Headlines

The Singapore arm of bankrupt Danish shipping fuel trader OW Bunker will meet with its liquidator KPMG in early December to discuss the firm's outstanding debt, which totals almost $1.5 billion globally, Reuters reported. OW Bunker, a leading supplier of marine fuel oil known as "bunker", filed for bankruptcy in Denmark earlier this month after it revealed losses of at least $125 million at one of its Singapore-based subsidiaries Dynamic Oil Trading, sending the bunker fuel market into turmoil.

The Bank of Russia had no other option but to let the ruble float freely, and the decision to do so had helped stop it from hitting fresh record lows, Elvira Nabiullina, the bank’s chairwoman, said on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The ruble has lost more than 30% of its value against the dollar so far this year, hit by lower oil prices, capital outflows and Western sanctions stemming from the Ukraine crisis. After $30 billion on intervention failed to stop the ruble from falling to all-time lows in October, the central bank decided to switch to a free float from Nov. 10.

The parent company of Australia’s largest privately owned milk processing company, United Dairy Power (UDP) has been placed in receivership after its banker moved to remove its board and appoint a new CEO to manage its debts, The Australian reported. Insolvency firm PPB and the dairy company’s financier, Rabobank, appointed Marcus Derwin as managing director of Five Star United Food — which controls UDP — last week on the same day the dairy company was placed in receivership.

Ms Justice Marie Baker appointed Declan McDonald of PwC as interim examiner to Karen Millen Irl Ltd, Warehouse Fashion Irl Ltd and Coast Stores Irl Ltd following petitions by Rossa Fanning on behalf of the companies, the Irish Times reported. The court heard the companies have a reasonable prospect of survival if a number of conditions are met including renegotiation of rents and closure of uneconomic stores.

German fish processor and distributor Hagenah has entered the preliminary stage of an insolvency process, after failing to recover from a fire at the end of 2012, undercurrent news reported. The company, which has 145 employees and is the largest of its type in Hamburg, had been profitable for many years, said Tjark Thies, partner of the law firm Reimer Rechtsanwalte, appointed as the provisional insolvency administrator.

Israeli regulators proposed that companies that fail to make bond payments should go into insolvency proceedings after just a month and a half to improve transparency and discourage firms from overextending in the first place, Reuters reported. A panel, led by Finance Ministry Director-General Yael Andorn, made the recommendations to encourage the growth of Israel's debt market after a number of high-profile debt settlements angered the public and harmed investor confidence.

The Bank of Portugal is investigating former management of Banco Espirito Santo over suspected illegal debt issuance via a Swiss go-between to replace liabilities of the collapsed business empire of the bank's founding family with BES debt. Bank of Portugal Governor Carlos Costa told a parliament committee looking into the rescue of BES by the state in August the central bank was also examining alleged concealment of losses by family holding company Espirito Santo International (ESI) that placed its debt via BES to the bank's retail clients.

Bankers’ salaries, not just their bonuses, should be threatened if they break the rules, the Bank of England governor has said. Speaking in the wake of the $4.3bn fines for foreign exchange manipulation, Mark Carney said new pay structures were needed to rebuild trust in the banking system, and reduce risk-taking and short-term thinking, the Financial Times reported. He floated the idea of senior staff taking some of their salary as “performance bonds” citing ideas set forth last month by Bill Dudley, the president of the New York Federal Reserve.

Japan is pushing to rescue its floundering economy with a third big economic stimulus, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepared to face snap elections amid rising clamor over the wisdom of his “Abenomics” reforms. A surprise announcement early Monday that the economy contracted for a second straight quarter makes it “absolutely necessary to take countermeasures,’’ said Etsuro Honda, an architect of Mr. Abe’s economic policy, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. He called for a new $25 billion in cash handouts and tax cuts.

The Swiss private banking arm of HSBC has been charged by Belgian authorities with assisting wealthy individuals to avoid paying taxes on several billion dollars in assets, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. A Belgian investigating magistrate judge has charged the unit, HSBC Private Bank (Suisse), with serious and organized tax fraud, money laundering and unlawful exercise of the profession of financial intermediary, according to a statement by the Brussels prosecutor’s office. The activity under scrutiny occurred from 2003 to the present, prosecutors said.