Headlines

Beleaguered Bridgecorp investors could soon get their first distribution from the failed property lender's receivers, nearly four years after the company collapsed, The New Zealand Herald reported. PricewaterhouseCoopers partner and Bridgecorp receiver Colin McCloy said the receivers hoped to shortly resolve the Inland Revenue Department's claims and would then be in a position to make a distribution to Bridgecorp's more than 14,000 secured debenture holders.

With Spain's troubled savings banks struggling to attract badly needed private investment, the Bank of Spain is edging toward a variation on the "bad bank" model that aims to reassure investors while minimizing government risk, The Wall Street Journal reported. The model—in which individual lenders create a so-called bad bank that holds toxic assets and is supported by state funds—shows how Spain is ramping up efforts to attract private money as its seeks to plug a €14.1 billion ($20.2 billion) capital hole in the financial sector.

Bank of Ireland has a "good chance" of avoiding State control by offering junior bondholders an opportunity to convert to equity, according to Harris Associates LP, its largest institutional investor, the Irish Times reported. Investors would prefer to see junior bondholders swap debt for equity to help the lender reach its capital target than the government increasing its 36 per cent stake to a majority holding, Robert Taylor, director of international research and portfolio manager with Chicago-based Harris Associates, said in a telephone interview.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. will accept government involvement in its management and won't cap total compensation funds for those hurt by Japan's nuclear crisis, as part of an agreement for assistance in meeting what could total tens of billions of dollars in claims, The Wall Street Journal reported. Tepco said that company President Masataka Shimizu notified the government of its acceptance of the conditions Wednesday in a letter to industry minister Banri Kaieda.

A reluctant Spain has been shoved once again into the front line of the battle over the future of the euro, following indications that Greece might need another bail-out to avoid defaulting on its sovereign debt, the Financial Times reported. After the rescues of Greece and Ireland last year and the imminent bail-out package for Portugal, investors say Spain’s €1,744bn ($2,478bn) gross external debt burden and its dependence on foreign financing place it technically next in line for emergency aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Prime Minister John Key this morning confirmed his Government will reduce KiwiSaver's Member Tax credit - the 2 per cent subsidy the Government pays to savers in the scheme - in a move to make it more affordable, The New Zealand Herald reported. Individuals and employers would be expected to make up the difference, he said in a pre-budget speech in Wellington today. Mr Key acted to clarify his Government's intentions toward the scheme after days of hints of changes to the scheme and Working For Families to come in next week's Budget.

German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG said Tuesday it has bought real estate and manufacturing facilities once owned by its former Qimonda unit for EUR100.6 million and also raised its capital expenditure budget for the current fiscal year, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The purchase covers cleanroom and manufacturing facilities in the German city of Dresden as well as 300-millimeter manufacturing equipment and is part of the company's strategic capacity expansion, Infineon said in a statement. Qimonda, a maker of DRAM chips, filed for insolvency in 2009.

The European Central Bank should provide Ireland with an interest-free loan of €40-50 billion to “overcapitalise” the Irish banks, according to a report issued by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), the Irish Times reported. In its latest quarterly economic commentary, ESRI authors Joe Durkan and Cormac O’Sullivan say there must be “an acceptance that this is an EU problem and requires EU solutions”.

Finnish lawmakers failed Tuesday to reach a clear all-party majority on whether to support the country's participation in a bailout of Portugal, The Wall Street Journal reported. Lawmakers had discussed the country's participation in the bailout within their own parties, ahead of a scheduled decision in the Grand Committee of the Finnish parliament on Wednesday. The Grand Committee decides parliament's position on EU legislation and the decisions by its 25 members are politically binding.

Greece expects that a June audit of its budgets will show that a new financial-aid package of nearly €60 billion ($86 billion) will be needed to cover its financial needs stretching into 2013, a senior Greek government official said Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The official, with knowledge of the talks between Greece and the European Union and International Monetary Fund, said the issue of extending current packages, or arranging new loans, will be discussed at a regularly-scheduled meeting of EU finance ministers next Monday and Tuesday.