Headlines

Canadian wireless startup Mobilicity said on Tuesday it will participate in an upcoming government auction of airwaves. The struggling wireless carrier, which sought creditor protection in the fall of 2013, has been trying unsuccessfully to find a buyer for months after its attempts to sell to well-established rival Telus were stymied by the Canadian government, which is seeking to boost competition in the wireless sector.

Troubled Chinese property developer Kaisa Group failed to remove a local government block on sales at its Shenzhen projects during talks with public officials on Monday, a company source familiar with the discussions said. Kaisa's top executives held a high-level meeting with senior Shenzhen government officials on Monday afternoon in the Longgang district in northern Shenzhen, where two of Kaisa's new projects are blocked, according to the source. "There was no progress at all in the meeting," the Kaisa executive said.

Corporate debt restructurings will become easier in France under proposals being considered by lawmakers to restrict shareholder involvement in the process, Bloomberg News reported. France’s Parliament will begin discussions today on a reform bill to bolster the nation’s growth potential. Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron is proposing to speed up insolvency procedures by making it simpler for companies to negotiate with lenders.

Greece and its creditors veered toward confrontation as its new, leftist government pledged to make good on promises to reverse years of public-spending cuts despite warnings from Berlin and other European capitals that doing so could plunge the country, and Europe, into deeper crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The trial against three former managers of the independent utilities discounter Teldafax resumed on Monday, putting an end to a nearly year-long suspension, Deutsche Welle reported. Last February, Teldafax's former senior executives, Klaus Bath, Gernot Koch and Michael Josten, had stood before a Bonn district court and were facing charges of delayed filing for insolvency, unlawful bookkeeping and organized fraud to cover up a bankruptcy. But shortly after the start of the trial, the hearings went into hiatus because the court declared itself not responsible for the case.

Thailand's military-led government has approved a restructuring plan for Thai Airways International PCL in a bid to restore profitability to the national carrier's operations, a senior government official said on Monday, Reuters reported. State-controlled Thai Airways is one of the major state companies to undergo reform after the military seized power from an elected government in a May coup. The restructuring includes measures to cut operating costs, boost revenue and sell some non-core assets, said Kulit Sombatsiri, director general of the State Enterprise Policy Office.

Former Smart50 finalist Paid International has entered voluntary administration, just months after the online finance provider agreed to refund $1.128 million to customers who were charged excessive loan fees, SmartCompany.au reported. Ian Francis and John Park of FTI Consulting were appointed administrators of Paid International on January 22. The first meeting of creditors is scheduled to take place in Perth on February 4.

AT&T Inc said on Monday it would buy bankrupt NII Holdings Inc's wireless business in Mexico for $1.875 billion in a move to create a larger Mexican wireless player that will have a better chance of competing with No. 1 America Movil, Reuters reported. NII Holdings, the parent of Nextel operators in Latin America, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States in September after struggling with $5.8 billion in debt and fierce competition in Brazil and Mexico. It is still exploring options for its larger Brazilian operations.

Perhaps more than any other financial figure, Mark Carney has the job of ensuring that the world’s largest banks are no longer a great danger to the economies in which they operate, the International New York Times reported. Mr. Carney, who is attending the World Economic Forum here, is governor of the Bank of England. But he is also the chairman of the Financial Stability Board, a powerful group that is made up of financial regulators from around the world.

Fears that thousands of homeowners are facing repossession ahead of an election has prompted Taoiseach Enda Kenny to call in the head of the State Insolvency Service for a meeting on Wednesday. There is concern in Government that few debt deals between banks and homeowners are being done, leaving those in arrears vulnerable to having their homes taken from them, Independent.ie reported. Some 30,000 homeowners have received letters from their banks threatening repossession. These arrears cases could end up swamping the courts just as an election is called, in 2016.