Headlines

The potential receivership of Nine Entertainment is now a real threat amid a critical debt covenant test for the group at the end of the month, The Australian reported. According to sources, CVC Asia Pacific and financiers have been forced to all but abandon hope for a strategic buyer for Nine, Australia's second-placed free-to-air network.

Frustrated by Japanese chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc's plan to sell itself out of bankruptcy in Tokyo for a perceived pittance, the company's U.S. bondholders are bringing the fight back home, turning to a Delaware court in hopes of wresting control of the case, Reuters reported. Holders of some of Elpida's $5.6 billion in bonds will argue at a hearing on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., that Elpida's plan to sell itself to U.S. rival Micron Technology Inc for about $2.5 billion drastically undervalues the company.

George Osborne has a problem. The U.K. chancellor of the exchequer has staked the government's credibility on two fiscal rules designed to address the country's high deficit and burgeoning debt, The Wall Street Journal Heard on the Street blog reported. The first has proved slippery, since it requires the elimination of the structural budget deficit over a rolling five-year period—potentially delaying it indefinitely. But the second target is harder to fudge: that net debt as a share of GDP should be falling by 2015-16. Many economists believe he is likely to miss this.

Spain's government is facing an autumn of angry street protests by a recession-weary public, even after telling its European partners that its next steps to overhaul the economy would avoid further cuts in public spending, The Wall Street Journal reported. Finance Minister Luis de Guindos laid out Spain's position during weekend talks in Cyprus with his European colleagues, as tens of thousands of singing, chanting Spaniards converged Saturday on Madrid from all over the country to demand a popular referendum on the government's crisis measures.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble led criticism of the euro area’s rush toward common bank oversight as France, Spain, Italy and the European Commission pressed for speedy action, Bloomberg reported. European Union finance ministers were sharply divided over proposals to introduce a single supervisor in January within the 17-nation currency zone. Schaeuble, backed by ministers from Sweden, the Netherlands and Poland, said the EU must be cautious before the European Central Bank takes on its supervisory role, with the promise of direct bank bailouts from the euro’s firewall fund.

Venezuela could default on its debt as early as the second half of 2013 if President Hugo Chavez wins re-election next month and fails to shore up the oil- producing nation’s “increasingly fragile” balance sheet, Morgan Stanley said, Bloomberg reported. One “tipping point” could be the $4.3 billion in external debt payments that come due between August and November 2013, Morgan Stanley analyst Daniel Volberg wrote in a note to clients today.

Danish-owned National Irish Bank (NIB) will turn its attention to its head office after completing a round of cuts that will see it lay off one-quarter of its workers and shutting its retail operation, the Irish Times reported. NIB, owned by Danske Bank, said in June it intended to close its 27 branches in the Republic and seek 100 redundancies from its 442-strong workforce. Yesterday, the bank confirmed it intended to review its head office in the first quarter of next year and inform staff of its findings during the second three months of 2013.

Brazil's central bank ordered the liquidation of Banco Cruzeiro do Sul on Friday after no one stepped up to acquire the troubled lender, raising doubts about government oversight of small- and mid-sized banks, Reuters reported. The central bank also ordered the closure of Banco Prosper, another small bank facing a liquidity crunch that Cruzeiro do Sul had agreed to take over last November. The decision follows three months of talks between Cruzeiro do Sul's creditors, investors and rival banks to cut mounting debts and find a buyer for the São Paulo-based lender.

Japan Airlines Ltd (JAL), delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange after its bankruptcy in 2010, was set to return to Japan’s biggest bourse this week after a massive overhaul and US$8.5 billion share sale, the Taipei Times reported. The carrier is to begin trading on Wednesday following its initial public offering (IPO) — the world’s second-biggest IPO this year after Facebook — marked a stunning turnaround for one of Japan’s worst corporate catastrophes.

Three international banks that backed out of $10 billion debt restructuring talks with an investment company controlled by Dubai's ruler said Thursday they are now pursuing legal action against the firm, dashing hopes of a consensual deal, The Seattle Times reported on an Associated Press story. The move by Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland, Commerzbank of Germany and South African lender Standard Bank will likely further complicate Dubai Group's efforts to move beyond its debt troubles after more than a year and a half of negotiations with creditors.