Headlines

The Canadian government welcomed news on Thursday that General Motors Corp and the Canadian Auto Workers are set to start cost-cutting talks and said both GM and Chrysler need "severe restructuring," the Associated Press reported. "In both cases there has to be some severe restructuring in the future," Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement told Reuters by telephone from Washington after talks with U.S. officials on aid for GM and Chrysler. "I take it as a good piece of news today that CAW and GM are sitting down," he said.

China sees signs economic growth is recovering but is watching closely to determine whether it needs to expand its huge stimulus effort as global conditions worsen, top economic officials said Friday. Zhang Ping, the chairman of the country's planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, and central bank Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan said positive data showed Beijing's policies were working.

Fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services won regulatory approval to sell a majority stake in itself, but potential suitors said there was still uncertainty about the Indian company's accounts and liabilities, Reuters reported. Satyam's government-appointed board wants to bring in an investor to restore confidence among its roughly 50,000-strong staff and more than 600 customers, which include General Electric and Qantas Airways.

Financial regulators must agree binding international codes of conduct to prevent chaos when crises hit banks operating across national borders, the International Monetary Fund has warned. In a major study of the lessons learned from the financial crisis, the IMF also accepted blame for missing the dangers arising from weakly regulated financial institutions and admitted it had failed to provide global leadership, the Financial Times reported.

Housing markets across Europe suffered steep declines in both prices and activity during 2008 and the situation isn't likely to improve much in 2009, according to an annual report published Thursday by the U.K.-based Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. A continued lack of mortgage-credit availability will keep European housing markets in the doldrums, the survey said. The report shows that while U.K.

Foreign lenders that rushed into China in recent years are watching nervously as a number of companies there teeter on the brink of insolvency. Their worry: The nation's bankruptcy laws may leave them with virtually nothing, The Wall Street Journal reported. Several big Western investors--Citigroup Inc., hedge-fund manager Citadel Investment Group LLC, Credit Suisse Group and CLSA Capital Partners--are seeking to get back between $100 million and $200 million in loans extended to a Chinese steelmaker, according to people familiar with the matter.

Door manufacturer Masonite International Inc. said Tuesday it will file for bankruptcy protection while it works out a restructuring agreement with its major creditors, the Globe and Mail reported. The arrangement will be filed with U.S. and Canadian regulators as a “pre-negotiated plan of reorganization,” the Mississauga, Ontario-based company said in a news release. The company said it has reached agreement in principle with its secured lenders and bondholders for a plan that aims to reduce the company's debt to $300 million from $2.2 million.

Businessman Urmas Sõõrumaa and his partner Gunnar Kool’s plan to establish one of the leading luxury clothing and accessories chains in Eastern Europe has failed. Last week the court started bankruptcy proceedings for Versus Invest, Eesti Ekspress reported. Franchiser Versus Invest operated ten stores that sold clothing and accessories by Hugo Boss, Joop, Calvin Klein and Zegna. Six of them were in Estonia, one in Latvia and three in Belorussia. According to the plan, Versus Invest was supposed to open ten new stores during 2009.

Companies struggling with tight credit conditions can now apply for liquidity guarantees and loans from the German government's €100 billion ($126 billion) fund, a spokesman for the Economy Ministry said Wednesday. The fund will offer €75 billion in liquidity guarantees and €25 billion in direct loans, The Wall Street Journal reported. General Motors Corp.'s German unit Opel could be one of the first companies to tap the fund, after GM Europe warned it needs €3.3 billion in aid.

The European Central Bank is struggling to keep up with the region’s plunging economy, Bloomberg reported. Even as President Jean-Claude Trichet and his colleagues prepare to cut interest rates to a record low today, the 16 nations that share the euro are mired in a recession deeper than envisioned in their worst-case scenario just three months ago. The pain is building as companies including chemical-maker BASF SE cut investment and jobs, Spain and Ireland run an increasing risk of default and trade partners to the east crumble.