Headlines

Construction giant Saudi Oger has asked banks to agree to a freeze in repayments on at least 13 billion riyals ($3.5 billion) of debt, sources aware of the matter said, as it seeks more time to collect money owed by the kingdom's government, Reuters reported. The request opens the way for the company, owned by the family of Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, to press ahead with seeking one of the largest debt restructuring deals in the Gulf since the slide in oil prices in June 2014.

The Brazilian government is not considering an intervention in debt-laden carrier Oi SA at this point, on hopes creditors and shareholders can reach a negotiated solution involving no state bailout, Communications Minister Gilberto Kassab said on Monday, Reuters reported. Officials are currently working on providing Oi the necessary support to emerge stronger from bankruptcy protection, Kassab said at an event in Brasilia. The government is all for Oi to negotiate a "market-based solution" that helps it emerge stronger from creditor protection, he said.

A squeeze in the number of buy-to-let properties available in the Irish property market is likely to happen as many interest-only arrangements end and borrowers become liable for substantially higher repayments, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV) has warned. In a submission to the Department of Housing, the group’s chief executive, Pat Davitt, said many investors are now reaching the end of their 10-year interest-only period and will become liable for capital repayments in addition to interest, the Irish Times reported.

China removed its high-profile, reformist finance minister from the post in a shuffle that comes as President Xi Jinping positions trusted allies in key roles and Beijing prioritizes short-term growth over major overhauls, The Wall Street Journal reported. The shuffle put more senior government posts in the hands of Xi loyalists ahead of a twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress next fall that will shape policy for years to come. Mr.

South Korea said on Tuesday that 94 out of 97 Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd's container ships have completed unloading as of Nov. 7, Reuters reported. Of the remaining 3 ships, two ships will be unloaded as soon as possible while relevant authorities are in talks with Shanghai port authorities to unload one seized ship in Shanghai, the country's finance ministry and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said in a joint statement. Hanjin filed for court receivership on Aug. 31 after its creditors cut off financial support for the firm.

German chemicals manufacturer BASF has been accused of avoiding close to €1 billion of tax. In a report published on Monday, the company is alleged to have used aggressive tax-planning strategies in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Malta to reduce its tax burden, the Irish Times reported.

The Ontario government is planning a major intervention in Essar Steel Algoma's recovery from insolvency, the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. learned today. News of the funding was disclosed this afternoon at a meeting of the EDC board by James Caicco, a local director of Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC), the provincial government's crown corporation and development agency. "We're working on a major, major funding from NOHFC to help in the restructuring," Caicco said.

Four parties have expressed interest in buying one or both of South Korea's STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co Ltd and a controlling stake in STX France SA, a spokesman for the Seoul court overseeing STX Offshore's receivership said on Friday. The Seoul Central District Court spokesman declined to comment on the names of the parties. The South Korean court in October decided to allow the two units of the collapsed STX shipbuilding group to be sold either separately or together.

A liquidator appointed to Gibraltar-based Enterprise Insurance, which was active in the Irish motor market in recent years, has found the company had committed a number of regulatory breaches before it collapsed, the Irish Times reported. In a report submitted to Gibraltar’s supreme court last week and published on Friday, the liquidator, Freddie White of Grant Thornton (Gibraltar), found that Enterprise failed to set aside enough technical reserves to cover the risks it was insuring.

Guaranteed rises in the state pension should be scrapped according to a damning report by an all-party committee of MPs, which claims the British economy has become “heavily skewed” towards well-off baby boomers, The Guardian reported. Following an inquiry into intergenerational fairness, the Commons work and pensions committee, chaired by influential welfare reformer Frank Field, said the “triple lock” guarantee on the state pension should be axed as it is “unfair and unsustainable”.