Headlines

Workers at Whitcoulls and Borders bookstores have been forced to sign new contracts under duress, unions say. New Zealand-owned James Pascoe Group bought 57 Whitcoulls and five Borders stores for an undisclosed sum last week after the Australian-based owner REDgroup put itself into voluntary administration in February, Radio New Zealand reported. James Pascoe Group is a retail business owned by David and Anne Norman that employs 9000 staff throughout New Zealand and Australia.

A jewellery wholesaler that numbers Dragons’ Den star Bobby Kerr among its directors has been put into receivership by Bank of Scotland (Ireland) over multimillion euro debts. Emarno was formed in 2007 by Tony Moroney and Pearse Curran, The Sunday Business Post reported. They bought the business from the Anthony Nicholas group, which also owns the Fields jewellery chain. Emarno wholesales jewellery in Ireland and Britain, including the sale and distribution of jewellery by designer Paul Costelloe.

The principal creditors voted on Friday to send Czech national lottery and betting firm Sazka into bankruptcy following clashes with the company's management that scuppered an agreement on a reorganisation, a spokeswoman for the Prague Municipal Court said, Reuters reported. Sazka fell into deep debt after building a 17,000-seat arena for the 2004 ice hockey world championship. Registered claims against the company are about 10 billion crowns ($579 million). Bankruptcy means the firm will be taken over by a receiver and its assets sold.

Swiss financial giant UBS AG is planning to separate its investment bank and incorporate it outside of Switzerland in an effort to placate regulators there who want to prevent another bailout should the bank fall on hard times as it did in 2008, said people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported. UBS is considering incorporating its investment bank, which lost billions during the financial crisis and was rescued by the Swiss central bank, in London, New York or Singapore, where it would have its own capital and be overseen by local regulators.

The proposed corporate debt restructuring (CDR) of at least five troubled Andhra Pradesh-based microfinance institutions (MFIs) is set to take off because banks might relax the stiff terms in the form of personal promoter guarantees, livemint.com reported. The deadline for completing the CDR process expires on 6 June.

A legal challenge to Britain's financial regulator is delaying disciplinary investigations into Keydata Investment Services, which collapsed in 2009 and sparked one of Britain's biggest personal investment scandals, Reuters reported. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) on Thursday blamed a judicial review by Stewart Ford, Keydata's multi-millionaire founder, for the delay in concluding probes into both Keydata and Ford that were launched in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Swedish car maker Saab Automobile said Thursday that production at its Trollhattan plant will resume Friday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The Saab plant in Trollhattan has been idle for almost two months because suppliers stopped delivering parts when the car maker didn't pay its bills. Last week, however, Saab's owner Spyker Cars NV, announced a deal with Chinese car distributor Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. that provided Saab with much-needed short-term funding and since then the company has been in negotiation with its suppliers over debt payments and new deliveries.

Each new twist in Terry Serepisos' tortuous financial affairs could be putting his chances of a US$100 million rescue package at risk, Business Day reported. Two companies owned by Mr Serepisos were put into receivership yesterday, owing about $13m. Documents relating to bankruptcy action taken against him by FM Custodians, heard in the High Court at Wellington this month, suggest that a US$100m loan negotiated with Western Gulf Advisory can be altered whenever his financial circumstances change.

A top euro-zone policy maker suggested the International Monetary Fund may withhold its next payment on Greece's €110 billion ($155 billion) bailout, rattling financial markets with questions about whether a new Greek payments crisis is imminent, The Wall Street Journal reported. Luxembourg Premier Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the conclave of euro-zone finance ministers, suggested Thursday that an important review of the bailout program might conclude that Greece doesn't have enough loan commitments to carry it through the next 12 months.

European banks remain saddled with almost €100bn of Greek government debt they can’t sell, hedge or ignore, after a number of recent deals to offload the exposure to reduce the impact of a possible default ended in failure, according to bankers involved, International Financing Review reported. The deals have been thwarted by a lack of willing buyers for the debt – even at record low prices – and that exposed lenders have been unable to buy protection because of the high costs, with top bankers advising their clients all they can now do is cross their fingers and hope for the best.