Headlines

British regulators have exempted junior non-executive directors of banks and insurance companies from a tough new personal liability regime which could make them criminally liable for bank failures, the Financial Times reported. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), had originally planned to include all non-executive directors of banks and insurers in its new rules, after criticism that those running collapsed UK banks could not be held personally liable for their institutions’ demise.

Cash-strapped private oilsands producer Laricina Energy Ltd. is shutting down its Germain commercial demonstration project and will halt planning on its joint-venture Saleski project as its fruitless search for investment dollars enters its fourth month, the Calgary Herald reported. “This action reflects the company’s continuing efforts to implement cost controls towards maintaining its financial position to protect the long-term value of its assets in this difficult commodity and capital markets environment,” Laricina said in a news release on its website Monday.

A third dry cargo shipper has filed for bankruptcy this month following a collapse in freight rates to historic lows in what shippers call the worst market conditions since the 1980s, Commodities Now reported. South Korea's Daebo International Shipping Co Ltd filed a court receivership, a form of corporate bankruptcy, on Feb. 11, mainly due to poor dry bulk market conditions, a company official said on Monday. It is the third known bulk shipper bankruptcy this month.

Greek leaders scrambled on Sunday to come up with a list of proposed changes to the nation’s austerity program that would be acceptable to their creditors by a Monday deadline, even as they faced a revolt by members of their own radical-left party, angered that the government had bent to demands by Brussels, the International New York Times reported.

Portugal plans to make an early payment of about €14 billion of its bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund after borrowing costs dropped, prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho said, the Irish Times reported. “The market conditions that Portugal has access to now are more favourable that those agreed on with the IMF and therefore we will save in the future by paying part of the IMF loan early,” Mr Coelho said.

India’s legion of heavily indebted companies took heart last week as shares in Suzlon Energy soared nearly a third on news that the ailing wind-turbine manufacturer had sold a 23 per cent stake to Dilip Shanghvi, the billionaire pharmaceutical tycoon, for Rs18bn ($290m), the Financial Times reported. The investment drew attention partly because of its buyer. Mr Shanghvi, India’s second-richest man, boasts a reputation as a canny entrepreneur.

As a virtual monopoly in a country with some of the most promising offshore oil reserves in the world, Petrobras has a web of relationships with most of the global leaders in the sector, the Financial Times reported. Those linked to the growing scandal, which some estimate cost Petrobras up to $20bn, will potentially face scrutiny not only from Brazilian investigators but also from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice.

Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s president, swept back to power in 2013 on the back of pledges to fight inequality and put an end to the deeply entrenched privileges enjoyed by the country’s traditional elite, the Financial Times reported. So her government’s credibility took a serious blow when the single mother’s eldest son, Sebastián Dávalos, was earlier this month accused of using his influence to secure a bank loan. The ensuing uproar was such that he was forced to resign last week as head of a charitable foundation normally run by Chile’s first lady.

Shareholders in technology developer Altobridge say that questions remain to be answered over the decision to place it in receivership last year, the Irish Times reported. Intel Capital and the World Bank appointed a receiver to Altobridge last year on foot of a secured debt in a move that resulted in the loss of 45 jobs at its base in Tralee, Co Kerry and a further 85 in its offices outside Ireland. The exchequer footed the bill for the Irish workers’ statutory redundancy payments, which came to more than €270,000, through the Department of Social Protection.

Greece is headed toward a potentially destructive standoff with Europe after Germany rejected a last-minute request on Thursday to extend its loan program, the International New York Times reported. Unless the two sides can bridge their differences, Greece could find itself cut off from its financial lifeline and facing insolvency. The country’s current bailout program is set to expire in little more than a week. Neither country seems willing to budge at this point.