Mexico

Mexico is attracting record levels of foreign investment, boasts a stable economy, and is becoming an export powerhouse in areas like cars and aerospace. But when it comes to one economic measure—its minimum wage—the country lags behind only Haiti in the hemisphere, The Wall Street Journal reported. Pressure is rising on the federal government to change that.

Amado Yáñez Osuna, who headed Oceanografía, the oil services company at the center of a $400 million fraud involving Citigroup’s Mexico subsidiary, has been arrested, according to Mexico’s attorney general’s office, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The announcement, made late Wednesday, suggests that prosecutors are close to building a case against Mr. Yáñez in the scheme, which forced Citi to reduce its 2013 earnings by $235 million. The arrest warrant was issued against Mr.

The head of Mexico's central bank said Tuesday that he supports the dramatic measures that central bankers in advanced economies have taken to stabilize their economies, but emerging markets must be mindful of the spillover effects these policies may have, The Wall Street Journal reported. "The unconventional monetary policies have…established the ground for a recovery in economic activity," said Agustin Carstens, governor of Mexico's central bank, at a conference in Portugal sponsored by the European Central Bank. "I'd rather have them than not," he said.

The fugitive businessman who controlled Mexicana airlines before it went bankrupt and was recently charged with illegal use of the airline's funds has asked for asylum in the United States, a federal official said Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Assistant Attorney General Mariana Benitez said that Gaston Azcarraga is in the United States and has applied for asylum following the expiration of his visa. U.S. officials notified Mexico that Azcarraga is in their country a few days ago, Benitez said. She added that Mexico requested that he be extradited but U.S.

Troubled Mexican homebuilder Homex has filed for bankruptcy after gaining the support of a majority of its creditors, the company said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The Culiacan-based company, which has struggled with a heavy debt load and slumping home sales, said it was seeking additional financing during the bankruptcy proceedings. Mexican homebuilders have been hit hard since the government shifted to a policy in the last few years that gives priority to subsidies for apartment purchases by new home buyers, hurting sales of cheap houses built by Geo, Homex, and Urbi.

Mexican homebuilder Geo said on Monday that it entered bankruptcy protection after a judge accepted its filing for restructuring, Reuters reported. The company, which said last month that it gained the support of the majority of its creditors in a so-called pre-packaged bankruptcy plan, will seek to replace most of its about $1 billion in debt with stock. Read more.

Mexicana airlines, which suspended flights four years ago due to its heavy debt load, was declared bankrupt on Friday, paving the way to dismantle the iconic company, once one of Mexico's top two carriers, Reuters reported. About 30 investors sought for more than three years to rescue the airline, which has an estimated debt of $1 billion, but none proved to have the necessary funds.

Mexican homebuilder Geo , which has struggled with a heavy debt load and slumping home sales, has filed for bankruptcy after gaining the support of the majority of its creditors, Reuters reported. Geo, once Mexico's biggest homebuilder with sales of 55,485 homes in 2012, stopped making debt repayments last year. Creditors Banamex, HSBC, Banorte, Santander, Inbursa and BBVA Bancomer agreed to the bankruptcy plan, Geo said in a statement on Thursday. Foreign bond holders also supported the plan, Geo said, without specifying how many.

Home builder Corporación Geo SAB is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in Mexico as early as Thursday to restructure a roughly $1.5 billion debt load that has brought its output to a near-standstill, people familiar with the company's plans said, The Wall Street Journal reported. Geo, hurt by problems in Mexico's low-income housing sector, is preparing to file a streamlined bankruptcy in a Mexican court. The company is in talks with a creditor group on a $200 million to $300 million loan to fund its restructuring, some of these people said.

Maxcom filed for pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a U.S. court, legal filings showed, as the Mexican telecoms firm pursues a recapitalization plan that would give full control to a investor group led by private equity firm Ventura Capital, Reuters reported. Small phone companies in Mexico have struggled to compete with billionaire businessman Carlos Slim's America Movil, which has about 70 percent of Mexican mobile connections and about 80 percent of the country's fixed lines.