scheduled for early May, but was suspended at the last minute after an injunction was issued. Avianca Brasil filed for bankruptcy protection in December after falling behind on lease payments for its fleet and fell victim to high oil prices and a weak local currency.

Spanish retailer DIA said on Monday its main shareholder will seek a deal on how to restructure the discount supermarket chain’s towering debt after missing a Saturday deadline, Reuters reported. The company’s biggest shareholder, investment fund LetterOne, is negotiating with a group of 17 lenders, including seven investment funds, the details of a 380-million-euro ($426.63 million) refinancing agreement, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.

Jet Airways’ creditors said on Monday they plan to begin insolvency proceedings against the Indian airline in a last-ditch bid to find a buyer for the carrier or its remaining assets and recover some of what they are owed, Reuters reported. Once India’s biggest private carrier, Jet Airways stopped flying in April after running out of cash, leaving thousands without jobs and pushing up air fares across the country. “Lenders have decided to seek resolution under IBC since only a conditional bid was received,” they said in a statement, referring to India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht SA filed on Monday for bankruptcy protection, aiming to restructure 51 billion reais ($13 billion) of debt in what would be one of Latin America’s largest-ever in-court debt restructurings, Reuters reported. The bankruptcy filing comes after years of struggles for Odebrecht, the biggest of the Brazilian engineering groups caught in a sweeping political corruption investigation that has rippled across Latin America.

EU finance ministers agreed small steps towards creating a eurozone budget after marathon talks failed to settle a longstanding Franco-Dutch dispute over how it should be funded, the Financial Times reported. After almost 12 hours of sometimes fraught negotiations in Luxembourg that ran into the early hours of Friday, ministers were only able to agree the broad purpose of the budget, while putting to one side questions over its financing and eventual size.