Headlines

Kleenmaid was still taking customers' money for orders while racking up debts of more than $100 million, administrators say. If found guilty of insolvent trading, directors of the Queensland-based whitegoods group, which went into administration last month, could face civil and criminal charges, The Age reported. Administrators have found cash flow problems were plaguing Kleenmaid for nearly two years, and in June 2007 the group had a shortfall of assets to liabilities of about $20 million, Deloitte partner John Grieg said.

The German economics ministry may send a team to the U.S. for negotiations over the future of General Motors Corp.'s (GM) German unit Adam Opel AG if bidders' plans for the German carmaker are reasonable, a ministry spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires Monday. "If the concepts that will be presented until Wednesday appear to be reasonable, the federal ministry of economics will send a negotiation team to the U.S.," said ministry spokeswoman Beatrix Brodkorb.

Stanford International Bank Ltd.’s Antiguan receivers can seek relief under U.S. bankruptcy laws for the business U.S. regulators claim was at the heart of an alleged $8 billion fraud by financier R. Allen Stanford, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge David Godbey in Dallas said the receivers appointed to recover bank assets by the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda can pursue relief under Chapter 15, a statutory scheme that enables U.S. courts to assist in bankruptcies pending in other countries.

Some 43,000 investors have been left stranded by the collapse of the second major managed investment scheme in recent weeks, with Great Southern being put into the hands of receivers yesterday, The Land reported. It is believed the company owes investors roughly $4 billion and its collapse follows that of rival MIS Timbercorp last month. Ferrier Hodgson was yesterday appointed as receiver for the MIS giant, which has, over the past 22 years, grown to become Australia's leading forestry and agricultural fund manager.

The Levin Group LP, a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm, has moved to lift the automatic stay in AbitibiBowater Inc.'s bankruptcy proceedings to pursue a claim in state court for $88 million in consulting fees it says the newsprint producer owes, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. Levin launched its suit in the State Court of New York, claiming Bowater Inc. breached a consulting contract by failing to pay $88 million in fees for "extensive work" the firm did for the company.

Fiat SpA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has agreed to hold talks with Italian government officials and unions in an effort to avoid labor opposition that could derail his plans to make Fiat one of the world's largest car makers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Italian Industry Minister Claudio Scajola on Friday released excerpts of a letter Mr. Marchionne recently sent the minister, pledging to meet with the Italian government and unions as soon as Fiat knows the outcome of its proposed merger with Opel, the German unit of General Motors Corp.

Aer Lingus Chairman Colm Barrington on Sunday rejected as "total rubbish" a claim by Irish rival Ryanair that the former state airline faced bankruptcy within about 18 months, The Guardian reported. "Talking about Aer Lingus being out of money, being bankrupt in 18 months -- total, total rubbish," Barrington told state radio RTE in an interview. Ryanair has lodged formal complaints with UK and Irish financial authorities alleging Aer Lingus misled the market by presenting overly optimistic guidance last year in its defence against a hostile bid by Ryanair.

Applied Industrial Technologies Inc. has objected to bankrupt AbitibiBowater Inc.'s move for $206 million in debtor-in-possession financing from two financial firms, saying the deal would not protect the industrial supplier's claims on inventory it consigned to the newsprint giant, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. The supplier's objection centers on certain industrial equipment AIT consigned to AbitibiBowater under agreements that allowed the company to use the goods while AIT maintained ownership, according to the objection.

Representatives from Opel's 4,000 dealers in Europe are expected to vote in favor of taking a direct equity stake in the ailing German carmaker when they meet in Vienna on Friday, Reuters reported. The umbrella association Euroda wants all of its dealers to contribute 150 euros from every sold car over the next three years into a joint fund that could raise as much as 500 million euros in fresh equity. Together with Opel's 50,000 European workers, they would like to hold a blocking minority in any new Opel company.

After bleeding money for years, 186 jobs have been cut at textile company Lane Walker Rudkin (LWR) as receivers try to sort out its dire financial state, The New Zealand Herald reported. LWR was last month placed in receivership and several of the company's unprofitable sites around the country have been targeted for closure or mergers. Changes involve 186 of the group's 470 staff being made redundant - 102 in Christchurch, 61 in Greytown, 19 in Pahiatua and four in Auckland. The receivers said there were no plans for redundancies at the Timaru plant.