Headlines

Global insurance-industry regulators are set to begin talks this week on creating the first common rules on solvency requirements for international insurers, in an effort to prevent crises like that which nearly buried American International Group Inc. last year, The Wall Street Journal reported. At a three-day meeting in Taiwan scheduled to start Wednesday, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors is expected to work out a detailed schedule to come up with requirements for major insurers' solvency margin ratios, people familiar with the matter said.

Strains in pensions systems, in both private and public provision, threaten to turn the financial crisis of the past two years into a social crisis lasting for decades, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned on Tuesday. In its annual analysis of the health of pensions systems globally, the Paris-based organisation found private pension plans lost 23 per cent of their value last year, while higher unemployment “leaves little room for more generous public pensions”, the Financial Times reported.

British aluminium alloy producer F E Mottram (Non Ferrous) Ltd entered voluntary administration on Monday because of collapsing metals prices and the economic downturn, its parent company Mottram Group said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. F E Mottram (Non Ferrous) Ltd, based in Cheshire in England, was part of the family-owned Mottram Group, which also owns ferro-titanium producer F E Mottram Ltd in Sheffield. Accountants KPMG in Manchester have been appointed to sell F E Mottram (Non Ferrous) Ltd. The company's collapse has resulted in 61 people losing their jobs, the administrator said.

Business and political leaders are reacting with a surprisingly philosophical sense of calm to the final breakup of Nortel Networks, the Financial Post reported on a Canwest News story. New owners will replace old ones, they say, and there’s still opportunity for innovation and jobs, whether the employer is a century-old Canadian icon, a foreign-based multinational, or a startup run by ex-Nortel staffers. The Canadian Council of Chief Executives for its part said "a shift of ownership by itself may not be a bad thing" for Nortel, or for any company sold to a foreign firm.

Commonwealth Bank Ltd (CBA) and legal firm Slater & Gordon say they will negotiate over former Storm Financial clients who entered into loan agreements with the bank, the Brisbane Times reported. As part of the accelerated resolution process, former High Court judge Ian Callinan will act as an independent arbitrator where the CBA cannot reach agreement with Storm Financial clients.

The head of the British bank regulator urged formation of a body to monitor the stability of the financial system that would function like the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, The Wall Street Journal reported. In testimony to lawmakers, Financial Services Authority Chairman Adair Turner said the body should draw a majority of its members from the BOE, a minority from the FSA, and be headed by the governor of the central bank. In a speech last week, BOE governor Mervyn King said the central bank hasn't been given the powers to ensure the stability of the financial system.

Insolvent printing giant Quebecor World Inc. is a step closer to exiting from bankruptcy protection after its Canadian creditors strongly endorsed its restructuring plan yesterday, The Globe and Mail reported. The yes vote, concluded at a downtown Montreal hotel, was a positive indicator of the outcome of a similar vote by U.S. creditors. The tally of that vote was not expected until late yesterday, said Quebecor World spokesman Tony Ross.

Nokia Siemens Networks says it will hang onto about 800 Canadian employees of Nortel Networks Corp. as part of the plan to buy a major portion of the former technology giant's wireless business, The Canadian Press reported. Simon Beresford-Wylie, chief executive officer of Nokia Siemens, said Monday in a conference call that about 2,500 Nortel employees would transfer to Nokia Siemens, with about a third of them in Canada. About 500 of those jobs are expected to stay in Ottawa, where the company houses most of its Canadian operations. Most of the other jobs will be at Nortel's U.S.

Monarch Gold Mining Company Ltd's largest shareholder and major creditor, Territory Resources Ltd, says it remains undecided whether to back the collapsed gold miner's recapitalisation plan, the Brisbane Times reported. The iron ore miner is owed about $25 million by Monarch, which was placed in voluntary administration in July after closing the loss-making, underperforming Davyhurst mine in Western Australia's Goldfields region. The recapitalisation plan aims to ensure that all Monarch creditors and debt providers receive 100 cents in the dollar.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in a historic address to a joint session of the French parliament at the Château of Versailles, declared on Monday that he would not support “austerity” policies, Finfacts reported. The last president to speak before the French parliament was Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte in 1848. In 1873, the president was explicitly barred from directly addressing parliament to ensure its independence. Last year, the prohibition was removed in a constitutional amendment.