Headlines

Bombardier Inc. bonds are joining the company’s stock plunge on fresh concern over cash-flow prospects at the manufacturer of planes and trains, Bloomberg News reported. The market swoon underscored investor anxiety about Bombardier’s prospects despite Chief Executive Officer Alain Bellemare’s upbeat 2020 outlook at an investor conference Tuesday -- his first public comments since the company lost a quarter of its market value after reporting earnings last week. Canada’s largest aerospace company surprised investors Nov.

Noble Group Ltd.’s earnings were salvaged by a surge in alumina prices but its core coal trading business struggled to make money in the third quarter, highlighting the challenge the company faces as it emerges from a marathon debt restructuring, Bloomberg News reported. The company is pinning its hopes on Asia-focused coal, alumina and liquefied natural gas trading businesses to help it make money once the restructuring is completed this month. Noble reported a third-quarter operating loss from supply chains of $12 million in its energy unit, which includes thermal coal and LNG trading.

Nyrstar NV, one of the world’s largest zinc smelting companies, is collapsing under the weight of its own debt, Bloomberg News reported. The shares plumbed fresh lows on Tuesday and the price of its bonds due next year is now 50 cents on the euro. Analysts say the company is headed for an inevitable restructuring, and the shares will soon be worthless. Here are five charts that explain how this powerhouse producer was pushed to the brink. When it listed in Brussels in 2007, Nyrstar made its money buying zinc ore from mines and smelting the raw material into a refined metal.

After four years, dozens of arrests and a handful of restructurings, holders of bonds from Brazil’s construction giants are still suffering the fallout from a corruption scandal that all but halted the industry in Latin America, Bloomberg News reported. The building unit of Odebrecht, which was forced into talks with banks earlier this year amid dwindling cash flow and a dearth of new projects, is again seeking help to deal with debt it can’t afford to pay back, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Greece’s central bank is working on a plan to help banks cut their bad debts in half, the latest effort to restore trust in the country’s financial system, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Under the proposal, Greek lenders would transfer about half of their deferred tax claims to a special purpose vehicle, which would then sell bonds and use the proceeds to buy some 42 billion euros ($47 billion) of bad loans from the lenders, according to the people. They asked not to be identified because the plan hasn’t been finalized yet, Bloomberg News reported.

European Union governments have reached a preliminary deal to clamp down on money-laundering by strengthening bank supervision, but do not address key loopholes, documents show. A series of money-laundering cases at banks in several EU states have forced regulators to act after public outcry, Reuters reported. The preliminary deal, which could be finalised before EU finance ministers are due to meet in December, confirms proposals made by the European Commission in September to give more powers to the European Banking Authority (EBA).

President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party on Tuesday submitted a bill to parliament to tighten Turkey’s bankruptcy law aimed at preventing what the government says is abuse of the regulation by some healthy companies, Reuters reported. A section of the current law is designed to give struggling firms temporary protection from creditors. Since going into effect eight months ago, it has seen a surge in applicants, officials and bankruptcy lawyers say, as a currency crisis has pushed the inflation rate to 25 percent and shaken the economy.

Italy’s fiscal stimulus plans would leave the country vulnerable to higher interest rates that could ultimately plunge it into recession, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday, recommending instead a “modest” fiscal consolidation to reduce financing costs, Reuters reported. The IMF said after an annual staff review of Italy’s economic policies that any temporary, near-term growth gains from the stimulus is likely to be outweighed by the “substantial risk” of a rapid deterioration.

In India, crises move slowly. We’ve known for years that the state-controlled banks that dominate the financial sector were groaning under the weight of bad loans, a Bloomberg View reported. For years, though, the government successfully kicked the can down the road. All those assets haven’t been accounted for yet, the banks haven’t been fully recapitalized, the bankruptcy process isn’t working to schedule, yet somehow the banks are still chugging along. India’s luck may be about to run out.

Saudi Arabia will start auctioning real estate assets of billionaire Maan al-Sanea and his company on Dec. 2 to help repay billions of dollars due to creditors, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The auction, originally planned for late October in the city of Khobar in Eastern Province, was delayed by a last-ditch attempt to reach a settlement, which failed to gain enough support from creditors, one source said, Reuters reported.