Headlines

Compania Mexicana de Aviacion SA, Mexico’s biggest airline by passengers, won its request for bankruptcy protection from U.S. creditors, after disputes were resolved with a bank and a group of airports, Bloomberg reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan court today approved Mexicana’s request for protection under Chapter 15 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. The ruling will help the 87-year-old company reorganize in its main bankruptcy in Mexico by giving it a legal shield from U.S. creditors.

Ireland's commercial-property bust has knocked the country's banks to their knees. Now the lenders are bracing for another blow: losses on home loans, The Wall Street Journal reported. So far, residential mortgages haven't been nearly as big a problem for Irish banks as their portfolios of loans to finance real-estate development and construction projects. Those ill-fated property loans have saddled the banks with tens of billions of euros in losses, forcing the government to mount a series of costly bailouts that have pushed Ireland to the brink of insolvency.

Failed property developer Patrick Fontein is fighting to stave off bankruptcy in the High Court at Auckland today, BusinessDay.co.nz reported. Creditor Bank of New Zealand wants Fontein adjudged bankrupt for debts totalling $93 million, owed to 45 creditors. The money is owed from the collapse of companies associated with Fontein's Kensington Park Developments. The bank says Fontein breached loan agreements for the Kensington Park development at Orewa north of Auckland by diverting funds to another development - the Huka Falls Resort outside of Taupo.

Spain's timid economic recovery stalled in the third quarter as the result of government austerity measures, but should soon pick up again, the Bank of Spain said Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Spanish central bank estimated in its monthly economic report that third-quarter gross domestic product was unchanged from the second quarter. Spanish GDP rose 0.2% in the second quarter and 0.1% in the first after six consecutive quarters of contraction. In annual terms, third-quarter GDP rose 0.2%, its first annual increase in eight quarters, the central bank said.

The Group of 20 is beginning to look more like the G19 plus 1 as emerging and rich countries alike accuse the United States of breaking a vow of unity, Reuters reported. This week's G20 summit will require every bit of President Barack Obama's diplomacy skills after the Federal Reserve embarked on a new $600 billion bond-buying spree, sparking criticism from four continents that the U.S. central bank was ignoring the global repercussions.

Mexican glass maker Vitro SAB said Monday it has launched two offers--a proposed swap and partial buyback--of three series of defaulted notes for $1.22 billion as it seeks to restructure its debt, Dow Jones reported.In a filing with the Mexican stock exchange, Vitro said the offers are aimed as a step toward achieving a debt restructuring which would be carried out under the Mexican equivalent of Chapter 11. Vitro, which has seen several previous restructuring offers rejected by creditors, said its largest single creditor, Fintech Advisory Ltd., has agreed to support the latest proposal.

WestLB is at growing risk of being wound down, Europe’s top competition watchdog warned on Friday after it accused the troubled German bank of offloading toxic assets at an inflated value and so benefiting from billions of euros in additional state aid, the Financial Times reported. Joaquín Almunia, EU competition commissioner, said the bank would have to take additional restructuring steps to compensate or the aid – put at €3.4bn ($4.77bn) – would have to be recovered. That could cast a new shadow over WestLB’s ultimate survival.

The London-based administrator for Bahrain's Awal Bank BSC said it needs more time to talk with creditors before determining whether to continue the Chapter 11 case it filed last month with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In court papers filed in New York Thursday, Awal asked Judge Allan L. Gropper for an extension to file financial statements required under the U.S. bankruptcy law. The bank has so far been hesitant to publicly disclose specifics on its finances.

Two Southbury companies placed in receivership yesterday owed South Canterbury Finance about $156 million, say receivers, BusinessDay.co.nz reported. Southbury Corporation, 100 per cent owner of the finance company, owed it $74m, while Southbury Group, 100 per cent owner of Southbury Corporation, owed $82m. Southbury Group was the main holding company for Timaru millionaire Allan Hubbard, whose affairs are now in statutory management. Receiver Kerryn Downey of McGrath Nicol said the loans were part of a ''complex web'' of transactions involving all three companies.

The residents of six Sunshine Coast retirement villages caught up in a receivership action have been assured in a series of meetings this week that it would remain “business as usual” at the facilities, Sunshine Coast Daily reported. Receiver-manager KordaMentha yesterday told nervous residents of three Hibiscus-branded facilities at Buderim and Sippy Downs that they had nothing to fear. On Wednesday, a KordaMentha representative met with residents of two Hibiscus-branded facilities at Nambour and Noosa and the Buderim Gardens Retirement Village.