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It was started in the name of forging a greater sense of union among the disparate nations of Europe. It was supposed to enhance commercial ties, erode borders and foster a spirit of collective interest, furthering the evolution of former wartime combatants into fellow nations of a united Europe. But the euro, in the 17 years since the common currency came into existence, has instead reinvigorated conflicts, yielding new crises, fresh grievances and a spirit of distrust, the International New York Times reported. So argues the Nobel laureate economist Joseph E.
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Bondholders are suffering as a fishmeal supplier’s bankruptcy filing flags doubts among lenders that it will extract enough value from its assets in Peru to repay creditors, Bloomberg News reported. China Fishery Group Ltd. filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code on June 30, stoking a 10.5 cent drop in its 2019 notes -- set for the worst month since November.
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Italy was last night racing to secure a privately backed bailout of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the most exposed of the country’s troubled lenders, including a plan to raise €5bn of fresh capital so as to avert nationalisation, according to bankers and European officials, the Financial Times reported.
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Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA wants creditors to cut debt by almost two-thirds and inject $1 billion in fresh cash to exit bankruptcy protection, O Globo newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported. Under terms of an accord that is under discussion between Oi bondholders represented by investment-banking firm Moelis & Co, and shareholders and management of Brazil's No. 4 wireless carrier, total debt would be reduced to about 25 billion reais ($7.6 billion) from the current 65.4 billion reais, Globo said, citing the source.
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Egypt is “nearing the final stages” of its talks with the International Monetary Fund for a three-year support program, the government said, as it looks to repair an economy damaged by years of political upheaval, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank governor and finance minister will finalize negotiations with an IMF delegation due to arrive in Cairo within days, the cabinet said in an e-mailed statement. The government is targeting $7 billion annually over three years to finance the program, it said, without specifying how much it is seeking from the IMF.
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The administrator of insolvent German online travel group Unister has hired Macquarie to find a buyer for the company operating popular sites such as flight booking platform fluege.de and package travel site ab-in-den-urlaub.de. "We see enormous demand from investors for the Unister group or parts of it," Lucas Floether told Reuters on Tuesday. Groups such as broadcaster ProSieben and private equity firm EQT have shown interest in Unister in two earlier sale attempts, the most recent of which collapsed in spring 2015 over valuation issues.
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AIB will pay the State €1.76 billion tomorrow to redeem loan notes issued to it in July 2011 as part of its bailout from taxpayers, the Irish Times reported. This payment will involve the bank paying €1.6 billion to redeem the contingent capital notes (CoCos) at face value along with accrued interest of €160 million. The payment will coincide with the release of AIB’s financial results for the first six months of this year. Éamonn Hughes, a banking analyst with Irish stockbroker Goodbody, has forecast AIB will announce a net profit of €623 million.
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Enterprise Insurance, a Gibraltar-based firm whose collapse last week has hit 14,000 Irish motor customers, has been described in court as “hopelessly insolvent”. It has as an asset shortfall of up to £18 million (€21.5 million), the Irish Times reported. The Gibraltar Financial Services Authority (GFSA) said this week that Frederick David John White of Grant Thornton has been appointed as provisional liquidator of the insurance company.
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A large GMC 4x4 sits with deflated tyres. Like the Range Rovers and Camaro GT parked nearby, it is covered in a thick layer of sandy dust — one of more than 30 apparently abandoned cars lining the bays of a floor of a multistorey car park at Dubai airport. The vehicles are testament to the rising number of “skips” afflicting Dubai — indebted expatriates who have left the city state rather than face debtors’ prison as an economic downturn squeezes the business and finance hub, the Financial Times reported.
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Retail tycoon Philip Green's greed and disregard for corporate governance led to the demise of BHS and cost 11,000 jobs, a report by British lawmakers said, calling the collapse of the stores group "the unacceptable face of capitalism", Reuters reported. Billionaire Green, 64, owned BHS for 15 years before he sold the loss-making 180-store chain to Dominic Chappell, a serial bankrupt with no retail experience, for one pound last year. It went into administration in April, and all remaining 114 stores are due to close in the next four weeks.
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