Headlines

R3 has called for reforms to legal funding for insolvency cases, returning money from rogue directors to creditors, the treatment of small business creditors in football insolvencies, the government's approach to being a creditor in insolvencies and a comprehensive update of the personal insolvency regime, Accountancy Age reported. Every year, £160m is returned to creditors (mainly small businesses and HMRC) as a result of legal action against directors of insolvent companies who have wrongly, negligently, or fraudulently taken creditors' money.

A former senior banker at a leading British bank became the first person in Britain to plead guilty to a criminal charge in a continuing inquiry into the manipulation of a global benchmark interest rate, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The former banker pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to defraud in connection with manipulating the London interbank offered rate, or Libor.

Well-known helicopter company Helipro has put itself into receivership, Stuff.co.nz reported. Helipro employs about 70 staff, with eight bases throughout New Zealand and operations in Fiji and Australia. As well as commercial and tourism helicopter flights, the company provides maintenance services, and helicopter and fixed-wing flight training. PwC partners John Fisk and David Bridgeman were appointed as receivers yesterday to Rick Lucas Helicopters Ltd and related entities which trade as Helipro, at the request of the companies' director.

Greece’s creditors insist the country should retain access to bailout funds next year even as the government seeks an almost-balanced budget for the first time in decades, two officials with knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg News reported. The country’s budget deficit will shrink to 338 million euros ($424 million) next year, or 0.2 percent of gross domestic product, from 1.41 billion euros, or 0.8 percent of GDP, this year, according to the 2015 draft budget, which was submitted to parliament today.

The Ontario Superior Court has adjourned a hearing on U.S. Steel Canada Inc. under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, The Globe and Mail reported. The hearing has been postponed until Tuesday so lawyers can try to negotiate a deal on debtor-in-possession financing. The key issue is the plan by the steel maker’s parent, United States Steel Corp., to provide $185-million in debtor-in-possession financing for the Canadian unit. That plan is opposed by the Ontario government and the United Steelworkers union, which argue that it gives U.S.

Euro Disney has agreed a €1 billion funding deal backed by its largest shareholder, the Walt Disney, which includes a share sale and a debt restructuring, to allow it to invest in the business, the Irish Times reported. Euro Disney, the entertainment resort based in an eastern suburb of Paris, is 40 per cent owned by parent Walt Disney (DIS.N) and 10 per cent by the Saudi prince AlWaleed bin Talal. As part of the offer Walt Disney would be required to launch a tender offer on Euro Disney shares.

As Asian countries roll out Basel III frameworks for their banks, the CEO of Singapore's biggest lender has warned that the more stringent bank capital rules for the region's already well-capitalised lenders may hurt economic growth in the region, Reuters reported. "Asia's banking system is already strong as (banks) generally emerged unscathed from the global financial crisis. If the new rules try to make it super strong, what gives is the capacity of the banks to provide credit," said Piyush Gupta, CEO at DBS.

Consumers will face new restrictions in January on the amount of money they can borrow to buy a house or apartment as the Central Bank moves to damp down the property market, the Irish Times reported. As values recover rapidly in Dublin, the Central Bank’s intervention is seen as an effort to prevent the risk of a new price bubble by placing limits on the amount of money banks can lend for mortgages. The Central Bank will set out proposals today to impose new loan-to-value limits on mortgage lending, as well as loan-to-income caps.

The International Monetary Fund Monday backed a gradual exchange of government bonds around the world with new contracts to counter risks that holdout creditors could disrupt potential debt restructurings, The Wall Street Journal reported. The IMF, along with some investors and economists, have warned that U.S. legal rulings that forced Argentina’s hand in a long battle with holdout creditors could imperil other debt operations because they give a small minority outsized power.

The European Central Bank’s plans to buy rebundled packages of debt have drawn sharp criticism from officials in Germany, including the head of the Bundesbank, the ECB’s former chief economist and allies of chancellor Angela Merkel, the Irish Times reported. On Thursday, the ECB laid out plans to buy reparcelled debt and covered bonds, secured on solid assets such as property. It will include buying debt with a “junk” credit rating from Greece and Cyprus as long as such countries are under a formal international financial programme.