Headlines

Nortel Networks Corp. won approval to start distributing $7.3 billion to creditors, a major step in the long-running demise of the telecommunications company, The Wall Street Journal reported. Judges in Canada and the U.S. on Tuesday cleared Nortel to open up the lockbox containing $7.3 billion raised by selling its businesses and patents in bankruptcy. While most Canadian creditors will collect less than half of what they are owed under the plan, bondholders with claims against both Nortel in Canada and its U.S. unit expect to recover 95% or more of what they’re owed.

The central bank opted to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold on Tuesday, stunning economists who had predicted a rise of anywhere between a quarter and a full percentage point, and sending the lira plunging, albeit briefly, the Financial Times reported. The central bank did not stand still entirely, raising the overnight lending rate by 0.75 percentage points and pledging more tightening in future if “inflation expectations, pricing behaviour and other factors affecting inflation” warrant it.

Vijay Mallya, the Indian liquor and aviation tycoon, was charged on Tuesday with conspiracy and fraud connected to a 9 billion rupee ($132 million) loan granted by a government-owned bank, a spokesman for India's Central Bureau of Investigation said, Reuters reported. The head of the Force India Formula One team and a former owner of an Indian Premier League cricket team, one-time billionaire Mallya moved to Britain last March after being pursued in courts by banks seeking to recover about $1.4 billion the Indian authorities claim is owed by his Kingfisher airline.

Swiss commodities trader Glencore Plc is considering additional sugar and ethanol mills takeovers in Brazil, where it recently bought a second plant, to ramp up operations in the world's No. 1 sugar producer, three people familiar with the plan said on Tuesday. According to the first source, who asked for anonymity because the plans remain private, Glencore is seeking to add another mill to the portfolio of two it already has in order to expand its production cluster in Sao Paulo state. The person declined to elaborate on potential targets.

The Minister for Transport Shane Ross needs to realise that the only solution to the crisis at Bus Éireann will be for him to convene talks involving all stakeholders, including the Department of Transport and the National Transport Authority, unions have argued. Management at the company is expected to reiterate to an Oireachtas committee on Wednesday that the State-owned transport operator faces running out of money within the next 18 months or so and that all 2,600 jobs in the company are in jeopardy, the Irish Times reported.

Homegrown premium seafood supply chain manager Oceanus Group has entered into a binding term sheet with its key creditors in relation to a proposed debt restructuring, The Business Times reported. This is done by converting 76.4 per cent of its total outstanding debt to equity, substantially improving its balance sheet, it announced on Wednesday before the market opens.

Takata Corp. shares fell sharply Monday as investors rushed to sell ahead of a possible bankruptcy filing for the company, which faces a potential multibillion-dollar bill for recalls related to its faulty air bags, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company’s share price closed down 18% at 467 yen, the third consecutive day of double-digit declines and the sixth straight day of declines overall. Trading volume was thin as buyers of the stock were scarce, accelerating the declines.

For many observers the benefits of unconventional and ultra-accommodative monetary policy have not been that obvious, especially in the euro area, where inflation has been weak and remains far from the European Central Bank’s target, the Financial Times reported. It is tempting to judge the effectiveness of central bank policies by “looking out of the window” and to conclude that quantitative easing has not been successful if inflation is far from 2 per cent. We believe this would not only be naive but also the wrong conclusion.

Belgian-based KBC Group’s €5 billion funding line to its Irish unit is likely to help persuade the group to remain in the Republic as it announces the result of a strategic review in two weeks’ time, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank, the Irish Times reported. KBC Group, in Ireland since 1978, is considering whether to develop the Dublin-based unit, which cost €1.4 billion to bail out during the financial crisis, into a bank-insurance company, grow the lender organically, or sell the business entirely. The review has been underway for at least a year.

Mozambique's default on a coupon payment for its dollar-denominated bond last week was "unnecessary" and a step backwards for the country's relationship with the holders of the debt, a group of creditors said in a statement on Monday, Reuters reported. Mozambique announced a week ago it would not make the $59.8 million payment to holders of its 2023 bond due on Jan. 18 because A deteriorating economic and fiscal situation made its ability to repay debt this year extremely limited.