Headlines

Facing Western sanctions and low oil prices, Russian companies are lining up for subsidies from the government. But the demand for bailouts is quickly outstripping the supply of money, raising the prospect of an economic crisis here if the funds run out, the International Herald Tribune reported. With the economy flailing, the Russian government set up a corporate bailout program last year, tapping one of the country’s sovereign wealth funds. Almost immediately, companies started applying. The state-owned oil giant Rosneft has requested $21.3 billion.

Despite the critical breakthrough made on foreclosures legislation on Friday, when the cabinet approved the fifth and final bill comprising the insolvency framework, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades’ optimism that both bills will be voted by the House may yet prove misplaced, the Cyprus Mail reported. Opposition parties on Monday continued to voice reservations – or outright rejection – with regard to their provisions.

Disgraced liquidator Stuart Ariff will be released on parole on March 25 after serving four years in jail on 19 counts of criminal fraud, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Ariff, who triggered a Senate inquiry into the insolvency industry in 2010 and a set of recommendations that called for an overhaul of the sector, will serve the remainder of his six-year sentence supervised on parole until it ends in September 2017.

Despite the European accord last month to extend a financial lifeline to Greece, Athens is rapidly running out of cash, the International New York Times reported. So it is scrambling to find new, even radical ways to fill the shortfall — including a proposal to recruit citizens and tourists to spy on suspected tax evaders. Greece’s coffers may be empty before the end of this month, as tax receipts shrink and the economy shows signs of lapsing back into recession.

The liquidation of IBRC has created a surplus which is likely to be enough to pay off all the unsecured creditors, an update to be published by the liquidators shortly will reveal. This is good news for the exchequer, as it means it will recoup the €1.1 billion paid to depositors on foot of State guarantees, the Irish Times reported. However it also now looks certain that cash will be left to pay off the €270 million owed to junior bondholders of the former Anglo Irish Bank, who would receive their money back after ordinary unsecured creditors are paid in full.

The guarantor’s obligation to repay any amount outstanding after considering the value of any collateral posted by borrowers is included in the fifth and final insolvency bill, which was approved by the cabinet on Friday, Cyprus Mail reported. The set of laws is designed to protect insolvent borrowers.

China property developer Kaisa Group Ltd will hold a conference call for its offshore bondholders next week to discuss a proposed restructuring plan, a notice on the company's website said, Reuters reported. The call, to be held on Monday morning at 1000 local time(0200 GMT), will provide an overview of the struggling homebuilder's current situation, the proposed acquisition of the company by Sunac China, and its restructuring plan.

Venezuela will begin installing some 20,000 fingerprint scanners at supermarkets nationwide in a bid to stamp out hoarding and panic buying, which the government blames for long lines and widespread shortages of basic goods, The Wall Street Journal reported. The oil-rich nation has been selectively rolling out the rationing system for months at state-run supermarkets along the western border with Colombia, where smuggling of price-controlled goods is a major problem.

Sierra Leone-focused mining company African Minerals said on Friday it will appoint administrators after failing to repay its lender and partner in the Tonkolili iron ore project Shandong Iron and Steel Group, Reuters reported. After taking on some of African Minerals' debt from banks and demanding immediate repayment last week, Shandong, which owns 25 percent in Tonkolili, took control of the holding companies in the project.

The European Central Bank will begin its big new stimulus program on Monday, the bank’s president, Mario Draghi, said. He predicted improvements in the economy and in the eurozone’s inflation picture as a result of the effort, the International New York Times reported. The starting date, announced on Thursday, was one of many details the financial markets had been awaiting since the central bank announced in January that it would embark on a program of large-scale asset purchases intended to fix the collapse in consumer prices.