Headlines

The Ghana Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Advisors (GARIA) has called for the speedy passage of the Corporate Insolvency Bill which is currently before Cabinet into law, to prevent companies from premature liquidation, Ghana Business News reported. The Association is of the belief that an effective law on corporate insolvency would enable companies to fall on options to recuperate rather than closing the company, as is the common prescription under the country’s current laws. Mr.

Spain’s unemployment rate rose slightly in the first quarter, to 21 per cent, but job losses were less severe than usual in what is traditionally a weak period for the labour market, the Financial Times reported. The number of out-of-work Spaniards rose by 11,900 in the first three months of the year, to 4.79m. The total number of employed workers fell by 64,400 to 18.03m, still more than 2m below the jobs levels achieved before Spain’s protracted recession.

The Bank of Italy has calculated that a draft law allowing creditors to recover bad debts without involving the court system could drastically reduce the length of time the process requires, a source familiar with the matter said. Italian banks are groaning under 360 billion euros ($407.5 billion) in bad loans, which take years to shift partly due to a slow and inefficient justice system. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's cabinet is due to meet on Friday to discuss a draft law aimed at making credit recovery more efficient, according to a government source.

India said on Thursday it had asked Britain to deport Vijay Mallya, the liquor tycoon who flew to London last month as bankers pressed him to repay about $1.4 billion owed by his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, Reuters reported. The Ministry of External Affairs has written to the British High Commission seeking Mallya's return so that "his presence can be secured for investigations against him" under India's anti-moneylaundering law, spokesman Vikas Swarup told reporters.

A group of notable British economists countered claims the U.K. would be poorer if it left the European Union, a move that follows a barrage of gloomy forecasts for the British economy if voters choose to leave the bloc in a coming referendum, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a report published Thursday by the eight “Economists for Brexit,” the group said the U.K. economy would be better off outside the EU and could be as much as 2% larger by 2020 if it left—and as much as 4% larger after 10 to 15 years.

The administrator to BHS, the British department store group that is battling to stay in business, has received "around 50" expressions of interest for all or various parts of the retailer, a source with knowledge of the process said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Although the level of interest sounds encouraging, analysts see little prospect of a buyer emerging for the whole of BHS. They say the most likely scenario is that BHS's assets will be sold off piecemeal.

Mineral company Kenmare Resources has confirmed a large-scale financial restructuring plan that could involve raising hundreds of millions of dollars at the troubled explorer, the Irish Times reported. The company defaulted on its debts earlier this year after failing to reach an agreement with its lenders on a deleveraging plan. Kenmare, which focuses on iron and titanium ore ilmenite, said on Thursday it was ready to raise $100 million by selling stock to a company based in the British Virgin Islands.

The World Bank is suspending direct financial aid to Mozambique, joining the International Monetary Fund in cutting off budgetary assistance after learning of more than $1 billion in previously undisclosed loans, a person familiar with the matter said, The Wall Street Journal reported. The bank will continue to fund individual investment projects, but it is holding back payments of approximately $40 million this year for direct budgetary support, the person said.

A Canadian rating agency will decide on Friday whether to maintain or cut off life support to Portugal’s fragile economic recovery, the Financial Times reported. If DBRS downgrades Lisbon to below investment grade, as Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have already done, the country will automatically be excluded from the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing bond-buying programme, of which Portugal has been a leading beneficiary. “A positive rating decision by DBRS is crucial for the Lisbon government,” said Antonio Barroso, an analyst with the Teneo risk consultancy.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece asked on Wednesday for a summit meeting of eurozone leaders that would allow him to make his case for easier terms on sorely needed aid to help his country avoid bankruptcy, the International New York Times reported. Without new rescue money by July, Greece could default on its debts and throw the 19-member eurozone into another period of chaos. There could also be a domestic upheaval in Greece similar to last summer, when the country had a referendum on the terms accompanying its third bailout, followed by snap general elections. Mr.