Headlines

Southern developer’s Dave Henderson’s Five Mile development is being sold by the beleaguered Hanover Finance as they try to recoup some of the millions of dollars that the company loaned the project, The National Business Review reported. Deloitte were appointed as receiver to Five Mile Holdings, who owned the Queenstown development, in July of last year but the sale of the property has only just got the go ahead. The development site, which was estimated to be worth $2 billion when complete, is now home to a large excavated hole.

Borse Dubai, a government-owned exchanges group, is expected to close a $2.5 billion loan today, a vote of support for the emirate amid fears that the commercial hub of the Gulf could default, the Financial Times reported. The company, which controls Dubai's two equity markets and has stakes in the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, needs to pay off a $3.4 billion (€2.7 billion, £2.4 billion) loan next week, the first major test in 2009 of Dubai's ability to refinance $20 billion in loans that mature this year. Dubai's globalised economy has been hit hard by the credit crunch.

Venezuela took control of a local bank owned by Allen Stanford, who faces U.S. fraud charges, the finance minister said on Thursday, as the impact of the American case spread through Latin America, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said the government would seek to quickly sell the bank. In recent days, depositors had worried that the trouble at Stanford International Bank would hurt Stanford Bank Venezuela and had withdrawn cash from the small local bank even though the companies' assets are separate, industry officials and bank customers said.

Vancouver taxpayers are on the hook for $254.2 million to complete construction of the 2010 Winter Olympics athletes village, the Associated Press reported. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said the city has bought out the remainder of village financing from New York-based hedge fund Fortress Investment Inc. The purchase means the city becomes the lender to Millennium Development, which is building the 1,110-unit village to house the athletes. Fortress stopped payment on its $633-million construction loan in the fall.

The German government is set to adopt a law allowing it to temporarily nationalise troubled banks through the seizure of shares, according to a draft text obtained by Agence France-Presse Wednesday. The law is seen paving the way for the total nationalisation of stricken Germany property lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE), which would be the first time in modern German history the state has taken control of a bank. Nationalising banks "is only permissible when there are no other reasonable legal and economic solutions available to safeguard financial market stability," the draft says.

General Motors Co. is trying to line up $6 billion in financial support from five governments in addition to the U.S. federal aid outlined in its restructuring plan late Tuesday, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The U.S. automaker said it is in talks with authorities in Germany, the U.K., Sweden, Canada and Thailand to secure the aid by March 31, in line with a U.S. government deadline for continuing and extending support to keep the company out of bankruptcy protection.

Polish restaurant group Sfinks filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after overspending on expansion and losing money on currency options, Reuters reported. Sfinks shares dropped as much as 45 percent to 6 zlotys after the announcement and were down 40.5 percent to 6.49 zlotys. The company has a market valuation of 60 million zlotys ($15.5 million) or more than 90 percent less than at its peak in June 2007. Rival restaurant group AmRest took a 33 percent stake in Sfinks and installed a new management in November.

Air Canada, the country's biggest airline, could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection if it does not secure additional financing and succeed in renegotiating covenants in credit card agreements, UBS analyst Fadi Chamoun said. Covenants in credit card agreements could tighten further in the second quarter and result in the airline being required to maintain higher cash deposits, said Chamoun, who downgraded Air Canada shares to "sell" from "neutral". He also cut his target price for its shares to C$1 from C$1.50.

Australian bank Westpac says it is encountering further stress in its New Zealand business, The National Business Review reported. The statement was made as part of an update to the Australian market in which Westpac forecast a $A1.2 ($NZ1.52) billion profit in the three months to December 31, down 2 percent on last year. The statement shows a steep increase in the number of New Zealanders with mortgages 90 days or more in arrears. At the end of December, 0.66 of a percent of Westpac's New Zealand mortgage book had payments 90 days or more in arrears.

Legal counsel for Precision Nuclear Inc. and Precision Metal Works of Mactaquac says the companies have earned a reprieve, but employees didn't hold out hope Tuesday for the businesses to reopen, The Daily Gleaner reported. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paulette Garnett approved an order of receivership Tuesday that was prepared by Precision lawyer Charles Bird and counsel for various major creditors. Precision Nuclear was placed in receivership earlier this month, but it was in court last week looking for protection under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).