Headlines

The fierce debate over whether bonuses are appropriate at banks that have received government bailouts has arrived in the U.K., The Wall Street Journal reported. It promises to be a tough discussion, if the interaction between RBS and UK Financial Investments Ltd.--which have been discussing bonuses totaling as much as £1 billion ($1.5 billion) --is any indication. UKFI is the Treasury arm that is tasked with managing the state's stakes in banks following government bailouts, of which RBS, soon to be 70% government-owned, has been a big recipient.

Swiss newspapers expect the country's top two banks, UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG, to announce record losses for 2008 this week and predict UBS will unveil thousands of job cuts, Reuters reported. Losses at the biggest bank and world's largest wealth manager, UBS, will range from 20 billion to 21 billion Swiss francs ($17-18 billion), including, according to NZZ am Sonntag, a 9 billion franc loss in the fourth quarter.

The Norwegian government Sunday unveiled a 100 billion kroner ($14.8 billion) plan to inject capital into the country's banks and lend directly to banks and other businesses by buying corporate bonds. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said the latest measures to counter global economic turmoil would be divided equally into two funds, one to strengthen the banking sector and the other to offer direct financing to business and industry. "The two funds will make it easier for companies and households to get loans and will help stabilize the financial market," Mr.

Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown Ltd. has reached an agreement with its banking syndicate to restructure its debt and revise its business plan, but the move will likely leave investors empty-handed, The Wall Street Journal reported. However, Babcock still needs to reach an agreement with its subordinated note holders in order to prevent the listed entity from falling into administration.

Shares of Ssangyong Motor Co., South Korea's smallest carmaker, fell by the daily limit Monday in the first day of trading since the automaker's suspension last month, after the company won court receivership, TradingMarkets.com reported. Shares of Ssangyong fell 14.72 percent to 1,130 won (US$0.82) on the local bourse as of 10:46 a.m. as the company's shares resumed trading Monday after being suspended on Jan. 9, when the company filed for court receivership. "Investors were wary of Ssangyong's potential bankruptcy.

Handball club Slagelse FH, which won the Champions League three time between 2004 and 2007, looks set for bankruptcy after a last hope financial backer turned out to be a con man, the Copenhagen Post reported. Slagelse FH was already in serious financial trouble in December and despite a number of creditors cancelling the club’s debts, club chairman Iver Grunnet said that things were still looking bad. ‘It’s not been enough to change the situation.

Baugur Group hf bowed to creditor Landsbanki Islands hf’s attempt to have administrators take control of some of the Icelandic investor’s U.K. assets, saying it wanted to avoid hurting retail chains such as Hamleys, Bloomberg reported. Baugur’s board and that of its U.K. unit said today that they won’t oppose Landsbanki’s filing to have BG Holding ehf placed into administration, according to an e-mailed statement. Baugur will also remove a petition to Icelandic courts that could have frustrated those proceedings.

Ssangyong Motor Co., South Korea’s smallest carmaker, was placed in bankruptcy protection after vehicles sales tumbled 30 percent last year, Bloomberg reported. Park Young Tae, Ssangyong’s current financial director, and Lee Yoo Il, a former Hyundai Motor Co. president, will act as receivership managers, the Seoul Central District Court said in a faxed statement today. The court could still seek liquidation if the managers’ turnaround plan is deemed unviable.

Toyota, the world's top carmaker, said its losses were ballooning as world car sales slid while truckmaker Volvo swung to a fourth quarter loss and Italy readied aid for the ailing industry, Reuters reported. A sudden collapse in consumer demand last year battered automakers who were forced to cut production and shed jobs leaving the sector and its related industries reeling. Governments have swung into action, preparing aid packages to help out their struggling car sectors.

Spanish industrial production fell by almost a fifth during December, the largest decline on record, and data showed debt defaults soaring as the global crisis tipped Spain into deep recession. The 19.6 percent slump in output at Spain's credit-starved factories and businesses dwarfed slowdowns in other major European economies. A separate data release on Thursday from the National Statistics Institute showed 1,082 Spanish firms filed for bankruptcy protection between October and December, almost four times as many as in the same period of 2007.