LDK Solar Co., the Chinese solar-cell maker that defaulted on its bonds this year, filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. to help carry out restructurings already under way in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands, Bloomberg News reported. Xinyu, China-based LDK filed for Chapter 15 protection today in Wilmington, Delaware, listing about $1.13 billion in debt and $510 million in assets as of May 31. Chapter 15 is the section of the bankruptcy code used by foreign companies restructuring abroad to fend off creditors and distribute payments in the U.S.

Womenswear retailer Boutique Jacob Inc. is abandoning its restructuring efforts and closing all its 92 stores in Canada, the Chronicle Herald reported on a Canadian Press story. The Montreal-based clothing chain says efforts over the last few months to “try to breathe new life into the company” have failed. The insolvent retailer has been liquidating inventory at its Canadian stores since filing for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in May. It says it will proceed with selling all of the remaining merchandise at its stores and online at Jacob.ca.

The United Steelworkers union has reached a tentative contract agreement with U.S. Steel Canada Inc. that covers workers in Hamilton, marking the first time the steel company has not locked out workers at one of its two major Canadian mills, The Globe and Mail reported. Since the 2007 purchase by United States Steel Corp. of what was then Stelco Inc., the company locked out workers once after failing to reach an agreement covering its Hamilton workers, and twice at its Lake Erie operations in Nanticoke, Ont.

Barbados business leaders and economists say the Caribbean island should seek an accord with the International Monetary Fund as the government struggles to spur an economy with one of the world’s heaviest debt burdens, Bloomberg News reported. Efforts by the government to trim the public sector by firing 3,000 workers and reining in spending failed to spark growth in the first half of the year in a country with a debt load equal to 96 percent of gross domestic product. That prompted the Barbados Chamber of Commerce to say the government should consider talks with the IMF.

“We will not kick you when you are down, at least not for a couple of days”: that is the gist of a putative deal struck by 18 global banks this week, which agreed not to pull abruptly out of contracts with each other if one of them hits the buffers. As modest as that may sound, regulators see it as the foundation of a firewall to halt the spread of future financial crises, The Economist reported. The agreement concerns derivatives, contracts whose value “derives” from the performance of an underlying asset such as a share, currency or bond.

Stakeholders have approved a controversial but essential step in U.S. Steel Canada Inc.’s bankruptcy protection process, allowing the company to move ahead with a restructuring that could result in the sale of its Canadian operations, the Financial Post reported. After several days of intensive behind-the-scenes negotiations — “virtually 24 hours a day,” according to U.S. Steel Canada lawyer Paul Steep — an agreement was reached Wednesday on a $185-million loan that will allow the company to continue operations during the restructuring process. The loan will come from U.S.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the new Insolvency Bill, repealing the current Bankruptcy Act and creating a legal environment for the use of insolvency laws, the Jamaica Observer reported. Jamaican law on bankruptcy and insolvency is currently contained in two pieces of legislation: the Bankruptcy Act, which covers personal and individual insolvency (inability to pay debt); and the Companies Act, which contains provisions to deal with the winding up of insolvent corporate bodies. The new act consolidates those provisions.

The largest global banks will have to hold more capital and liabilities than previously reported that can automatically be written off in a crisis -- as much as a quarter of risk-weighted assets -- as regulators take on lenders deemed too big to fail. The Financial Stability Board is developing minimum standards that will limit the double-counting of capital banks use to meet existing international rules, according to an FSB working document sent for comment to Group of 20 governments and obtained by Bloomberg News.

The Ontario Superior Court has adjourned a hearing on U.S. Steel Canada Inc. under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, The Globe and Mail reported. The hearing has been postponed until Tuesday so lawyers can try to negotiate a deal on debtor-in-possession financing. The key issue is the plan by the steel maker’s parent, United States Steel Corp., to provide $185-million in debtor-in-possession financing for the Canadian unit. That plan is opposed by the Ontario government and the United Steelworkers union, which argue that it gives U.S.

The International Monetary Fund Monday backed a gradual exchange of government bonds around the world with new contracts to counter risks that holdout creditors could disrupt potential debt restructurings, The Wall Street Journal reported. The IMF, along with some investors and economists, have warned that U.S. legal rulings that forced Argentina’s hand in a long battle with holdout creditors could imperil other debt operations because they give a small minority outsized power.