Headlines

Iconic Victorian discount retailer Dimmeys is close to administration, as yesterday it copped a $3 million penalty for breaching product safety laws. Dimmeys and distribution company Starite Distributors were penalised $3 million and $600,000 respectively for breaching product safety laws on girls’ padded swimwear, baby bath toys, cosmetic sets and basketball rings. The Federal Court also ruled the director of both companies, Douglas Zappelli, be fined $120,000 and banned from managing corporations for six years.

Iceland's central bank said on Monday it will begin selling just over 100 billion crowns ($8.6 bln) worth of bonds held against assets and claims left with it as the nation's banks collapsed during the global financial crisis, Reuters reported. The sale of the indexed bonds by the Central Bank of Iceland Holding Company ehf (ESI) would begin within the next six months and be carried out in stages over five years, the bank said in a statement on its website.

Caribbean countries are lobbying furiously for an extensive international debt relief and investment programme, as politicians become increasingly anxious over the social impact of the region’s economic crisis and the resulting government austerity, the Financial Times reported. Most of the dozen anglophone countries in the tropical archipelago off the coast of the US are struggling with large government debts and lacklustre economies after the global financial crisis hurt tourism, the dominant industry of the Caribbean.

When a runaway Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train hauling 72 tankers of Bakken crude oil derailed and exploded in the majestic town of Lac Megantic, Que., killing 47 people and destroying more than 40 buildings on July 6, 2013, it set in motion what is expected to be one of the most compelling and complex cross-border insolvencies ever tackled by Canadian and U.S. courts, Canadian Lawyer reported in a commentary.

Britain ushered in a new era of banking industry oversight on Monday when MPs gave their final approval to reforms aimed at tackling the structural and cultural failings which led to the near-collapse of the country's financial sector, Reuters reported. The reforms are the result of a lengthy legislative process started after the 2007/8 financial crisis and a series of mis-selling and rate-fixing scandals which shone a light on illegal and unethical behaviour at some of Britain's banks.

Hidden behind the tug of war over whether Ukraine will cast its lot with Europe or Russia is the prospect of bankruptcy. Someone will need to chip in at least $10 billion in the coming months, if Ukraine wants to keep its economy afloat, the Associated Press reported. With talks on resuming credit from the International Monetary Fund stalled, President Viktor Yanukovych heads to Moscow on Tuesday to see what Russia might offer in exchange for freezing a strategic trade deal with the European Union.

With Christmas just weeks away 76 people have lost their jobs as another Mackay business has been forced to close its doors. MACS Engineering went into voluntary administration yesterday with Derrick Vickers and Darryl Kirk, of PwC, appointed as administrators. The decision has come as a shock to many. Director Simon Mortess only spoke with the Daily Mercury in August about the company's expectation of riding out the mining downturn. At the time, Mr Mortess said they had decided to diversify their business into coal seam gas, which was part of a strategy that started two years ago.

Fears are growing that the eurozone’s proposed new banking regime will be too bureaucratic for the task of handling a sudden collapse of a cross-border institution. The latest proposals could see up to 126 people being consulted on how to wind up a bank, even though agreement might need to be reached over the course of a weekend while financial markets are closed. Some senior officials are warning the proposals are too cumbersome.

German solar company S.A.G. Solarstrom AG has filed for insolvency, making it the latest in a string of photovoltaic companies to buckle under intense international competition, The Wall Street Journal reported. Delayed cash inflows left the company in a liquidity squeeze, S.A.G. Solarstrom said Friday, and talks with banks, financial services providers and other creditors have been unable to secure the liquidity needed to guarantee the timely payment of liabilities. "Altogether, a sum of over €20 million ($27.5 million) is lacking.

Bank of America has advised clients to take out default insurance against Chinese debt, warning that monetary tightening by China’s central bank risks setting off a bout of serious credit stress in 2014, The Telegraph reported. Bin Yao, the bank’s credit strategist in Asia, said Chinese bond yields have already risen to the highest in a decade as the authorities seek to rein in rampant growth of the M2 money supply and excess credit, yet markets remain “complacent” about the implications.