General Maritime Corp., the second-largest U.S. owner of oil tankers, can draw $30 million of a $75 million loan that will require it to file a plan of reorganization in 75 days or sell all its assets, Bloomberg reported Friday. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan court today approved the company’s request to borrow funds from Nordea Bank Finland Plc and other lenders. The company, which operates in over 230 ports of call in over 70 countries, filed for bankruptcy yesterday after falling oil demand and a surplus of ships led to two years of losses.

Back in 2003, an investment in Calgary-based Birch Mountain Resources Ltd. seemed like a sure thing. The junior resource company was sitting on a massive limestone deposit in the middle of Alberta’s booming oil sands, where it used for roads and concrete. Despite its promise, by 2007 Birch Mountain had run into trouble as oil sands development slowed, The Globe and Mail reported. The company sought bridge financing (ultimately about $50-million, mostly in debentures that could be converted into shares) from subsidiaries of Brookfield Asset Management Inc.

The bankruptcy trustee for the Canadian arm of MF Global has filed a motion to move client accounts from the failed futures broker to a unit of Royal Bank of Canada, Reuters reported. MF Global fired all 1,066 of its brokerage employees on Friday, triggering anger and resentment about the firm's collapse after bad bets on European debt under former CEO Jon Corzine's leadership. KPMG said on Saturday it filed the motion with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeking authority to transfer certain MF Global Canada Co customer accounts to RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

Fortress Energy Inc. said Friday it has won a challenge against a tax reassessment that would have left it on the hook for $24 million, CanadianBusiness.com reported on a Canadian Press story. The Calgary-based energy company filed a notice of objection to the Canada Revenue Agency, which said Fortress owed $18 million in federal taxes and $6.2 million in provincial taxes. On Friday, Fortress said the CRA had decided in its favour at the federal level, and that a similar decision should come soon at the provincial level.

A major creditor is panning Aviawest’s proposal to restructure its finances, saying the high-profile British Columbia resort owner’s properties are “hopelessly insolvent” and the company should be forced into receivership, The Globe and Mail reported. The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is owed about $20-million from the resort owner as a secured creditor, but estimates the company has little-to-no prospect of generating enough money under any restructuring plan to begin servicing its many debts.

Mexican mining and railroad company Grupo Mexico SA said it has dropped a plan to merge its U.S. unit Asarco with Southern Copper Corp., the subsidiary that runs its Mexican and Peruvian mining operations, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In its third-quarter earnings report, released Sunday, Grupo Mexico said Americas Mining Corporation, the holding company of its mining division, will explore strategic alternatives which could include securities offerings in capital markets.

The Manitoba Securities Commission and eight of the 10 former directors of the failed Crocus Investment Fund have arrived at a settlement agreement six-and-a-half years after regulatory action began, The Vancouver Sun reported on a Winnipeg Free Press story. The MSC's allegations against the directors involved the execution of their responsibilities as directors in the months leading up to the dramatic devaluation of Crocus shares and its subsequent receivership.

Two Congressmen from opposite sides of the aisle are calling on the Mexican government to take action in Vitro S.A.B.'s restructuring, which they say could set a "dangerous precedent" that will hurt investors in the Mexican glass company and future cross-border investment, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Rep. Jared Polis (D., Colo.) and Rep. Patrick Meehan (R., Pa.) sent a letter last week to the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., warning about the danger of allowing Vitro's pending restructuring to proceed.

Vitro S.A.B.'s bondholders are pushing to move forward with a legal battle that could cost $1.35 billion or more, calling the Mexican glassmaker's bid to stop them a meritless "act of pure gamesmanship," Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. An informal group of bondholders and bond trustee Wilmington Trust separately asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas Thursday to deny Vitro's request to enforce the shield of bankruptcy currently protecting the company from litigation, according to court papers.

Retailer Sterling Shoes Inc. is restructuring under court protection from creditors after the economic downturn brought an aggressive expansion plan to its knees, CanadianBusiness.com reported on a Canadian Press story. The company, which operates 158 stores under several banners in addition to the Sterling name, including Shoe Warehouse, Freedman, Joneve and Gia, plans to close stores and reduce its corporate overhead to get back on track.