Headlines

Japan’s ruling party unveiled the country’s biggest-ever economic stimulus plan Thursday, a ¥15.4 trillion, or $154.4 billion, package of subsidies and tax breaks that aims to stem a deepening recession in the world’s second-biggest economy, the New York Times reported. The Liberal Democratic Party released details of the draft stimulus, worth about 3 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product, ahead of a formal announcement Friday. The plan would bring Japan’s total stimulus spending to ¥27 trillion since Prime Minister Taro Aso took office in September.

The Dutch government may have offered too much help to an arm of Fortis NV when it nationalized the financial-services company last year, the European Union's competition regulator said, announcing that it was opening a formal investigation into the bailout, The Wall Street Journal reported. EU rules meant to ensure that foreign companies can compete with domestic ones in the common market restrict how governments can provide aid to businesses.

The German automaker Karmann has filed for bankruptcy protection, Forbes reported on an Associated Press story. The nameplate has appeared on the VW Beetle convertible, Chrysler Crossfire and Triumph TR6. Karmann said in a statement Wednesday that it faced "insolvency in view of impending financial obligations." Osnabrueck-based Wilhelm Karmann GmbH employs nearly 8,000 workers. It says the fallout from the global financial crisis and the sharp decline in demand for cars had undermined a restructuring plan it drew up last September.

Larry Yung quit as chairman of Citic Pacific Ltd. after the biggest currency loss reported by a Chinese company triggered a police investigation, Bloomberg reported. Yung, the son of a former Chinese vice president, will be replaced by Chang Zhenming, 52, the vice chairman of parent Citic Group, Citic Pacific said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange today. The 67-year-old executive, ranked the nation’s richest man in 2005, is leaving after currency losses of HK$14.6 billion ($1.9 billion) forced him to seek help from Beijing.

Ssangyong Motor on Wednesday announced plans to sack more than one third of its workforce as part of a drive to keep South Korea's smallest automaker afloat, The Straits Times reported. The debt-stricken firm was put under protection from creditors in February, a move that means its Chinese owner, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), no longer has management control. Court-appointed managers including Lee Yoo Il have since struggled to turn the company around through job cuts and cost savings.

Canwest Global Communications Corp. struck a deal with its lenders late yesterday to extend a waiver of certain borrowing conditions--a critical extension that allows the debt-laden media company to inch closer to fashioning a recapitalization strategy, the Toronto Star reported. In doing so, bankers have also agreed to provide Canada's largest media company with additional access to much-needed credit. Canwest said that liquidity boost should allow it to "operate normally" over the next two weeks. Despite buying more time, subsidiary Canwest Media Inc.

Any bankruptcies among U.S. automakers could further batter Mexico's auto industry, push some parts suppliers to the breaking point and spur tens of thousands of layoffs, a Reuters analysis has found. Fears are mounting that General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC could be lurching toward bankruptcy. A Chapter 11 filing by either automaker could upset Mexican assembly lines and disrupt the flow of cash to auto parts makers, possibly spurring bankruptcies among the smallest or those already facing liquidity problems, analysts say. Mexican subsidiaries of U.S.

Corporacion Durango SAB, the Mexican papermaker that filed for bankruptcy in October, rose to the highest in six months after saying it may present a debt restructuring plan at its shareholder meeting in two weeks, Bloomberg reported. A restructuring plan, which may include issuing new dollar-denominated debt, is scheduled for presentation at the April 23 shareholder meeting, Durango said today in a statement to the Mexico stock exchange. The Mexico City-based company may also propose issuing new shares.

The federal government says it wants to protect consumers and parts suppliers faced with a potential bankruptcy filing by General Motors of Canada or Chrysler Canada by backstopping their warranties on new car sales and bolstering support for the parts makers, The Globe and Mail reported. Worried that the companies' financial crisis will drive away customers and seal their fate, Industry Minister Tony Clement said Ottawa would insure the warranties of new GM and Chrysler vehicles sold between yesterday and the conclusion of their restructuring efforts.

Nokia Siemens Networks, seeking a bigger foothold in the U.S. market, has offered to buy large pieces of Nortel Networks Corp., including much of its profitable carrier networks unit and a research unit developing a next-generation wireless technology, according to people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, an auction of Nortel's enterprise, or business telecom, unit last week attracted bids from competitors Avaya Inc. and Siemens Enterprise Communications, according to others. Nokia Siemens, a joint venture between Nokia Corp.