Headlines

Kazakhstan’s state-controlled BTA bank can expect a hostile reception when it meets creditors in London this week to discuss ways to dig itself out of yet another financial hole, the Financial Times beyondbrics blog reported. The bank, Kazakhstan’s third largest in terms of assets, admitted it was on the brink of default last month and invited shareholders to gather on January 26th to vote on a proposed debt restructuring – the second in less than two years.

Ireland clearly needs further financial assistance on “non-market terms”, the chief economist with Citigroup, Willem Buiter, said during a visit to Dublin, the Irish Times reported. The former member of the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England said the most attractive option from Ireland’s point of view would be a reduction on the interest it pays on an outstanding €30 billion in promissory notes, issued mostly to deal with the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank.

Kuwaiti retailer Alshaya has bought 60 La Senza UK stores, rescuing about 1,100 jobs, from the administrators of the stricken lingerie chain, Reuters reported. Alshaya bought the shops and UK brand in a so-called pre-pack deal after KPMG was appointed administrator to the company on Monday. Another 84 stores and 18 concessions had closed, the administrators said, resulting in about 1,300 job losses. The company was owned by Lion Capital, which had announced 81 of the closures on December 30.

Global regulators vowed on Sunday to press ahead with tough new liquidity rules for banks from 2015, but in a move to head off opposition from industry, also said lenders can tap into safety buffers in times of stress, Reuters reported.

The number of retailers in England and Wales falling into administration rose 11 percent in 2011, with a higher rate of failure in the normally lucrative Christmas quarter, according to research by Deloitte, Reuters reported. A total of 42 retailers went into administration in the final quarter compared with 33 in the previous three months, a rise of 27 percent. Administrations for the year totalled 183. The data from the business advisory firm Monday came within days of outdoor goods retailer Blacks Leisure announcing it would go into administration and then be sold.

Excessive pay for bosses at struggling companies represents a market failure and shareholders will be given more powers to block bumper deals, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mr. Cameron told the British Broadcasting Corporation in a television interview that shareholders will be given binding votes on pay deals, particularly severance deals, in an effort to limit excessive "rewards for failure" for senior executives.

Hungary's prime minister moved to soothe anxious markets Friday, meeting with the central bank governor and showing a new willingness to discuss changes to a controversial law curbing the bank's independence that has become a stumbling block to international financial help, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Italian government will not have to carry out an additional package of budget cutting measures to meet its goal of eliminating its deficit in 2013, Prime Minister Mario Monti said, Bloomberg reported. His government will now focus on producing a package of measures to spur economic growth and competitiveness in Italy to be presented before a meeting of European Union finance chiefs on Jan. 23, Monti said on the “Che Tempo Che Fa” talk show on state-owned RAI television.

Canada’s unemployment rate rose for a third month in December, the longest advance in two years, as a gain in jobs trailed growth of the labor force, Bloomberg reported. The jobless rate increased to 7.5 percent from November’s 7.4 percent and the recent low of 7.1 percent in September, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Employment rose by 17,500, the first gain in three months. Over the past six months, the number of jobs has grown by 7,400, compared with a gain of 191,800 in the first half of 2011.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told a group of labor-union leaders Wednesday that he expected that a deal on a 50% haircut on Greek government bonds would be sealed within two weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported. A day earlier, a government spokesman had warned that without a deal, Greece would be forced out of the euro and into a hard default. The trouble for Athens is that the prime minister's statement looks increasingly doubtful, and avoiding default may no longer be possible. Of Greece's €350 billion or so in debt, only about €206 billion is still held by investors.