Headlines

Portugal's central bank issued a resounding warning Thursday to the government and banks that while the country has successfully exited a €78 billion ($106.6 billion) bailout program, much more needs to be done to put the economy on the right track, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Bank of Portugal's warning came hours after the country's statistics agency said the economy had contracted 0.7% in the first quarter of the year from the previous three months, as exports slowed.

Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) Kelly Tomblin says that the pressure from stolen electricity across the island is driving the power company into insolvency, the Jamaica Observer reported. Tomblin, speaking at a press conference at JPS’s New Kingston headquarters Thursday, said that in the two-year period 2012/2013 the power company lost US$73 million to stolen electricity. “The ship is going to sink under this weight. If this continues it might mean insolvency,” Tomblin declared at the company’s Knutsford Boulevard headquarters.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge signed off on the sale of some €15 billion ($20.6 billion) of soured loans on the books of what was once one of Ireland's largest banks as the country digs out from the wreckage of its collapsed property market, The Wall Street Journal reported. Judge Christopher Sontchi on Tuesday approved Irish Bank Resolution Corp.'s sale of the loan portfolios at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

Hungary’s parliament, in its first decision in the new term, this week passed a bill to extend an eviction moratorium for foreign-currency mortgage debtors, The Wall Street Journal Emerging Europe Real Time blog reported. The moratorium, which also involves debtors who are late with their loan payback, will be in place until the government works out a solution for all households with debts in foreign currencies. The current law only affects debtors who haven’t got anywhere else to stay, but gives no value limit on properties in question.

Top officials of the European Central Bank sent strong signals on Wednesday that action to stimulate the economy was all but certain next month. But they also made it clear that the bank was unlikely to make a powerful injection of money into the economy, the International New York Times reported. Such a boost, which the Federal Reserve accomplished in the United States through huge purchases of government bonds, is seen by many analysts as necessary to prevent the euro zone from tipping into a new crisis. At its meeting in June, the E.C.B.

Nama decided to enforce loans of €77 million against businessman Harry Crosbie because he failed to disclose substantial assets, including three apartments in the south of France, when asked to provide details of all assets held by himself and his family, the Commercial Court heard yesterday. Mr Crosbie incorrectly told Nama he had no uncharged assets when the agency provided €32 million in taxpayer’s money to complete the Point Village development when, in fact, Mr Crosbie did hold unencumbered assets, Mr Justice David Keane was told, the Irish Times reported.

Russian companies are facing tougher lending restrictions from western banks as sanctions against the country start to bite. Banks are insisting that new loans to Russian businesses that are not directly targeted by sanctions carry clauses forcing immediate repayment or default if sanctions affect those companies. “If someone sneezes towards your company, the loan becomes immediately due and payable,” said the chief financial officer of a large Russian group. Loan deals have almost dried up in the past two months since the Ukraine crisis erupted and Moscow annexed Crimea.

The fugitive businessman who controlled Mexicana airlines before it went bankrupt and was recently charged with illegal use of the airline's funds has asked for asylum in the United States, a federal official said Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Assistant Attorney General Mariana Benitez said that Gaston Azcarraga is in the United States and has applied for asylum following the expiration of his visa. U.S. officials notified Mexico that Azcarraga is in their country a few days ago, Benitez said. She added that Mexico requested that he be extradited but U.S.

Germany has intervened to prevent bailed-out bank Depfa from falling into US hands just hours before a deal was about to be struck, the Financial Times reported. The government’s financial market stabilisation fund, known as Soffin, said on Tuesday evening that Depfa should be wound down by the German authorities rather than sold for what would have been €320m to US investor Leucadia, according to people familiar with the deal.

Codere SA, the Spanish gaming company negotiating a 1.1 billion-euro ($1.5 billion) debt restructuring, said it has less than 24 hours to reach an accord with bondholders and neither side can guarantee a deal in time, Bloomberg News reported. In Codere’s latest restructuring proposal, bondholders would get 70 percent of the company’s equity while shareholders would hold 30 percent, the Madrid-based company said in a filing.