Headlines

Austria's troubled A-TEC Industries has accepted an offer from Contor Industries GmbH that fulfils its deal with creditors to find an outside investor, it said on Monday, Reuters reported. It did not put a value on the deal but said payments resulting from the offers must be made no later than Sept. 30. "The payments shall, together with the funds already deposited with the trustee, enable the fulfillment of the restructuring plan quota," it said in a statement.

A Stirling-based manufacturer of home insulation materials has been forced to restructure its debt after disappointing performance, the BBC reported. Superglass warned it would not be able to service its debt to Clydesdale Bank without a debt-for-equity swap it recently agreed with the lender. According to the trading update for the end of its financial year, debt has increased to £17.7m. Profit expectations are slightly down on the previous trading update in June. The first half of its financial year, to February, saw it break even.

The head of Germany's powerful central bank called Thursday for greater co-ordination of fiscal policies in the eurozone as a response to the debt crisis, which he termed its "most severe ever test." Speaking in Hanover in northern Germany, Jens Weidmann said that any solution to the crisis that has crippled debt-laden states on the periphery of the 17-country zone must tackle the problem at its roots, Agence France-Presse reported.

Greece is likely to miss its budget-deficit targets this year in the face of a deep economic contraction that is turning out to be even more severe than forecast, government officials said Thursday, conceding that the country is likely to face demands for still more budget cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported. Greece's deficit could exceed 8.5% of gross domestic product, compared with an official forecast of 7.6%, as the government struggles to meet revenue goals, two senior Greek government officials said. The deficit is now estimated at "around 8.5%, or a bit higher.

Extensive debt forgiveness for struggling mortgages borrowers was "not a realistic option", Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said, the Irish Times reported. Speaking to the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform today, the Minister said resolutions "must be found on a case-by-case basis through open and meaningful engagement between the distressed borrower and the lender". He said there was no "magic bullet" solution to the problem.

Two directors of the failed Nathans Finance company have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment in the High Court at Auckland today, while one of their colleagues will serve a term of home detention, The New Zealand Herald reported. Company chairman Kenneth (Roger) Moses has been sent to jail for two years and two months and ordered to pay $425,000 in reparations. Fellow director Mervyn Doolan has been sentenced to two years and four months jail time, with reparations of $150,000.

The Halliwells partners facing a £21m High Court claim by the firm's administrators are set to enter mediation in an effort to avoid a lengthy court battle. BDO launched the claim in July against a group of 32 ex-partners - including former chairman Ian Austin - in a bid to reclaim more than £21m gained through a controversial 'reverse premium' property payout. The partners have agreed to enter mediation with the intention of settling the claim out of court, although the first meeting is unlikely to happen before the new year.

European politicians on Thursday rejected an International Monetary Fund call for banks to raise up to 200 billion euros ($290 billion) in new capital, adding to fears that policymakers may be underestimating the severity of the debt crisis. IMF chief Christine Lagarde's call on Saturday for mandatory capitalization of European banks to prevent a world recession has reignited a debate over whether they have raised sufficient capital to withstand a severe downturn.

Portugal has announced new austerity measures designed to cut its budget deficit to almost zero in under five years, promising the biggest cuts in government spending for more than 50 years, the Financial Times reported. Vítor Gaspar, finance minister, said on Wednesday the planned reduction in public expenditure by 2015 – by 7 percentage points to 43.5 per cent of gross domestic product – was “without precedent” in recent Portuguese history.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet approved new powers for the euro zone's bailout fund on Wednesday, but she faces an uphill battle to convince party skeptics to back efforts to contain the crisis. Concerned that Germany's parliament has little control over the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), some members of Merkel's center-right coalition are threatening to oppose boosting its powers when the Bundestag (lower house) votes on September 29.