Headlines

The European Union is proposing an area-wide framework for confronting bank and investment-firm failures that urges bondholders to share the burden, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The EU executive arm, the European Commission, Thursday released a 100-plus page consultation paper that aims to abolish the excuse that a bank is too big to fail.

British holiday camp firm Pontin's has attracted ten offer approaches since going into administration, accountants KPMG said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. KPMG, who were appointed administrators in November, said the majority of the offers had come from parties who were keen to continue operating the business as a going concern. In its first report to creditors on the progress of the administration, KPMG said Pontin's secured creditor debt stood at about 44 million pounds ($68.5 million) with unsecured creditor debt amounting to 3.6 million pounds.

The clock is ticking for Ivory Coast to pay interest on a $2.3 billion bond and investors are sceptical the West African country, in the midst of a tense political stand-off, will avoid its second debt default in little over a decade, Reuters Africa reported. Ivory Coast owes nearly $30 million on the bond after failing to make a payment last week but has a 30-day grace period, until the end of January, before it would be declared in default. Meanwhile, its crisis looks to be deepening.

A survey from property website Daft.ie has found that asking prices for homes fell by 14% last year, with prices falling by 5% in the final three months of the year, RTE News reported. Daft.ie says prices have now fallen by 40% from their peak, with the average price now just below €220,000. During 2010, asking prices in Dublin fell 14% on average, compared to a fall of 15% outside major cities. Prices in Galway were 13% lower than a year before, after prices fell sharply in the final quarter of the year.

The Chinese-backed investor trying to buy 20 New Zealand farms -- most linked to the Crafar family -- has protected its deal by pushing the terms of settlement for the purchase of 16 farms in receivership out to September 30 this year, The National Business Review reported. Natural Dairy NZ Holdings told the Hong Kong stock exchange that its advisers needed time to consider the decision by two New Zealand cabinet ministers to refuse overseas investment approval for the farm sales.

Kathleen Dwyer, the court-appointed trustee for David Drumm’s estate, trawled through his Irish and US bank accounts yesterday, at the former Anglo chief executive’s third bankruptcy hearing in Boston, the Irish Times reported. Yesterday’s hearing highlighted the awkward duty of Ms Dwyer to maximise the amount of Mr Drumm’s estate so it can be distributed to his creditors, while at the same time suing his main creditor, Anglo.

The number of U.K. companies going into administration declined 35% in 2010 compared with the previous year, but continued economic weakness means many more are still at risk, professional services firm Deloitte LLP said Wednesday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. A total of 2,086 U.K. firms went into administration last year, down from 3,188 in 2009, with the property and construction sectors the worst hit, accounting for one in five of total administrations.

The developers of the luxury Quayside apartment complex in Whakatane have left a debt of almost $15 million, according to receivers, The National Business Review reported. Failed company Quayside Trustee's debts exceed $14.7m, too high to be offset by the sale of unsold apartments, which have been marked down substantially in a saturated Whakatane property market. Twenty-nine of the 43 apartments in the George Street complex remain unsold. They are being offered for sale at an average price of $380,000, or $11m for the lot. Prices have been reduced by $100,000 and more.

Celtic Bookmakers has gone into receivership, according to a statement by the company’s owner Ivan Yates, Business & Leadership reported. Yates, a broadcaster on radio station Newstalk and former Fine Gael minister, owns the independent chain of betting shops with his wife Deirdre. AIB appointed Neil Hughes of Hughes Blake Accountants to Celtic Bookmakers on Tuesday. The statement from the Yates’ said that job losses were inevitable but they would endeavour to keep as many stores open as possible by selling them as going concerns.

The European Union has successfully sold €5 billion in bonds which will be used to fund its contribution to Ireland's bailout, The Irish Times reported. The bond sale, which took place this morning, was three times over-subscribed and was sold out within an hour, the EU said. According to Bloomberg, the five-year notes were priced to yield 12 basis points more than the benchamrk swap rate, or about 2.5 per cent. That compares with 1.77 per cent on similar-maturity German government debt and 2.08 per cent on French bonds according to Bloomberg data.