Headlines

Australian retail advisory and consultancy Orex Consulting, which is run by industry veteran Rob Lake, has entered voluntary administration in order to refinance as it attempts to deal with a looming tax bill, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Peter Vince and Kylie Wright of Vince & Associates have been appointed as the administrators of the company, which also trades as Orex Recruiters, and will control the company as it continues to operate over the next few weeks during the firm's investigation.

Kenya’s treasury has busted its domestic borrowing target for the current financial year, pointing to the fact that the economy is not out of the woods yet and sparking debate over the country’s ability to cope with the debt in the long term, Business Daily Africa reported.

The owner of the financially troubled Atcon Group says it's business as usual for his companies and he's trying to keep as many people employed as possible, despite ongoing bankruptcy proceedings in court, CBC News reported. On Monday, a Miramichi judge gave Tozer another week to show that Atcon Industrial, one of his 12 companies involved in the bankruptcy proceedings, can be profitable. This is the second time Justice Thomas Riordon of the Court of Queen's Bench, has postponed putting Atcon Industries into receivership in hopes of saving jobs at the plant.

Insolvent department store chain Karstadt will need to find a new owner by the end of April or face a break-up while investors are already positioning themselves to cherry pick, Reuters reported. The administrator of the German retailer, which faces creditor claims of 2.7 billion euros ($3.65 billion), wants to sell the group's 120 stores in a single package to maximise the price. But a break-up of the German retailer looms if a buyer fails to emerge.

Restructuring moves by Kumho Tire Co.—part of a broader program involving its parent Kumho Asiana Group—remained on track despite an announcement Tuesday by South Korea's No. 2 tire maker by sales that its capital base has been seriously eroded by lower production and sales, The Wall Street Journal reported. Analysts said key players, ranging from main creditors to union leaders, are getting closer to reaching agreement on the remaking of Kumho Tire and another affiliate of the group.

A senior executive of Australia’s Allco Finance Group (AFG) expressed concerns about the company's proposed takeover of Rubicon Holdings Ltd in December 2007, the Federal Court has heard. AFG former deputy managing director Michael Stefanovski was quizzed in court on Tuesday about an email he sent to chairman Bob Mansfield warning of a "perfect storm" situation that would result in an "uncontrollable meltdown scenario", The Sydney Morning Herald reported on an Australian Associated Press story.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday said Greece doesn't need financial support and European Union leaders shouldn't make the question of aid for Greece the focus of their summit later this week, The Wall Street Journal reported. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio, Ms. Merkel warned other European leaders against unsettling financial markets by raising "false expectations" that there will be a decision on aid for Greece this week.

Iceland's finance minister said on Monday the government was ready to resume talks with Britain and the Netherlands on Icesave without preconditions and expressed hope a deal could be reached in "not too many weeks", Reuters reported. Earlier this month, Icelanders overwhelmingly rejected the terms of a deal to repay Britain and the Netherlands more than $5 billion lost by foreign savers in Iceland's banking collapse. The spat has held up aid for Iceland's stricken economy. "We are ready to resume talks without preconditions.

Greece and Europe's other intensive-care economies face a threat that can't be solved by cutting public spending or raising taxes: a loss of competitiveness, The Wall Street Journal reported. And in the eyes of those struggling economies, the villain is Germany—the euro zone's largest economy—which has emerged in recent years as the region's most competitive.

An insolvency mechanism should be set up for nations that are unable to manage their debts, Horst Koehler, Germany's president and a former head of the International Monetary Fund, said in an interview on Saturday, Reuters reported. Koehler told Focus magazine there was now a need to develop procedures for overly indebted nations similar to those already in place for companies. He said his suggestion was not aimed at Greece, which is battling to keep a crippling debt burden under control.