Headlines

Saab Automobile AB, the Swedish brand being wound down by General Motors Co., postponed a board meeting to discuss production plans until tomorrow as its owner said a last-minute deal to sell the unit is unlikely. The gathering, originally set for today, will examine whether or how to restart production Jan. 11 after a four-week break, board member Haakan Danielsson said. Board members haven't received specific agenda for the meeting, which may also discuss any possible revised bids for Saab, he said.

The last time Iceland and the U.K. went to war it didn't end well for the British, The Wall Street Journal reported in an editorial. This time the squabble isn't related to fish; it's about money and a sunken savings account called Icesave, from Iceland's Landsbanki. It is a story of colossal folly. At risk is Icleand's future membership of the European Union and $5.7 billion that the British and Dutch governments say they are owed.

Iceland was warned on Tuesday that it risked international isolation after the country’s president blocked a deal to repay Britain and the Netherlands almost €4 billion ($5.7 billion, £3.6 billion) lost in a failed Icelandic bank, the Financial Times reported. The British and Dutch governments condemned the decision by president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and hinted at repercussions for Iceland’s bid to join the European Union and for its $10 billion international economic rescue programme.

Shares of Japan Airlines fell more than 4 percent on Wednesday after the Nikkei business daily reported the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) and the Ministry of Finance are seeking court-led bankruptcy proceedings. Sources told Reuters last week that a government-backed turnaround fund was leaning towards bankruptcy proceedings for JAL as part of its restructuring plan, and was in negotiations with creditors to push such a plan. The Nikkei reported on Wednesday the state-owned DBJ, JAL's largest creditor, favours a pre-packaged bankruptcy option. DBJ declined to comment on the report.

American Airlines is considering sweetening its $1.1 billion investment proposal for Japan Airlines and would be willing to invest in the carrier even if it goes into bankruptcy, an American Airlines executive said. Will Ris, in charge of government affairs at American Airlines told Reuters that American Airlines was ready to invest if it applies for bankruptcy protection or is restructured out of court.

There will be no bail-out of Greece by other European Union countries, a top European Central Bank official has said, according to the Financial Times Money Supply blog. “The markets are deluding themselves when they think at a certain point the other member states will put their hands on their wallets to save Greece,” Jürgen Stark, an executive board member, told Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Greece rejected speculation that it will need a bailout to tackle the European Union’s biggest budget deficit as officials fly in from Brussels to scrutinize tax and spending plans. “We don’t expect to be bailed out by anybody as, I think, is perfectly clear we’re doing what needs to be done to bring the deficit down and control the public debt,” Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today.

Swamped with debt, Oleg Deripaska seemed the most likely of Russia's tycoons to fall victim to the financial crisis a year ago. Today he is on his way to preserving most of his sprawling empire, thanks to bailouts from the Kremlin and breaks from foreign lenders, The Wall Street Journal reported. One key party has already committed to buying shares: a state bank whose chairman is Vladimir Putin. Mr.

Kleenmaid will live on, with a private equity firm given the right to use the name of the collapsed kitchen appliance company, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on an AAP story. The ABC reports private equity firm Compass has been given the right to revive the Kleenmaid brand by administrator, Deloitte, after a long running dispute. A Deloitte spokesman told the ABC an agreement has been reached where Compass can use the Kleenmaid name but has to stop using and destroy any customer information it already has.

A delegation from the Swedish government will meet with General Motors next week in the United States to discuss the future of loss-making car unit Saab, Sweden's national news agency said on Tuesday. Representatives from Sweden's finance and industry ministries will meet in Detroit with Saab parent GM and Ford, currently in the process of selling its Swedish car unit Volvo Cars. "As we understand it, GM has not closed the door to a sale (of Saab), even if the official line is a wind-down," state secretary Joran Hagglund said.