Headlines

Motorists rushed to gas stations as Greek truck drivers started a new wave of protests Monday, declaring a work stoppage and parking hundreds of vehicles along major highways in opposition to government plans to liberalize their profession, the Associated Press reported. Separately, the country's finance minister was to head to major European financial capitals later in the week on a roadshow to reassure investors about the long-term prospects of Greece's economy, which the government is overhauling to deal with a major debt crisis.

Three banks could end up with around 20 per cent of house building group McInerney Holdings’ Irish businesses if a deal to save the companies involved is hammered out by the examiner appointed by the High Court yesterday, The Irish Times reported. The court confirmed the appointment of Billy O’Riordan of PricewaterhouseCoopers as examiner to McInerney Homes and four other group companies, giving them protection from creditors, including a syndicate of three banks owed a total of €111 million.

The Dubai World debt saga is finally about to end. At least so the troubled conglomerate would have us believe, after claiming support from a majority of creditors for restructuring the billions of dollars it owes them, The Wall Street Journal’s The Source blog reported. Admittedly the claim came a day after the deadline late last week for Dubai World’s senior creditors to accept a lock-up agreement. But, still, Dubai’s powers that be clearly reckon the development warrants celebration and they may be right, at least in the near term.

The Treasury will begin paying out investors in failed Mutual Finance under the Crown guarantee two months after the company was placed in receivership, The National Business Review reported. Covenant Trustee appointed Grant Graham and Brendon Gibson of KordaMentha as Mutual Finance's receivers in July. Mutual owed 340 depositors $9.3 million. In a report released today, the receivers say they have verified the investor register, enabling the Treasury to begin its payout process. Mutual had a loan and asset book of $8.23 million at the time of receivership.

Corporate borrowers and bankers welcomed the delay until 2015 in implementing tough new liquidity rules agreed by global banking supervisors, who heeded widespread concerns that the measures would make short-term borrowing prohibitively expensive, the Financial Times reported. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s meeting on Sunday focused mostly on capital reserve requirements, but it also announced that the new “liquidity coverage ratio” would be “observational” until 2015.

The administrators of U.K. social housing maintenance firm Connaught PLC Monday announced it is axing a further 400 jobs at the company, taking the toll of recent layoffs to 1,100, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Administrator KPMG also said it has transferred the contractual relationships for eight of Connaught's customers to social housing and maintenance provider Mears Group PLC.

Feltex's liquidator, McDonald Vague, is pushing ahead with its court case against five former directors of the failed carpet maker, spurred on by admissions made in the case the five recently won against the Registrar of Companies, The New Zealand Herald reported. McDonald Vague director Iain McLennan said the Registrar of Companies case, including a district court trial, had been watched closely. ANZ, owed A$119.5 million, ran out of patience with the company's board and tipped Feltex into receivership on September 22, 2006 with McGrathNicol appointed receivers.

NIS Group Co. fell as much as 39 percent in Tokyo after the Japanese consumer and business lender said its liabilities may exceed assets after Incubator Bank of Japan Ltd. went bankrupt, Bloomberg reported. NIS has 9,720 shares in Incubator Bank, which declared bankruptcy last week, NIS said in a statement on Sept. 10. NIS also has 6.7 billion yen ($79 million) of debt in Incubator Bank. NIS fell 33 percent to 12 yen at 9:19 a.m. in Tokyo, after earlier declining 39 percent to 11 yen.

Greece will launch a charm offensive in Europe this week to reassure investors the country is on track with crucial economic reforms to prevent a damaging government bond default that could trigger a deeper crisis in the eurozone, the Financial Times reported. George Papaconstantinou, finance minister, will lead a delegation including European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund officials to meet investors in London, Paris and Frankfurt. It will be Greece’s first roadshow since last December.

The world’s top bank regulators agreed Sunday on far-reaching new rules intended to strengthen the global banking industry and shield it against future financial disasters, The New York Times reported. The new requirements more than tripled the amount of capital banks must hold in reserve, an effort to bolster their financial strength and provide a cushion against potential losses. They come two years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off a worldwide banking crisis that required billions in government bailouts.