Headlines

Russian developer RTM, which is struggling to restructure debts, has filed for bankruptcy in the Moscow Arbitration Court, the court said on Wednesday. RTM spokesman Viktor Belyonyshev confirmed the company had submitted the filing which is the first bankruptcy filing by a public Russian developer, Reuters reported. Read more.

It may take until late fall or even early next year for a federal lifeline to begin flowing to Canada's embattled forestry companies and help them weather the impact of hefty tax subsidies to their U.S. rivals, The Globe and Mail reported. Ottawa's $1-billion fund, announced nearly a month ago, was designed to partly offset the impact of $6-billion to $8-billion (U.S.) in "black liquor" subsidies to American pulp producers.

Air Canada's pilots agreed Monday to support a plan for a 21-month moratorium on part of the airline's pension obligations and an extension of its current labour contracts -- a move management says is the lynchpin in it securing the necessary financing to avoid a bankruptcy filing, the Financial Post reported. "We did our part here to be part of the restructuring outside of CCAA, but there is still a lot of work to be done," said Serge Beaulieau, the chair of the Air Canada Pilots Association master executive council.

British Airways Plc faces “critical challenges” in restructuring its business to return to long- term profitability, Chairman Martin Broughton said today. The carrier, which is in talks with unions about almost 4,000 job cuts and a reduction in pay, is concerned that the market for premium travel “may never fully recover,” Broughton said at the annual shareholder meeting in London. The company is considering selling convertible bonds to boost cash, he said.

U.K. powerhouse Addleshaw Goddard LLP is trying out a new flexible working scheme that will have some fee-earners logging a four-day week in exchange for 85 percent of their regular pay, as firms continue to look for creative solutions to the economic crisis, Law360 reported on a Legal Week story. The program, which will run for a year, began on July 1 after 95 percent of the firm's fee-earners endorsed the move.

The U.S. government's bid to halt Swiss bank UBS AG from aiding U.S. citizens to allegedly evade taxes has stretched from exclusive enclaves in Miami and Geneva to the highest diplomatic levels. The stakes are high: a breakdown in settlement talks could escalate a diplomatic row between the U.S. and Swiss governments. Last week, the Swiss government unexpectedly said it was prepared to take control of UBS data and prohibit UBS from complying with any summons.

New Zealand property developer Mathew Peters was adjudicated bankrupt this morning in the High Court at Auckland following unpaid debts to finance company Marac, The National Business Review reported. He is the brother of fellow property developer Jamie Peters. Both are cousins of politician Winston Peters. Mathew Peters’ company Eastside Trustee is in receivership and liquidation as of October 2008 and owes $39 million to its Australian financier Fortress Credit Corp and $4.7 million to Inland Revenue. His company Brown Stone went in to liquidation in December 2008.

Adaltis Inc., a Canadian medical device maker, said that it has obtained an order from the Quebec Superior Court establishing a claims process for the purpose of determining the claims of the creditors of the company and for the calling and conducting of a meeting of the creditors of the company once a plan of compromise and arrangement has been filed. In its order, the Court also set to August 13, the bar date for the filing of a proof of claim. Read more.

Default rates on loans underlying Japanese commercial mortgage-backed securities rose to an “unprecedented high” of 53 percent in the first half, Fitch Ratings said. Fitch has placed on negative ratings all Japanese CMBS backed by so-called bullet maturity loans as real-estate financing dries up amid a depressed outlook for the economy, the credit assessor said in a report today. Most or all the principal must be repaid when bullet maturity loans fall due.

Iconic Adelaide electrical and furniture retailer Truscotts Casual Living has been placed in receivership with debts of $5 million, SmartCompany reported. The company, which operated 14 stores up in Adelaide up until a few months ago, collapsed on Saturday. Ernst & Young partner Chris Munday has been appointed receiver and now plans to offer the business for sale as a going concern. "That's always the desire of a receiver," Munday says.