Headlines

The U.S. tax authorities have thrown a huge curve ball at Nortel creditors by submitting a $3-billion U.S. claim for back taxes, interest and other penalties, The Ottawa Citizen reported. If U.S. bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross accepts all or most of the claim as valid, "it will deplete whatever is available to other creditors," says Tony Marsh, the spokesman for Nortel retirees. "That's a pretty scary number." If Nortel completes the sale of its global assets as planned, it is expected to have little more than $5 billion (all figures U.S.) in cash to distribute.

Negotiations on the financing of the factoring business of Quelle GmbH, the mail-order subsidiary of insolvent German company Arcandor AG, are set to last through the week, people familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Monday. The financing structure for Quelle is basically in place, and talks on extending a credit line of around €300 million are under way, the people said. Financing at Quelle broke down after parent company Arcandor filed for insolvency in June and could only be maintained thanks to a state-aid loan of €50 million, that has to be paid back by Dec. 31.

France, which is trying to play a leading role in policing the world financial system, has obtained details of as many as 3,000 suspected tax evaders with Swiss bank accounts, according to a report in a French newspaper, The Wall Street Journal reported. Budget minister Eric Woerth told newspaper the Journal de Dimanche that a large number of the people involved were "very probably" avoiding French taxes, and that the government would pursue them if needed to force them to pay up.

Any decision on the fate of General Motors Co.'s European unit Adam Opel GmbH is still probably weeks off, a German government spokesman said Friday, The Associated Press reported. A decision on what GM does with the unit, which includes its British sister brand Vauxhall, would take at least a week and a half, as GM's board is due to meet on Sept. 8 and 9, said Steffen Moritz, an Economic Ministry spokesman. He added that the government could do little to influence Detroit's final decision.

ABC Learning Centres Ltd receivers say have started a sales process for the remaining 715 child care centres of Australia's largest childcare operator, The Age reported. Receiver Chris Honey of McGrathNicol says ABC Learning has been stabilised and its model restructured to place it on a sustainable footing for the future. He said the sale process would not impact the ongoing operation of the centres in any way. The receivers hope contracts for sale would be exchanged before Christmas, with completion expected in the first two months of the new year.

A U.S. federal judge is expected to decide on Monday whether Grupo Mexico or India's Sterlite Industries will control Asarco LLC, bringing the U.S. copper miner a step closer to leaving bankruptcy after four years, Reuters reported. At stake are Asarco's copper mines in Arizona and $7.5 billion in damages related to a piece of Peruvian miner Southern Copper Corp that had been owned by Asarco. Grupo Mexico, the largest copper miner in Mexico, bought Asarco in 1999 but lacks control because of the bankruptcy. A U.S.

Canada's television industry is bracing for a week of upheaval that only a decade ago would have been unthinkable in the days when local TV was a profit generating machine, The Globe and Mail reported. Over the next few days, money-losing TV stations in two Canadian cities will be shut down, while a number of others slated to close will attempt to begin the climb back to profitability, having been rescued by new owners willing to gamble that small-market TV can be profitable. The reckoning for the broadcast industry comes after Canada's big broadcasters, CTV Inc.

Nursery furniture retailer BabyCo has gone into voluntary administration and only four of the company's 22 shops in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia will remain open, Big Pond News reported. Deloitte partners Tim Norman, Sal Algeri and Simon Cathro have been appointed as voluntary administrators of the company on Friday. Mr Norman says slow sales and the competitive nature of the retail industry prompted the company to appoint administrators.

Failed property financier Strategic Finance has reported an audited annual loss of NZ$175 million for the year to June 30, just six weeks after predicting a full year loss of NZ$98 million, The New Zealand Herald reported.

The German government may be willing to finance a restructuring of Adam Opel GmbH to avoid an insolvency of the troubled General Motors Co. European unit, The Deal Pipeline reported. Berlin has not yet been asked but might be willing to finance a GM-led restructuring after general elections Sept. 27, Financial Times Deutschland wrote. Germany might also reportedly be willing to support a controversial offer for Opel from Brussels financial investor RHJ International SA if it promises to only hold the company temporarily or if it teams with a major auto manufacturer.