Headlines

Halliwells' administrators have launched a claim in the High Court against a group of former partners in a bid to reclaim more than £21m gained through a controversial 'reverse premium' property payout, LegalWeek.com reported. BDO launched the claim against Halliwells' former chairman Ian Austin and 31 other ex-partners in the Chancery Division of the High Court earlier this month (4 July). Addleshaw Goddard is advising BDO on the £21.13m claim, with litigation firm Peters & Peters acting for 30 of the 32 defendants.

The European Commission on Wednesday became the world's first authority proposing to adopt new international rules that will push banks to lend more conservatively and rely less on short-term borrowing that can disappear quickly in a crisis, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The proposal is the commission's plan to implement the Basel III regulations, finalized in December 2010 and negotiated in the Swiss city after which they are named.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, under mounting pressure in and outside Germany to show stronger leadership in the euro-zone debt crisis, reached a late-night compromise with France over a fresh bailout for Greece ahead of a crucial European summit planned for Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The European Union should consider a competition probe into the "Big Three" credit rating agencies rather than fund a rival, lawmakers said in a report on Thursday. The House of Lords' EU economic and financial affairs committee also said any ban by the bloc on rating debt of bailed out euro zone countries by the agencies would simply be a case of shooting the messenger, as well as unworkable, Reuters reported.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said he will apply to the courts to recapitalise Irish Life & Permanent, despite shareholders voting down proposals to approve the recapitalisation at an extraordinary general meeting, the Irish Times reported. Mr Noonan said he had expected shareholders to vote against the proposals but that he had been instructed to recapitalise the company by the end of this month under the terms of the bailout by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Al Jaber Group yesterday held talks with its banks over a debt standstill agreement as the family conglomerate, based in Abu Dhabi, seeks to delay repayments as part of a wider restructuring of the group, The National reported. At a meeting in Abu Dhabi, Al Jaber Group, which has interests in property, manufacturing and aviation, submitted a draft standstill agreement and a business proposal to banks involved in its debt restructuring talks, said one person close to the company who asked not to be identified. "We're at a very early stage," the source said.

The boom that turned Turkey into Europe’s fastest-growing economy may be imperiled by the debt crisis in neighboring Greece, the continent’s worst performer, Bloomberg reported. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed Turkey’s 11 percent first-quarter expansion as “magnificent” on June 30. It hasn’t prevented the lira from sliding to a two-year low, as the country’s trade deficit widens on surging demand for imports. Turkey needs increasing flows of cash to finance the gap -- just as investors take alarm at the risk of default in Greece, where output shrank 5.5 percent.

The Canadian government ruled Tuesday its rules governing foreign investment don't apply in the $4.5 billion sale of patents belonging to Nortel Networks Corp, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In a statement, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the acquisition of 6,000 patents by a consortium primarily of giant foreign technology companies led by Apple Inc. and Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson didn't trigger a government review because the book value of the assets was less than the C$312 million ($325 million) threshold established under Canadian law.

The Director of Ireland's Small Firms Association (SFA), Patricia Callan, has condemned the Superquinn receivership as being "sharp practice," Finfacts reported. Following the appointment of joint receivers on Monday, the receivers agreed an overnight deal to sell Superquinn to the Cork-headquartered Musgrave Group. Callan commented: “We have been inundated with calls from small food and drink suppliers throughout the country, who are concerned for their future business viability, and the jobs of the staff they employ, as a result of the appointment of receivers to Superquinn.

The court administrator for ECM Real Estate Investments has recommended bankruptcy for the insolvent Czech developer, a document on the Prague Municipal Court's website showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. ECM and several creditors have pushed for a reorganisation that would allow the company to continue operations, and will decide on the bankruptcy at the next creditor meeting this week. ECM shares fell 8.3 percent on Tuesday to 28.71 crowns, its lowest since the Prague Municipal Court declared ECM insolvent in May.