Headlines

In its latest attempt to circumvent US courts, Argentina will seek to pay nearly $200m due on its restructured bonds by disbursing the money to investors next week via a local bank instead of Bank of New York Mellon, its trustee, the Financial Times reported. In response, holders of the country’s defaulted bonds have asked US District Judge Thomas Griesa to find the nation in contempt of court and fine it $50,000 for seeking to evade legal rulings that require Argentina to pay them in full if it also services its restructured debt.

Former board members of Barclays have been called on to give evidence to the UK’s anti-fraud agency as part of a probe into the bank’s dealings with Qatar over an emergency cash injection at the height of the financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. The Serious Fraud Office has served Section 2 notices on directors who were on the board when Barclays sought £5.8bn from Qatari investors in 2008 – enabling the bank to avoid a bailout.

Infineon Technologies AG and its former memory chip unit Qimonda AG on Wednesday reached a partial out- of-court settlement over an insolvency dispute, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the agreement, German semiconductor company Infineon will pay 260 million euros ($334 million) to the bankrupt unit. Infineon said it would pay a settlement of €135 million and acquire all patents of Qimonda for an additional €125 million. The partial settlement is covered by provisions already recognized and Infineon will pay from existing liquidity, it said.

U.S. Steel Canada says a proposal from its parent company and largest secured creditor to lend $185 million will let the insolvent steelmaker maintain its operations for another year and begin a process to sell its two Ontario operations, the Toronto Star reported on a Canadian Press story. According to court documents, company president and general manager Michael McQuade said the proposed debtor-in-possession (DIP) funding was “appropriate” with better terms for it than other creditor proceedings.

South Korea's No. 3 smartphone maker, Pantech Co., which has been under court receivership, is now up for sale on Wednesday, in a desperate move to get the company back on its feet, the Yonhap News Agency reported. The latest development came as the Seoul Central District Court gave its nod to a plan by Pantech creditors led by the Korea Development Bank to sell the company, a month after it commenced the troubled firm's court receivership program. Sale manager Samgjong KPMG will accept bids from potential buyers until 3 p.m. on Oct. 7.

Cash-strapped China's National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) said on Wednesday it would lay off up to 200 staff at its Saab car plant in Sweden as production is unlikely to resume anytime soon, Reuters reported. NEVS, which bought the bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab in 2012, halted already-low output in May because of a shortage of money. In August, it obtained protection from creditors through a Swedish court while trying to secure funding.

The World Bank on Wednesday slashed its forecast for Russia's economy over the next two years, saying growth would stagnate amid a lack of structural reforms and Western sanctions over Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict, The Wall Street Journal reported. In its biannual report, the World Bank cut its forecast for Russian economic growth to 0.3% in 2015 and 0.4% in 2016 under its baseline scenario from 1.5% and 2.2%, respectively—well below the government's estimates.

Netzoptiker, the Limburg-based mail order glasses company backed by Rocket Internet and Omnes Capital, has filed for insolvency with the German Handelsregister. A filing at Handelsregister, Germany's version of Companies House, states that a provisional liquidator has been appointed. Rocket holds a 42% stake in the online store according to Handelsregister. News of the filing comes at a time when start-up accelerator Rocket Internet, itself backed by Investment AB Kinnevik, is preparing its imminent listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

More than a week into the strike by French pilots against Air France-KLM, the two sides are stuck in a holding pattern. The only certainty seems to be that the dispute is doing severe financial damage to the airline, the International New York Times reported. With the cost of the pilots’ walkout now approaching 20 million euros, or $26 million, per day, investors and politicians can only wonder whether the opposing parties’ shared commitment to the airline’s survival will prove strong enough to avert disaster.

Eco City Vehicles said Mercedes-Benz had terminated a financing and trading deal making the British firm the sole distributor of the Mercedes Vito model that is licensed for use as a London taxi, in the latest blow for the stricken company, Reuters reported. Its shares have been suspended since Friday when it said that its One80 subsidiary was facing potential administration, leading to "uncertainty as to the group's financial position and prospects".