Headlines

Takefuji Corp., a consumer lender that came to symbolize practices that led to a crackdown against the industry, filed for bankruptcy protection with 433.61 billion yen ($5.15 billion) in outstanding debts, the first major failure in an industry suffering under the weight of stricter regulatory control, The Wall Street Journal reported. Takefuji's demise marks the end of an era in an industry that lent millions of yen to lower-income Japanese at sky-high interest rates.

It is likely to be at least two weeks before 150 workers at a north-west Tasmanian carpet factory know whether they still have jobs, ABC News reported. Tascot Templeton carpets at East Devonport went into voluntary administration last week. The Textile Clothing and Footwear Union says the Tasmanian Government has already given the company $4 million and it is time the Commonwealth provided some assistance. The Federal Member for Braddon Sid Sidebottom says there is already special assistance for textile workers but he will meet the union.

Draft proposals to tighten the rules for countries using the euro will demand earlier action and near-automatic sanctions against countries that breach debt and deficit limits, The New York Times reported. The proposals from the European Commission, scheduled to be presented Wednesday, stem from the recent fiscal crisis in Europe. While they are an attempt to prevent euro zone countries from sliding into unsustainable deficits, they might also increase tensions among countries in the European Union, which are divided over how tough a new regime should be.

Spanish unions have called a national strike Wednesday, the first in eight years, to challenge Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's austerity push and labor-market overhaul, but they seem to have scant prospect of rolling back changes widely seen as necessary to combat a deep fiscal and economic crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. Nevertheless, against the backdrop of a flare up in the sovereign-debt crisis, nervous investors will be watching for any signs of a popular backlash that could derail the austerity push in Spain, the euro zone's fourth-largest economy.

Concerns over the financial stability of countries on the euro-zone's fringe mounted Monday as one of Ireland's largest banks had its credit rating cut and political tensions fueled doubts about Portugal's deficit-cutting plans, The Wall Street Journal reported. Moody's Investors Service downgraded the senior debt of Anglo Irish Bank Corp. by three notches to Baa3. Ireland's property-market collapse has crippled its banks, and the government has so far spent €33 billion ($44.5 billion), about one-fifth of its gross domestic product, rescuing them.

The Romanian government was in an uproar Monday over austerity protests - the interior minister resigned, the opposition demanded the prime minister go as well and top police officials held emergency talks with the president, the Associated Press reported. The chaos reflected social fallout from the sharp wage cuts, tax hikes and other austerity measures the government has taken to fight its budget deficit amid a deep recession.

Consumer loan company Takefuji Corp. has decided to file for bankruptcy in the face of mounting claims by borrowers for reimbursement of excessive interest charges and thinning profit margins under tightened consumer loan regulations, sources said Monday, The Japan Times reported. Takefuji President Akira Kiyokawa denied media reports that it would seek court protection from creditors, telling reporters at his home in Yokohama that no decision had been made.

The gap between rent and house prices has narrowed to the lowest margin in nearly five years, according to an industry report Friday, which indicates the latest symptom of a freefalling property market, The Korea Times reported. According to Real Estate 114, a housing market research firm, the average ``jeonse’’ prices in Seoul are now measuring up to 39.77 percent of purchase prices as of September, the highest level since 41 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Premier David Bartlett has expressed confidence in processes to approve loans under the $100 million Tasmanian Industry Support Scheme, The Mercury reported. The reassurance comes despite the likely loss of $1 million lent to Devonport carpet-maker Tascot Templeton in March and the loss of $2 million lent to Hobart-based educational software firm E-tech. Mr Bartlett said about $8.9 million had been loaned to eight companies under the support scheme, which was set up in November 2008 to help companies through the global financial crisis.