Headlines

Brazilian federal police carried out search-and-seizure requests Tuesday against several local politicians, including former President Fernando Collor de Mello, as part of an investigation into an alleged corruption scheme at state-run oil firm Petróleo Brasileiro SA, The Wall Street Journal reported. The police seized documents in the home and offices of several congressmen, including Mr. de Mello, according to a police spokesman. The spokesman declined to name the other politicians whose homes and offices were searched. From Mr.

With Hong Kong riven by political deadlock, politicians and investors have repeatedly warned in recent years that the financial centre risks sliding into irrelevance as its Chinese rivals Shanghai and Shenzhen go from strength to strength, the Financial Times reported. But some argue that China’s latest bout of stock market turmoil — and Beijing’s panicked response — has provided an unexpected boon to Hong Kong, highlighting the open nature of its financial markets and its more robust regulatory system.

Venezuela must refinance its foreign debt to improve government cash flow in the face of recession and soaring inflation, opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Tuesday, but added a default would have "terrible consequences" for the country. The OPEC nation is struggling with the shrinking economy and chronic shortages of basic goods following last year's oil market rout, with bond payments taking up a growing portion of available hard currency. "We must sit down immediately and seek better conditions for debt payment," Capriles told a news conference.

Greece succumbed to its European creditors’ demands, agreeing to adopt punishing austerity measures within days and submit to other major concessions to rescue it from a financial meltdown and keep its place in the eurozone, The Wall Street Journal reported. The deal—hammered out early Monday after 22 hours of often-acrimonious negotiations among the currency union’s leaders and finance ministers—would provide Athens with as much as €86 billion ($96 billion) in fresh bailout loans over the next three years.

Greek banks have been dragged back from the edge of the precipice. Had marathon talks failed to produce an agreement on Monday, Greece’s four big banks would have collapsed. Instead, they will get 25 billion euros in recapitalization resources. But there’s still plenty to fret about, the International New York Times reported. Lenders are almost out of liquidity. Despite capital controls limiting withdrawals to €60 a day, the sector will run out of cash sometime this week, a person familiar with the situation estimates.

China’s jobless data suggest weakening growth hasn’t dragged down employment. But a new study by the International Monetary Fund points to factors that could obscure signs of strain in the country’s job market, The Wall Street Journal reported. China’s registered jobless rate has remained stable at around 4% in recent years.

Reports of suspicious bank transactions in Italy jumped 10 per cent to a record high last year as the pervasive problems of organised crime, corruption and tax evasion were exacerbated by a three-year economic slump, the central bank said on Monday, the Irish Times reported. The financial downturn had given cash-rich mafia groups the opportunity to tighten their grip on the economy as, with banks reducing lending, the criminal networks boosted their investments in the real economy, investigators have said.

The wife of bankrupt developer Sean Dunne wants orders permitting her lawyers to cross-examine a US lawyer about his sworn statements in support of Irish proceedings challenging the validity of transfers of valuable assets by Mr Dunne to his wife the Irish Times reported. The Commercial Court will later this month hear Gayle Dunne’s application for orders permitting the cross-examination of Timothy Miltenberger, who has sworn affidavits on behalf of Richard Coan, the US trustee administering Sean Dunne’s US bankruptcy.

An inquiry into insolvency in the construction industry should visit Adelaide to listen to the experience of the building industry in the wake of the collapse of Tagara Builders, according to a union official, ABC News reported. Tagara had about $70 million in projects across South Australia before it went into liquidation in June owing more than $20 million. Creditors will meet with liquidators Clifton Hall on Tuesday for the first time to hear about the business' position.

Many Greeks went to bed on Friday thinking that their government and its creditors had all but completed a deal that would keep the country in the eurozone and was acceptable all around, even though it contained another raft of austerity measures, the International New York Times reported. But by midday Saturday any sense of relief was gone, replaced by anxiety as negotiations in Brussels took a tough turn.