Headlines

Eurozone authorities are pushing for a deal to lend about €150bn to the International Monetary Fund, a boost which would give it more firepower to help with the eurozone debt crisis, the Financial Times reported. At a meeting of senior officials on Wednesday night, eurozone governments signalled proposals for €150bn in bilateral loans, expected to come through their central banks, which they said could be augmented by another €50bn from outside the eurozone. Denmark, a non-euro country, said on Thursday it would contribute €5.4bn through its central bank.

Europe's banks must find 114.7 billion euros (97.8 billion pounds) of extra capital, more than predicted two months ago, to make them strong enough to withstand the euro zone debt crisis and restore investor confidence. Europe's banking watchdog, confirming a Reuters exclusive earlier on Thursday, said the capital shortfall across 71 banks was almost 8 percent higher than the 106.4 billion euros ($142 billion) estimated in October, telling banks in Germany, Italy, Austria and Belgium to find more cash.

David Cameron was at the centre of a furious row with Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday after Paris tried to isolate the prime minister at the EU summit by suggesting that Britain is seeking to exempt the City of London from all European regulations, The Guardian reported. In a move dismissed by officials in Brussels as an attempt to set Britain up as the "fall guy", senior French figures said Cameron wanted an "opt out" from EU financial services regulation.

Barratts Priceless, the footwear retail chain that survived administration in 2009, has appointed administrators for the second time, after a downturn in trading, the Financial Times reported. As reported on FT.com on Wednesday, poor trading and growing competition from cut-price competitors has threatened Barratts’ ability to pay December’s quarterly rent bill, due on Christmas day. Deloitte was confirmed as administrator to the Bradford-based group, which employs 3,840 staff, on Thursday morning.

A fight between Vitro SAB and its creditors is heating up, as a New York judge ruled that the Mexican glass maker must honor more than $1 billion in debt obligations to a group of disgruntled bondholders, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The decision by New York Supreme Court Judge Bernard J. Fried, signed Monday, came one day before Vitro announced that creditors holding 74% of its debt have signed off on its restructuring plan in Mexico.

Dexia SA, the French-Belgian lender that’s being broken up, said it won’t have to comply with capital rules set by the European Banking Authority because it’s planning to “radically shrink in size,” Bloomberg reported. The EBA, Europe’s banking regulator, said today that Dexia would need to raise 6.3 billion euros ($8.4 billion) by mid-2012 to reach a 9 percent target for core Tier 1 capital after markdowns of sovereign-debt holdings, a figure the company said shrank to 4.2 billion euros after the Belgian government’s takeover of Dexia Bank Belgium SA on Oct. 20.

A day ahead of a crucial gathering of European Union leaders in Brussels, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have outlined their plan for solving the euro crisis through deeper fiscal integration, The Wall Street Journal Euro Crisis blog reported. In an open letter to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Mr. Sarkozy and Ms. Merkel issued an ultimatum to the 27 EU governments, saying they must decide whether they will accept greater central control over their national budgets.

Spain's central bank said Wednesday that it has agreed to hand over seized savings bank Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo to Banco de Sabadell SA, in a heavily assisted deal that will position the midsize Catalan bank as the country's fifth-largest lender, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Under the terms of the deal, CAM will be handed over to Sabadell along with sweeping guarantees that will cover 80% of future losses tied to the lender's huge portfolio of real-estate loans and foreclosed properties over a 10-year period.

Swedish carmaker Saab faced a fresh threat to its existence on Wednesday when a court-appointed administrator said its protection from bankruptcy should be removed due to a failure to secure Chinese investments, Reuters reported. Saab, one of Sweden's best-known brands, has been teetering on the brink since early last year when a cash crunch forced it to halt production. It currently has court protection from creditors and possible bankruptcy claims.

Bank of Scotland is considering appointing a receiver to Shelbourne Development Group, the Garrett Kelleher-controlled property group behind the stalled Chicago Spire scheme, the Irish Times reported. A number of sources yesterday confirmed that the bank was preparing to appoint a receiver to Shelbourne Developments, which is said to owe it about €200 million. It is understood that there are talks going on between the developer and the bank, which has been considering appointing a receiver for the last week.