Headlines

A judge has thrown out an application by Kenya Commercial Bank urging him to disqualify himself from hearing a dispute between it and the Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (KPCU), Business Daily reported. Commercial Court Judge, Mr Justice Muga Apondi, ruled that his conduct on the matter was above board and had not favoured any party during the entire trial. KCB, through lawyer Tom Macharia, wanted the case transferred to another judge as a result of what he termed as “perceived” bias by Mr Justice Apondi.

Anglo Irish Bank has appointed KPMG as receiver over certain properties in the UK in which its former director Tom Browne, has an interest, The Irish Times reported. The one-time head of Irish operations and contender for the top job at the now nationalised bank, is understood to owe in excess of €10 million to his former employer. Browne failed to win the top job when it went to David Drumm, the former chief executive of Anglo who is also being pursued in relation to money owed to the bank.

Montreal-based toy maker Mega Brands Inc. has filed a Chapter 15 petition seeking recognition in the U.S. for its recapitalization in Canada, saying it has been suffering due to declining sales, several charges and write-offs, and negative publicity amid product recalls, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Reliance Industries Ltd., owner of the world’s largest oil-refining complex, raised its offer for bankrupt LyondellBasell Industries AF to about $14.5 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the offer, Bloomberg reported. The revised bid allows Lyondell creditors to opt for cash or equity, said the people who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Reliance, the Mumbai-based refiner and energy explorer controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, offered an undisclosed amount on Nov. 21 to buy a controlling stake.

Greece, which joined the euro two years after its inception, has concealed the dodgy state of its finances. Now it is under attack from speculators. A default could spread panic to other deficit-plagued economies, including those of Spain and Portugal, with scary consequences for Europe’s already shaky banking system. But if Greece’s partners bail it out, defying the euro’s founding treaty, the currency will suffer. Either way, the euro is in trouble, The Economist reported. This dilemma is felt especially keenly in Germany.

Greece replaced its debt management chief as declines in the country’s bonds roil European markets, Bloomberg reported. Petros Christodoulou, general manager of treasury and global markets at National Bank of Greece SA, the country’s biggest lender, will take over from Spyros Papanicolaou as head of the Athens-based Public Debt Management Agency, the country’s Finance Ministry said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.

Japan Airlines Corp., the first major Asian flag carrier to file for bankruptcy, has its last trading day in Tokyo today, wiping out shareholders in a company that was worth more than $6 billion as recently as March, BusinessWeek reported. The carrier will be officially delisted tomorrow after seeking court protection with 2.32 trillion yen ($26 billion) of debts last month. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama forced the bankruptcy in return for backing a $10 billion turnaround for Tokyo-based JAL, the recipient of at least four state bailouts in less than a decade.

Reader’s Digest UK has filed for administration after it failed to secure backing from the UK pensions regulator to support an agreement to fund its long-standing pension deficit, the Financial Times reported. The move comes six months after its US parent company, Reader’s Digest Association, announced plans for voluntary bankruptcy as it became the latest victim of the advertising recession and struggled with interest payments on its $2.2 billion debt pile.

The Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta is picking up the pieces of two major projects at John 23rd Primary School, the Rouse Hill Times reported. After the builder at the Kellyville Ridge site went into voluntary administration two weeks ago, the diocese does not know how much the clean-up is going to cost it. The builder’s collapse has slowed the project up to three months past the expected date. A new builder hasn’t been appointed yet, but the diocese is working towards a resolution.

le Microcredit Bank (SMB) has provided financial services for low-credit and low-income families since December on the back of government, local banks and corporations, but a well-known research center said Thursday that the running expenses of the lender may exceed its operating profit from interest, The Korea Times reported.