Headlines

When Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne presents his budget to the House of Commons on Wednesday, he will seek to make the point that while the U.K. is ardently sticking to the course of eliminating the budget deficit, there won't be additional pain for squeezed households, The Wall Street Journal reported. The first part of this message—reasserting his commitment to the ambitious austerity measures that will result in £111 billion of fiscal tightening by 2015—leaves Mr.

EU finance ministers opened the door to debt restructuring in the euro zone with a deal to force bailout losses on private investors if aid recipients “cannot realistically” restore debt to a sustainable path, the Irish Times reported. The agreement on the scope and scale of the new European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which ends months of difficult talks, will be put to EU leaders at a summit on Thursday and Friday for final approval.

Canadian drug maker Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. says a "large consortium" of its creditors is backing the reorganization strategy it proposed in its home country, and it's asking a U.S. bankruptcy judge to sign off on the restructuring plan that it will put before a Canadian court on April 6, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In papers filed Friday with the U.S.

Investment Dar Co., the owner of half of Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., said its management and the coordinating committee that represents its creditors agreed to the final details of a restructuring plan, Bloomberg reported. The details of the "long form term-sheet, which sets out the mechanics of the proposed restructuring plan, were agreed" in meeting on March 16, Kuwait-based Investment Dar said in an e-mailed statement Sunday. The plan is under review by a Kuwaiti court, which holds its next hearing on April 7, it said.

Ratings agency Standard & Poors has withdrawn its "D" long-term corporate credit rating on Czech gaming company Sazka after the indebted company's assets were placed under preliminary insolvency administration, Reuters reported. S&P said it also withdrew its "D" rating on Sazka's 215 million euros ($303.7 million) secured notes due in 2021. The indebted national lottery operator is facing insolvency claims by two major creditors who, along with another group of investors, are battling to take control over the firm.

Don Ha Real Estate, a Ray White Group franchise, has been placed in receivership. Don Ha is a former NBR Rich Lister and horse trader, The National Business Review reported. The extent of the company's financial woes will be revealed on May 20 in the first receiver's report. Ray White chief executive Carey Smith said receivers Grant Thornton had requested, and would receive, Ray White’s support in the receivership process.

European Union finance ministers will attempt again Monday to map out the details for a planned bailout fund to replace an existing temporary facility, amid ongoing discord on just how the fund should be financed, the Real Time Brussels blog reported. High-level officials continued to struggle to find agreement this week in preparatory meetings, according to someone close to the talks.

The world’s most powerful central banks joined forces to sell billions of dollars worth of yen, battling speculators – described as “sneaky thieves” by one Japanese official – who have driven the currency to record highs, the Irish Times reported. The intervention by banks including the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan and Bank of England began early yesterday, after ministers from the Group of Seven most industrialised nations approved the first such co-ordinated action in more than a decade.

Argentina's flagship airline, Aerolineas Argentinas, has asked the courts to lift a 10-year-old legal measure shielding it from creditors after the company managed to restructure its debts, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In a statement, the airline said it has paid 99.3% of the outstanding debts related to the court-ordered protection from creditors. Argentina seized Aerolineas Argentinas from Spanish tourism company Grupo Marsans in 2009 and has since pumped money into the airline to expand and update its fleet.

The U.K.'s financial regulator broke ranks with its colleagues in Europe Thursday, urging banks to include the risk of a sovereign-debt restructuring in the euro zone in their stress tests, The Wall Street Journal reported. "In their stress testing, firms should consider a range of policy options in the euro-area peripheral countries, including a prolonged period of austerity and possible restructuring of bank and sovereign debt," the Financial Services Authority said in an annual survey that assesses the main risks facing the U.K.'s financial sector.