Headlines

European leaders are balking at providing additional financial aid for Ukraine despite an urgent need to fill a $15bn funding gap as criticism of Kiev’s reform efforts mounts, the Financial Times reported. The International Monetary Fund has identified the hole in Ukraine’s public finances, prompting Kiev to seek assistance from European and other governments to avoid a possible default.

Creditors approved Brazilian shipbuilder OSX Brasil SA's revamped plan to emerge from bankruptcy late on Wednesday, giving a boost to efforts by controlling shareholder Eike Batista to keep the company afloat while refinancing over $2.6 billion in debt, Reuters reported. OSX's own bankruptcy protection plan, as well as those from subsidiaries OSX Construção Naval SA and OSX Serviços Operacionais Ltda, were approved by an assembly of creditors in Rio de Janeiro, according to a securities filing. OSX had introduced a revamped plan a month ago.

Mediafax Group, owned by media mogul Adrian Sarbu, has officially entered insolvency, according to the ruling of The Bucharest Court, after submitting an official request, Business Review reported. The Bucharest Court has nominated KPMG Restructuring as temporary legal administrator, with a fee of RON 5,000, according to paginademedia.ro. Mediafax Group requested its own insolvency on November 27. The company is being investigated under accusations of tax evasion and money laundry. Mediafax Group.

Altos Hornos de Mexico SA, the steelmaker known as Ahmsa, said it asked a judge to end its 15-year bankruptcy following an agreement with a majority of creditors that calls for repayment of $1.7 billion. Creditors will be called to a meeting to confirm their acceptance of the deal, which proposes a three-year payback in pesos, Ahmsa said in a statement today to the Mexican stock exchange. That session would pave the way to exit a restructuring case begun in 1999, the company said.

Portugal's securities market regulator, CMVM, said on Wednesday Angolan billionaire businesswoman Isabel dos Santos has to increase the 1.35 euro a share price in her takeover bid for Portugal Telecom SGPS. CMVM said in a statement it did not accept arguments presented by Dos Santos' Terra Peregrin company for an exemption from the rule that dictates that the bidding price has to be at least the share's average price over the last six months.

The battered ruble plunged to a record low against the dollar again Tuesday, as investors grew convinced that the Russian central bank’s surprise move overnight to jack up interest rates to 17% wouldn’t be enough to alleviate the pressure on the currency from falling oil prices and western sanctions, The Wall Street Journal reported. By early afternoon in Moscow, the ruble dropped sharply, reaching 80 to the dollar, a record low and a 15% decline from opening levels when it rallied briefly. At 4:30 p.m. local time, the dollar was trading around 73 rubles.

Showing classic symptoms of a mania, Chinese investors are borrowing heavily to buy stocks and flipping them quickly, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. On average, they are holding them for barely two weeks, compared with four months in the US. This is just the latest frenzy to hit China and its origins date back to 2008. After the global financial crisis hit, Beijing tried to sustain its growth rate by pouring record amounts of money into the economy.

The results from the Bank of England’s latest health check on Britain’s top banks are in, with one bank failing, one coming razor close to failing and a third looking bad enough at the end of 2013 to warrant significant fund-raising, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported.

German developer and publisher BitComposer has filed for insolvency. The studio claimed its own problems stemmed from “the financial difficulties of its suppliers in game development”. As a result, it said, it could not complete work on its new titles and subsequently missed financial targets. BitComposer had applied for a protective shield procedure on September 26th. This protected the company from foreclosure from creditors, while also allowing it to develop an insolvency plan. During this period the firm was able to publish additional titles.

India’s government said banks may be asked to lend as much as 6 billion rupees ($94 million) to billionaire Kalanithi Maran’s SpiceJet Ltd., as the indebted airline seeks investment over the next two months to keep flying, Bloomberg News reported. The loans would be guaranteed by Maran and repaid as soon as investment was secured, part of a package of steps to prevent a shutdown that would damage India’s airline industry, the government said in New Delhi late yesterday.