Grant Thornton has been given leave to appeal to the Privy Council a decision by the Bermudian Court of Appeal in a case that impacts on the ability of courts to assist foreign liquidators, Economia reported. According to the firm, which is acting as liquidator to a Cayman Islands company, the issue is not clear and as a result has been a “hot topic” among lawyers and cross border insolvency professionals for several years. The Privy Council will now consider arguments involving the current case – Singularis Holdings Ltd v PwC – and an earlier one, PwC v Saad Investments Company Ltd.

Sears Canada Inc said on Friday it will refund payments or offer alternative services to customers affected by the collapse of SHS Services Management Inc, which provided home-improvement services on behalf of Sears Canada, Reuters reported. SHS, which did installations such as roofing and window replacement, ceased operations and went into receivership late last year. It began operating Sears' home improvement business in March 2013. It is liquidating assets to repay creditors owed more than C$8.9 million ($7.91 million), according to the receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc.

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.

A U.S. judge who froze assets belonging to the American affiliate of bankrupt Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox Co. loosened that restraint to see where some of the digital currency flows, Bloomberg News reported. U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman in Chicago today revised his temporary order issued March 11 to allow movement -- and possibly tracking -- of small amounts of Bitcoin. Jay Edelson, a lawyer for Mt. Gox depositor Gregory Greene, told the judge today that he was “trying to find a pot of crypto-gold.” Greene sued the exchange and and its principal, Mark Karpeles, for fraud last month.

Pet supply store Petcetera said Monday it plans to file for creditor protection in hopes of restructuring its operations, The Calgary Herald reported. The retailer, which has 18 stores across the country, also said it will cut the price on everything in its stores to help generate cash while it files its notice of intention to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Petcetera has more than 300 employees in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

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.

Two months before Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy it was sued by a customer seeking the return of funds in a case that highlights some of the red flags raised in the run-up to the collapse of what was once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, Reuters reported. New York resident Marko Simovic filed a civil action at the Tokyo District Court on Dec. 24, seeking to recover $105,000 he had on deposit at Mt. Gox and about $14,000 in interest, court filings show. Simovic, who described himself as a software developer who previously managed the bitcoin operations for a hedge fund, said Mt.

A federal judge in Chicago froze the U.S. assets of the chief executive of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox as part of a customer lawsuit against the defunct bitcoin trading exchange, The Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, regulators took steps to gain greater control of the fledgling virtual currency and protect consumers from bitcoin scammers.

The amount of debt globally has soared more than 40 percent to $100 trillion since the first signs of the financial crisis as governments borrowed to pull their economies out of recession and companies took advantage of record low interest rates, according to the Bank for International Settlements, Bloomberg reported. The $30 trillion increase from $70 trillion between mid-2007 and mid-2013 compares with a $3.86 trillion decline in the value of equities to $53.8 trillion in the same period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

One thing we can tell you about the Mt. Gox bankruptcy case: It won’t be like any other bankruptcy case you’ve seen, The Wall Street Journal MoneyBeat blog reported. MoneyBeat had a very enlightening and interesting talk with Christopher Mirick, a partner at the international law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, operating in the firm’s Insolvency & Restructuring practice.