Headlines

State-run Caixa Econômica Federa l, Brazil's largest mortgage lender, is considering options to get rid of bad loans and free up capital, including the sale of pools of distressed credit to investors, two sources said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Up to 3.2 billion reais ($1.4 billion) worth of defaulted loans could be sold to funds that specialize in dealing with distressed assets, the sources said. Alternatives under study include the sale of securities backed by pools of bad loans, according to the first source, who declined to be identified because the matter has yet to be decided.

Thirty-three years after its foundation and having been one of the Greek fish-farming sector’s biggest players, Selonda Aquaculture SA is about to pass into the hands of its creditors, ekathimerini.com reported. After months of negotiations with banks and several failed attempts to merge the firm with Dias Aquaculture and then Nireus, Selonda has come to an agreement with the banks that includes the capitalization of outstanding loans of 50 million euros and the issue of corporate bonds up to 105 million euros.

Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd plans to take Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) private as the first step in a major restructuring of the loss-making airline following the disappearance of its Flight MH370, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. A de-listing would pave the way for Khazanah to revive the ailing carrier, possibly by selling off its profitable engineering, airport services or budget airline units, trimming its bloated payroll and installing a new management team.

Nepal Insolvency Practitioners´ Association (NIPA) in association with Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is organizing a two-day seminar on ´Insolvency Law: Local Issues, Global Views” in a bid to discuss the country´s insolvency law, República reported. According to the organizers, the seminar, which will begin in Kathmandu on July 8, will dwell on legal frameworks, international practices on the resolution of failing banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies, liquidation, and the roles of various stakeholders in the insolvency process, among others.

Securities regulators in Portugal and Britain have temporarily banned short-selling in Banco Espírito Santo after the Portuguese lender’s stock fell more than 16 percent on Monday on fears about its corporate parent, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Late Monday, the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários of Portugal suspended short-selling in Banco Espírito Santo and in the Espírito Santo Financial Group, which owns about a quarter of the bank’s stock. The Financial Conduct Authority of Britain followed suit on Tuesday.

The European Central Bank is yet to take any firm decisions on how it intends to revive the market for securitisation, despite a pledge last month to intensify efforts to reinvigorate an asset class branded as “toxic sludge” during the financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. The eurozone’s top central bankers will gather in Frankfurt this week to discuss economic developments.

Civil engineering company Protech Khuthele is applying for liquidation. This was announced in a Sens statement released on Tuesday, Moneyweb reported. At the end of May, Protech announced that it had voluntarily started with for business rescue proceedings, filing on June 2. It said it had received demands for immediate repayment for project expenses which it was unable to meet. "The main cash flows that Protech currently receives are payments from debtors for current and completed projects.

The unemployment rate in the euro zone remained close to a high in May, according to official data released on Tuesday, a reminder that despite modest growth, the recession has never ended for millions of Europeans, the International New York Times reported. The jobless rate in the 18-nation euro zone in May was 11.6 percent, unchanged from the revised rate for April, according to Eurostat, the European Union statistics agency. The rate for April was revised downward from a previously reported 11.7 percent. Economists had expected the rate in May to again be 11.7 percent.

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has less than a month to choose between two unpalatable options: fulfilling a vow never to pay off creditor hedge funds, or negotiating with them to avoid a rerun of the 2001 debt crisis that forced a predecessor to flee the presidential palace in a helicopter, Bloomberg News reported.

Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron’s chain of discount ­retail stores has fallen into receivership for the third time in five years, putting more than 2500 jobs at risk, The Australian reported. Control of DSG Holdings Australia, the company behind discount retail chains Crazy Clarks and Sam’s Warehouse, was yesterday put into the hands of receivers David Winterbottom and Rahul Goyal of corporate advisory firm KordaMentha Restructuring.