Headlines

The U.S. and Canadian judges overseeing the long-deadlocked bankruptcy of Nortel Networks Corp. have ruled that a joint cross-border trial will be held later this year to determine how to divvy up the defunct company’s remaining $9-billion, The Globe and Mail reported. Mr. Justice Geoffrey Morawetz of the Ontario Superior Court and Chief Judge Kevin Gross of the U.S.

Grenada’s government will undertake a “comprehensive and collaborative restructuring of its public debt, it announced this weekend, the Caribbean Journal reported. The government said “circumstances have forced” the move, which will include its US and Eastern Caribbean-denominated bonds due in 2025.

International lenders would like Cyprus to raise its corporate tax and introduce a levy on capital gains and a financial transaction tax to ensure it can repay a euro zone bailout it asked for last year, euro zone officials said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Cyprus needs up to 17 billion euros (14.8 billion pounds) - almost as much as its annual gross domestic product - in emergency loans, mostly to recapitalise its oversized banking sector, hit by a Greek debt restructuring, but also to service debt and government expenses.

Bankrupt telecoms equipment giant Nortel Networks once boasted of a global operation, but now its former world-wide units are squaring off over its last remaining asset: $9 billion in cash. Two judges, one in Wilmington, Delaware, and the other in Toronto, will jointly hear arguments on Thursday that will ultimately decide how, and when, to carve up that money, Thomson Reuters News & Insight reported. The outcome will determine how much will be available for tens of thousands of retirees, governments and hedge funds investors. "The issues which remain for decision are imposing," U.S.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi played down fears that Italy's indecisive election could reignite Europe's debt crisis, saying financial markets have taken the election results in stride and that Italy's current political mess doesn't threaten its budget discipline, The Wall Street Journal reported. The ECB announced no new measures after its monthly meeting Thursday to spur economic growth in the euro zone, despite cutting its inflation forecasts for 2014 to well below the bank's 2% target.

One year after she predicted massive oil-sands-fueled surpluses, Alberta Premier Alison Redford is taking on debt and rolling out an austerity budget – one that flat-lines spending, abandons many of her election promises and will see the province borrow $12-billion over three years for infrastructure projects, The Globe and Mail reported. Ms. Redford’s budget, tabled Thursday, signals tough times ahead for Canada’s richest province, due in large part to forecasts of plunging oil revenue that would, ultimately, also affect the federal government’s bottom line.

The number of people falling behind on their mortgages seems to be slowing, according to the Central Bank, the Irish Times reported. The number of mortgages that have not been paid for more than three months rose to 9,426, or 11.9 per cent, of all home mortgages, said the bank. The comparable figure in for last September was 11.5 per cent. However the increase in the last three months was the smallest seen in more than three years.

Royal Bank of Scotland is understood to have received a £1 billion bid from a consortium of institutional investors for more than 300 branches, The Scotsman reported. The state-backed lender is being forced to sell the assets, which comprise 311 RBS branches in England and Wales and five NatWest outlets in Scotland, in return for receiving £45.5bn in UK government aid during the financial crisis. Spanish bank Santander pulled out of a £1.65bn deal in October and RBS chief executive Stephen Hester has admitted that the group was struggling to find another buyer.

A troika of European and international auditors arrived in the Cypriot capital Wednesday, tasked with hammering out a tricky, multibillion euro bailout for the country, The Wall Street Journal reported. The delegation is expected to stay until Friday amid hopes that a final deal—which has been delayed for months—can be reached by the end of March, following last month's election of a new Cypriot president, conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades. The biggest hurdle remains the country's debt sustainability.

Prime Minister David Cameron will promise on Thursday to stick to his government's deficit reduction plan despite the loss of his country's top-notch AAA credit rating, saying Britain would plunge "back into the abyss" if he changed course, Reuters reported. Speaking ahead of a March 20 budget that will be dissected by the markets and ratings agencies alike, Cameron said there were signs his government's economic policies were beginning to work and that it was imperative to "hold firm to the path".