North America

The newspapers owned by CanWest Global Communications Corp. have received approval from creditors on a plan to emerge from restructuring, The Globe and Mail reported. The company’s unsecured creditors met in downtown Toronto on Monday morning, and an overwhelming majority voted for the plan: 97.36 per cent of the votes cast were in favour. Last week, in preparation for the meeting, the plan for the newspaper division was modified so that the new company would emerge from creditor protection with less debt.

Deutsche Bank is deeply involved in the American real estate crisis. After initially profiting from subprime mortgages, it is now arranging to have many of these homes sold at foreclosure auctions. The damage to the bank's image in the United States is growing, Spiegel Online reported in an analysis. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Deutsche Bank now holds loans for American single-family and multi-family houses worth about $3.7 billion (€3.1 billion). The bank, however, claims that much of this debt consists of loans to wealthy private customers.

Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc. is objecting to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s attempt to consolidate legal action against Nomura's affiliates in three countries as the two investment banks battle over more than $1 billion of claims related to derivatives contracts, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In papers filed Wednesday with the U.S.

More than 40 U.S. lawmakers called today for BP Plc to suspend its dividend, stop its advertising and spend the money instead cleaning up its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BusinessWeek reported on a Bloomberg story. “Not a single cent” should be spent on television ads, said Representative Lois Capps, a California Democrat, at a news conference in Washington.

Germany said it wouldn't provide General Motors Co. loan guarantees of more than €1 billion, or $1.19 billion, to help restructure its troubled Adam Opel GmbH unit, but Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to leave the door open for some form of aid, saying "the last word has not been spoken," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Mexican home-finance company Metrofinanciera SA said Wednesday that a court has approved its pre-packaged bankruptcy plan after it defaulted on debt early last year, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "In the coming days, Metrofinanciera will start the process to exchange securities in the period and terms outlined in the bankruptcy agreement, giving way to the creation of a new shareholder structure," the lender said in a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange.

Canwest Global Communications Inc., the Canadian media company in bankruptcy protection, agreed to pay as much as C$7.5 million ($7.1 million) to settle a group suit by freelance writers who claimed republication of their work on the Internet broke copyright laws, BusinessWeek reported on a Bloomberg story. Because the company is in bankruptcy protection, the writers will be allowed to file a claim for the settlement amount and share in the distribution to creditors, either in cash or shares of a new company, said Peter Osborne, lawyer for Canwest’s management directors.

Two noteholders are protesting AbitibiBowater Inc.'s bid to hold a rights offering, saying the move is unnecessary and could actually be detrimental to the newsprint manufacturer and its creditors, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Aurelius Capital Management and Contrarian Capital Management LLC - as well as Wilmington Trust Co., which serves as the indenture trustee of the notes - are objecting to the company's request to auction off the rights to fund its exit from bankruptcy. In papers filed Monday with the U.S.

Germany's Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle on Sunday ruled out any "special treatment" for General Motors' unit Opel, which is seeking state aid in exchange for keeping thousands of jobs in the country, Agence France-Presse reported.

Noveko International Inc. says its subsidiary Magnum Pharmaceutics Inc. has voluntarily filed for bankruptcy, the Winnipeg Free Press reported on a Canadian Press story. Since its acquisition in 2008, Magnum has generated "considerable losses and debt" due to its inability to carry out its business plan, Montreal-based Noveko said Friday. With no improvement in sight, Noveko said it decided not to inject any more funds in Magnum and will instead focus on its own growth objectives.