Headlines

Global mergers and acquisitions rose to the highest level in four years this quarter, as a surge in U.S. deals provided ground for optimism and salvaged what had been the worst year for takeovers since the financial crisis, Bloomberg News reported today. Companies worldwide have announced $691.9 billion in purchases in the final three months of the year, the most since the third quarter of 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A surge in personal loans, credit-card debt and overdrafts in South Africa has regulators sounding the alarm, and many of the country's banks are beginning to dial back lending amid fears that Africa's largest economy is nearing a dangerous credit bubble, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Unsecured lending has nearly tripled in South Africa in the past four years to $44 billion, or 10.5 percent of total credit, according to the central bank.

Troubled steelmaker Lucchini, Italy's second-largest producer, has requested to be placed under receivership procedures to save it from bankruptcy, Reuters reported on Saturday. The measure, which involve the appointment of an administrator chosen by the government, aims at saving large insolvent companies. "The board hope it will be possible to find a solution for the company's crisis which can value the efforts so far borne by the firm," the steelmaker said in a statement on Dec. 21.

Lending by U.K. banks to companies fell sharply in November, underscoring the fragility of the British economy and raising doubts about the prospects of the Bank of England and U.K. Treasury's flagship program to boost the credit supply, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Figures from the British Bankers' Association today showed lending to companies outside the financial sector fell by £3.1 billion ($5.0 billion) in November, the steepest drop since June.

The local court in Amberg, Germany, has ordered debtor-in-possession proceedings in accordance with section 270b of the German Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung) for SiC Processing GmbH, a Germany-based provider of solar slurry recovery services, AER-Online reported on Monday. The company's Norwegian subsidiary filed for insolvency earlier this month after its only customer, REC Wafer Norway, filed its own insolvency application during the summer. For SiC Processing GmbH, the court has appointed Dr. Hubert Ampferl, a partner at Nuremberg, Germany-based law firm Dr.

Italian business confidence rose for a second month after a recession eased in the third quarter and the nation's borrowing costs declined, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The manufacturing-sentiment index increased to 88.9 in December from 88.5 the previous month, Rome-based national statistics institute Istat said yesterday. Italy’s economy shrank 0.2 percent in the three months through September, about a third of the contraction recorded in the previous quarter. Read more.

Ailing Franco-Belgian lender Dexia SA received the green light from European Union regulators for a restructuring plan that will see large parts of the bank closed, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move will help bring to a close a long-running probe into Dexia, one of Europe's first casualties of the financial crisis, which last month received its third government bailout in four years. European Commission antitrust chief Joaquín Almunia said he expected to give final approval for the restructuring measures on Dec. 28.

Spain's Banco Mare Nostrum and three other banks secured EU regulatory approval on Thursday for their restructuring plans which include cutting their balance sheets by between 25 to more than 40 percent over the next five years and halting dividend payments, Reuters reported. The European Commission imposed the measures in return for approving the bailouts of savings banks BMN, Caja Espana-Caja Duero, Caja 3 and Liberbank which were hit by the collapse of a long property boom in 2008.

The government is considering a radical overhaul to the insolvency process in the wake of Comet's collapse, according to business secretary Vince Cable, The Guardian reported. Answering business questions from MPs, Cable said that the demise of the electricals retailer had caused "great distress" and hinted that it might be necessary to rethink the UK's insolvency regime after reports that administrators made millions out of the collapse. But he added that a report into the affair would not be made public.

Euro-zone member state Cyprus badly needs a bailout, but the International Monetary Fund is demanding a debt haircut first, according to media report, Spiegel Online reported. The resulting standoff with Europe has delayed the country's badly needed aid package. To ward off insolvency, Nicosia has raided the pension funds of state-owned companies. Cyprus did its part on Wednesday night. The country's parliament approved a 2013 budget which included far-reaching austerity measures so as to satisfy the conditions for the impending bailout of the debt-stricken country.