Headlines

The wife and five children of businessman Seán Quinn have lodged a High Court action seeking massive damages against Anglo Irish Bank over alleged negligence, breach of duty and intentional and/or negligent infliction of economic damage, the Irish Times reported. The damages claim arises from events of the past two years that led to the family losing control of the Quinn group of businesses and is believed to seek hundreds of million of euros.

Five of Britain's top banks are backing a 2.5 billion pound fund launched on Thursday to invest in small and medium-sized businesses that are struggling to attract financing, Reuters reported. The Business Growth Fund (BGF), which will target businesses with an annual turnover of 10 million to 100 million pounds, follows the "Project Merlin" deal between Britain and its banks to curb their bonuses and lend more in the wake of a sharp downturn in business lending after the credit crisis.

Suppliers to Saab Automobile remained reserved Monday after owner Spyker Cars NV said it has found a new partner in China that will provide funds for the troubled Swedish car maker, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "On paper it looks like a positive first step," said Svenake Berglie, chief executive of the Swedish supplier organization FGK. "From the supplier side, we'll wait and see what happens next." Spyker said Monday it had signed a deal Pang Da Automobile Trade Co.

Future bonus and dividend payments by UK banks will depend upon convincing regulators the handouts will not dent capital reserves or undermine sound risk management, the head of the city watchdog has warned. Banks would also be forced to make public detailed information about their holdings that they currently share only with regulators, Hector Sants told the Financial Times as he prepared to unveil the detailed plans for a new authority that will supervise banks and insurers for safety and soundness.

Karlsen Shipping Co. Ltd. was placed in receivership Tuesday and the Halifax tour operator’s prized cruise ship, M/V Polar Star, remains tied up in Spain until authorities on either side of the Atlantic can reach an agreement on its future, The Chronicle Herald reported. It took Justice Arthur LeBlanc only a few moments to grant a receivership request from the Toronto-Dominion Bank during a Nova Scotia Supreme Court proceeding prompted by the shipping company’s inability to settle a $1.4-million repair bill. Polar Star had a collision with an iceberg in the Antarctic in January.

Czech developer ECM Real Estate Investments filed for insolvency on Tuesday and proposed reorganisation, Reuters reported. The firm, building mainly in the Czech capital Prague, has suffered heavy losses in the global economic crisis over the past two years. ECM said the proposal was in line with the results so far of talks with unsecured creditors. "This step should allow for a faster implementation of some intended transactions and better coordination of negotiations with creditors," the company said.

In a blow to the Australian banking industry, ratings firm Moody's Investors Service downgraded the debt ratings of the country's four largest banks, citing their dependence on global lending markets, The Australian reported. A downgrade to Aa2 from their previous investment grade rating of Aa1 - one notch below Moody's top rating - will likely increase their costs even as worries grow that Australia's rising interest rates will crimp profitability. The four banks - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac and National Australia Bank - dominate lending in Australia.

Parmalat SpA's board said Tuesday it considered the price of EUR2.60 that France's Groupe Lactalis SA is offering for every share it does not already own in the Italian dairy group as inadequate, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The board, which met in Milan to review the EUR3.4 billion takeover bid for the remaining 71% of Parmalat, said its members voted unanimously against it.

Irish Life and Permanent today announced its residential mortgage arrears continue to increase while demand for new mortgages "has been very subdued" so far this year, the Irish Times reported. The company had €13.1 billion of drawings from the European Central Bank at the end of April, down from €13.8 billion at end-December.

Confronting the looming prospect of a second bailout for Greece, European finance ministers insisted Tuesday on further deficit-cutting efforts from the government in Athens and acknowledged for the first time that the private sector could be included in a restructuring of Greek loans, the International Herald Tribune reported. Two days of talks in Brussels ended with public concessions that the idea of “reprofiling” Greek debt, or voluntarily extending maturities without changing interest rates or the amount of the loan, was being contemplated, at least as a last resort.