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.
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Mt. Gox customers with frozen bitcoin accounts are targeting Chief Executive Mark Karpeles, arguing in court papers he is unfit to lead the Japanese bitcoin exchange through its U.S. bankruptcy case, The Wall Street Journal reported. In papers filed Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas, lawyers for several Mt. Gox customers pointed out Mr. Karpeles has been accused of fraud and said he should no longer have power over Mt. Gox's U.S. assets in his official role as Mt. Gox Co.'s foreign representative.
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For a bunch of people who just agreed the global economy is doing better, top officials from the world's rich and poor nations sound rather worried. For poor nations, the easy monetary policies in advanced economies are leading to big swings in capital flows that could destabilize emerging markets. For rich countries, the hoarding of currency by developing nations is blocking progress toward a more stable global economy.
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Canadian payday loan provider Cash Store Financial Services Inc said on Monday it will seek protection from creditors as it faces liquidity problems resulting from the suspension of its right to offer loans in the province of Ontario, the Financial Post reported on a Reuters story. In February, the Edmonton, Alberta-based company said it was voluntarily delisting its shares from the New York Stock Exchange as its share price had plummeted and it could not meet the exchange’s listing requirements.
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A Manitoba First Nations business success story is showing signs of financial trouble, as one of its companies, Arctic Beverages Ltd., is seeking creditor protection, CBC News reported. Arctic Beverages, which bottles and distributes PepsiCo. and other products, has taken the first step to avoid bankruptcy, according to documents obtained by CBC News. The Winnipeg-based company filed a notice of intention last month to make a proposal to its creditors under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
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An Ontario judge has awarded $85-million in damages to the creditors of long-defunct theatre company Livent Inc., ruling the firm’s auditors at Deloitte & Touche were negligent in their reviews of the company’s 1997 financial statements, The Globe and Mail reported. The critical ruling, released late Friday, marks a rare victory for creditors in a lawsuit against its auditors.
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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.
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The number of conditions the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attaches to its loans has grown in recent years, despite promises to limit what critics see as onerous requirements, according to a new study, the Irish Times reported. The Eurodad network of European development groups also said nations desperate for cash are at a disadvantage in their dealings with the IMF, likening them to negotiating “at the barrel of a gun.” The IMF attached nearly 20 conditions on average to each loan it approved in the past two years, Eurodad found.
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The world’s largest banks still receive implicit public subsidies worth as much as $590bn because of their status as “too big to fail” and the assumption of a government bailout if they get into trouble, the International Monetary Fund warned on Monday, the Financial Times reported. The warning, to be included in the fund’s twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Report, highlights the failure of post-financial crisis reforms to solve the problem of too-big-to-fail despite a vigorous lobbying campaign by the largest banks claiming it is no longer an issue.
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Among the various US property assets controlled by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), the zombie corpse of Anglo, there appears to be a circus, the Irish Times reported. Okay, that’s not quite true – it’s actually a shopping centre in Tampa, Florida called the Channelside Bay Mall – but the legal furore surrounding the bank’s efforts to offload it is turning into a circus. IBRC, which has Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the US, has been hit with a blizzard of lawsuits in recent weeks over Channelside.
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