Headlines

U.S. hedge fund Elliott Advisers LP is suing Vietnamese state-run shipbuilder Vinashin in the U.K. High Court, according to a filing seen by The Wall Street Journal. Vinashin defaulted on a $600 million syndicated loan last December, when the first repayment of $60 million was due. Other investors in the loan, which was arranged by Credit Suisse AG in 2007, include Dublin-based Depfa Bank PLC and Malayan Banking Bhd., as well as Credit Suisse.

State assets agency Nama and Lloyds Bank are likely to seek a buyer for Battersea Power Station after a court yesterday gave them and another creditor control of the landmark London site, the Irish Times reported. The British high court yesterday appointed accountants Ernst Young as administrator to subsidiaries of Battersea Power Station Shareholder Vehicle, which own the site, at the request of Nama and Lloyds, who were supported by a third creditor, Oriental Holdings.

Residential property builder National Builders Group is the latest company to be issued with an ultimatum from its bank: either refinance its loan with another bank or sell the business, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The group, which generates revenue of between $25 million and $30 million selling home building services ranging from drafting, engineering, selecting fixtures then outsourcing construction to a builder, is in talks with Malaysian company MAE Synergy to buy the business by December 30. But National Builders Group is still very much a going concern.

Inspectors for Greece's international lenders and private creditors kick off a round of meetings with the government on Monday to prepare for a new 130-billion euro (£111 billion) bailout plan and bond swap scheme to keep the country afloat, Reuters reported. Greece narrowly averted bankruptcy this month after foreign lenders agreed to release an 8-billion euro tranche of aid, but remains at risk of ending the year with a deeper-than-expected hole in its finances as a recession hits targeted tax revenue.

Europe's leaders crafted a new "fiscal compact" to repair flaws in their currency union, but the deal lacked bold strokes investors have been urging and it could be insufficient to halt the region's debt crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. Markets reacted with tepid optimism Friday. U.S. stocks rose. European stocks were also generally higher, and the euro rose slightly. But the crucial government bond markets were mostly flat. The positive reactions appeared to be driven by relief that leaders had reached an agreement at all, rather than enthusiasm for the deal itself.

The International Monetary Fund's top banking official, assessing the strength of China's financial system, said Chinese regulators need to improve the data they use to assess whether their banks could withstand a sudden economic downturn, and also should better explain what level of capital banks need to hold. "There are important constraints and gaps in the available data" for stress tests of China's banks, said José Viñals, the IMF's director of monetary and capital markets, in written responses Sunday to questions from The Wall Street Journal.

China’s shrinking trade surplus and the weakest export growth since 2009 may encourage Premier Wen Jiabao to keep cutting banks’ reserve requirements to sustain expansion in the world’s second-biggest economy, Bloomberg reported. Overseas shipments rose 13.8 percent in November from a year earlier, according to customs data released Dec. 10 in Beijing. The excess of exports over imports fell by 35 percent. A smaller trade surplus and signs that capital has started to flow out of the country may encourage the ruling Communist Party to add to a Nov.

Slowing economic growth and the fallout from the euro zone debt crisis may force Ireland to renege on a deal not to cut public sector wages that has helped the country avoid Greek-style social unrest, a government minister said Sunday, Reuters reported. Dublin has pledged not to cut pay and avoid layoffs as long as unions agree to voluntary redundancies and work longer hours under the "Croke Park" agreement, a deal struck in March last year, eight months before Ireland took an EU/IMF bailout.

Banks have no plans to carry out a second round of debt restructuring of the ailing Kingfisher Airlines which has an outstanding loan of around Rs 6,419 crore, Parliament was informed Sunday, The Economic Times reported. "State Bank of India, leader of the consortium (of 11 lenders to Kingfisher), has stated that at present, there is no plan," Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply in Lok Sabha. He was replying to a question on whether lenders are planning to carry out a second round of restructuring of loans to help Kingfisher.

Eurozone authorities are pushing for a deal to lend about €150bn to the International Monetary Fund, a boost which would give it more firepower to help with the eurozone debt crisis, the Financial Times reported. At a meeting of senior officials on Wednesday night, eurozone governments signalled proposals for €150bn in bilateral loans, expected to come through their central banks, which they said could be augmented by another €50bn from outside the eurozone. Denmark, a non-euro country, said on Thursday it would contribute €5.4bn through its central bank.