Headlines

NextWave Wireless, Inc. said it initiated bankruptcy liquidation proceedings for three of its network infrastructure units in Israel, Denmark and Canada, and is also looking to sell its IP wireless unit as part of the planned divestiture of its network infrastructure businesses, Reuters reported today. The company, which reported a wider loss for the third quarter ended Sept. 27, said it discontinued the operations of its GO Networks and Cygnus subsidiaries in the quarter as part of the divestiture plans. Read more.

China unveiled an economic stimulus program it billed as totaling $586 billion, aiming to bolster domestic demand and help avert a global recession, the Wall Street Journal Asia reported today. Though the two-year package appeared to include some previously announced measures, its size was clearly designed to revive the fading confidence of Chinese businesses and consumers, and impress foreign governments.

Latvia's government has decided to take over the nation's No. 2 financial institution after the bank ran into a liquidity crisis, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The government decided late Saturday to take a 51 percent stake in Parex Bank, the Baltic state's second largest bank by total assets, based on data that indicated the bank was headed toward insolvency. The government bought the majority stake in Parex for 2 lats ($3.70). Another 34 percent stake in the bank will be held as collateral by the state-owned Hipoteku Bank.

Switzerland's banking watchdog reportedly is investigating Credit Suisse and other Swiss banks amid allegations that the banks failed to inform customers of the risks involved in buying Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. financial products that are now worthless after the investment bank's epic bankruptcy filing in September, Bankruptcy Law360 reported Friday. At issue is whether Credit Suisse and other banks violated Swiss regulations that require all banks to explain to their retail clients the level of risk they take on when they buy financial products, Reuters said.

National Australia Bank Ltd. said it has appointed a receiver to Allco Finance Group Ltd. unit Rubicon Holdings Australia, which manages three listed trusts, following Allco's collapse last week, the Wall Street Journal Asia reported today. NAB said it has appointed accounting and services firm Deloitte to oversee Rubicon Holdings, and that it would take a provision for its 20 million Australian dollar (US$13.3 million) exposure to the Allco unit.

The number of bankruptcies in Canada rose 18.7 per cent to 8,836 in September--the majority filed by consumers--from 7,446 the previous month, the Ottawa Citizen reported today. On an annual basis, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy said that failures were up 28.4 per cent from 6,879 recorded in September 2007. Consumer bankruptcies jumped 19.6 per cent to 8,347 in September from 6,977 the previous month, and rose 29.8 per cent from 6,430 a year earlier. Business bankruptcies increased 4.3 per cent to 489 in September from 469 in August.

Groups related to collapsed Allco Finance Group warned today the failure of Allco may have triggered defaults on debt facilities, The Australian reported today. Real estate managers Rubicon Japan Trust, Rubicon America Trust and Rubicon Europe Trust Group said they were in talks with various lenders about the implications of Allco Finance's situation. All three entities were suspended from trade. Rubicon America Trust said that defaults on two debt facilities may have been triggered by Allco Finance's collapse, although it was not clear in the documentation for the loans.

US gaming firm Las Vegas Sands intends to finish a casino project it is building in Singapore and there are no indications it will default on loans, lender DBS Group said Friday. DBS is one of 40 banks that formed a syndicate to fund the Marina Bay Sands casino development, which is estimated to cost more than four billion US dollars, Agence France-Presse reported today. DBS’s comments followed a filing by Las Vegas Sands on Thursday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in which it sounded out a warning about its financial situation.

Individual bankruptcies in Britain jumped 9.5 percent in the third quarter from last year, while company insolvencies rose 26 percent as the financial crisis hiked the cost of loans, official figures showed Friday. Britain's Office for National Statistics said 17,341 people declared bankruptcy in the three months through September, up from 15,842 in the same quarter of 2007, the Associated Press reported today. The number of bankruptcies was 12 percent higher than it was in the previous quarter.

The International Monetary Fund has “record levels of liquidity” to combat the global economic crisis and debate over new ways of supplementing its coffers was not “today’s problem”, according to John Lipsky, IMF first deputy director. With the Fund facing unprecedented calls on its resources, some policymakers have raised concerns about its continued capacity to react to demands such as its $16.5 billion loan to Ukraine and $2 billion loan to Iceland, the Financial Times reported yesterday.