Headlines

Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since February 2009, adding to evidence that the economy is returning to recession, a survey by GfK NOP showed on Friday, Reuters reported. GfK said its consumer confidence index sank to -32 in October from -30 in September, a level last seen when the economy was in the depths of recession. A year ago, the index stood at -19. "Consumers' outlook is becoming increasingly pessimistic about the UK's general economic situation over the coming year," said GfK managing director Nick Moon.

Swedish car maker Saab Automobile AB said Thursday it cannot formally respond to the administrator of its reorganization's request to end the company's restructuring process, as it is in "intense negotiations" with investors to secure financing, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "The end results of these negotiations, which could be ready at basically any time, are crucial to Saab's position" in the matter, Saab's general counsel, Kristina Geers, said in an email sent to the district court in Vanersborg.

Allied Nationwide Finance, the failed finance arm of Allied Farmers, has failed to attract good enough bids for its loan book, receivers say, as they try to claw back funds to repay the government retail deposit guarantee scheme, The New Zealand Herald reported. Offers for its Speirs Securities securitisation vehicle's book also weren't satisfactory, although receivers Andrew Grenfell and Kerryn Downey of McGrathNicol say some potential buyers are doing due diligence, according to their latest report.

European leaders announced Wednesday they had agreed on plans to shore up the region’s banking system, seeking to contain a spreading debt crisis and prevent a new recession, The Washington Post reported. The 27-member European Union said banks would be asked to raise perhaps $150 billion in new capital as a buffer against possible losses on their holdings of European government bonds that have declined in value. The agreement represented the most tangible progress made by European leaders after days of crisis negotiations.

Euro zone leaders intend to scale up their emergency rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, to give it an estimated firepower of about 1 trillion euros ($1.38 trillion), EU sources said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The sources said the 440 billion euro EFSF fund would have between 250 and 275 billion euros available after providing aid to Greece, Ireland and Portugal, and that the money could be quadrupled using a special vehicle and a debt-insurance scheme.

As the continent's policy makers continue to grapple with the unfolding crisis that began with debt problems in Greece, investors' focus has turned to Italy, the euro-zone's third largest economy, and a nation saddled with one of its heaviest debt burdens, The Wall Street Journal reported. Worries that the government won't be able to keep up payments on its debt have driven up the yields on Italy's sovereign bonds, which is pressuring the Italian banks that own them. The world's oldest bank, Siena-based Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, is now caught in the storm.

How bad is the debt problem in South Korea? There are some new numbers that provide clues, The Wall Street Journal Korea Real Time blog reported. More than 1 million Koreans, or about 4% of the economically-active population of 25 million, once joined in or are currently working with personal debt workout programs, the Credit Counseling & Recovery Service says. The non-profit agency started the program called “Personal Workout” in October 2002 in order to help people resolve their debt problems and regain their credit.

The Manitoba Securities Commission and eight of the 10 former directors of the failed Crocus Investment Fund have arrived at a settlement agreement six-and-a-half years after regulatory action began, The Vancouver Sun reported on a Winnipeg Free Press story. The MSC's allegations against the directors involved the execution of their responsibilities as directors in the months leading up to the dramatic devaluation of Crocus shares and its subsequent receivership.

The government is setting up a company to manage the recovery of the remaining assets of six finance companies placed in receivership while they had Crown guarantees, The National Business Review reported. "Right throughout the Retail Deposit Guarantee scheme the Government has sought to minimise disruption to the economy, while reducing the cost to taxpayers," Mr English says. "The receiverships of these six firms have reached the stage where all the readily marketable assets have been sold.

European leaders were frustrated Tuesday in their efforts to craft a response to the continent’s debt crisis one day before a self-imposed deadline, while a political stalemate in Italy over austerity measures further diminished hopes for a quick resolution, The Washington Post reported. As top European officials prepared to return to Brussels on Wednesday for their second summit this week on the crisis, they sent conflicting signals about how much progress they had made on key elements of a rescue plan.