Headlines

Managed investment company Great Southern Limited has requested its shares be placed in voluntary suspension for another week, ABC Rural reported. The forestry company says it needs more time, telling the Australian Securities Exchange it's preparing its 2009 managed investment sales program. The company has until October to find a way to repay or renegotiate more than $100 million in debt. Great Southern has more than 40,000 investors and 180,000 hectares of forest plantations. Read more.

Laws dealing with the failure of investment banks are to be tightened, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers revealed serious shortcomings in the UK’s insolvency regime, the Financial Times reported. Alistair Darling, chancellor, will on Monday set out plans for improving the ability of clients to secure an early return of their assets and to allow counterparties to have a better idea of the status of outstanding trades when a group defaults.

Receivers have spoken to Riviera workers about the future of the luxury Gold Coast boat builder, ABC News reported. Workers returned to Riviera this morning from a four-week shutdown and were met by receivers at the Coomera plant. Deloitte partner Chris Campbell says he cannot say when the luxury boat market will rebound. He says a restructuring plan is still a few weeks away. A worker who did not want to be identified says he is only been guaranteed two weeks' work. Read more.

Australian political opposition to a proposed US$19.5 billion investment by Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. in Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. was raised to a new level Saturday as two prominent members of the upper legislative house launched a joint advertising campaign calling for the ruling Labor government to block the deal, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move will have little influence on whether the proposed tie-up gets approval from the Australian government, because that decision lies solely with Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Australia's biggest luxury boat building operation is in voluntary receivership and will be put up for sale, casting doubt over 550 jobs, the Brisbane Times reported. Deloitte partners Chris Campbell, Vaughan Strawbridge and Richard Hughes have been appointed receivers and managers of Riviera. The company operates a state-of-the-art boat building facility at Coomera on the Gold Coast and exports to more than 30 countries. Riviera shed 117 of its Gold Coast staff in January in the wake of the global downturn.

A superior court judge in Quebec has approved a further $100 million in debtor-in-possession financing for North America's largest newsprint producer, AbitibiBowater Inc., as it navigates joint bankruptcy proceedings in Canada and the U.S., Bankruptcy Law360 reported. The order, which was approved by a judge in Quebec Superior Court on Wednesday, will allow AbitibiBowater to enter a loan agreement with Canada's Bank of Montreal, the company announced. Investissement Quebec, the province's investment agency, will guarantee the $100 million loan, according to AbitibiBowater.

German bank Commerzbank AG said Friday its net loss widened to €861 million ($1.15 billion) in the first quarter as it booked more than €1 billion in write-downs and prepared for a broad restructuring aimed at limiting its risk profile, The Wall Street Journal reported. Commerzbank said it wrote down €1.2 billion in toxic assets during the quarter that had previously been allocated to an internal restructuring unit. A further €289 million in restructuring expenses were also incurred, Commerzbank said.

The leader of GM Canada's largest union says a filing by the car maker for court protection from creditors is likely, The Globe and Mail reported. The federal and Ontario governments have ordered the Canadian Auto Workers and General Motors of Canada Ltd. to slash hourly labour costs by May 15. CAW president Ken Lewenza says the company faces liquidation if a cost-saving agreement is not reached. “This is an unbelievable situation,” says Mr. Lewenza, who believes the car maker may have to file for Chapter 11 and CCAA creditor protection.

The debt-ridden agribusiness group Great Southern has gone into a trading halt pending an announcement on its managed investment scheme sales program and working capital needs, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The shares were trading at 12c when the halt took place. They have fallen from a high of $5 in March 2005, dropping sharply over the past year. The trading halt will stay in place until the company makes an announcement, expected before Monday.

OZ Minerals has recommended its shareholders vote in favour of its deal with China Minmetals to save it from administration, The Australian reported. Releasing documents today that outline the $US1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) asset sale, OZ chairman Barry Cusack said if the transaction were not approved, OZ Minerals might not be successful in refinancing its debt, which could potentially lead to it being unable to continue operating as a going concern and being placed into voluntary administration or receivership.