Belize and its creditors are negotiating a debt restructuring proposal, according to a statement posted to the website of the country's central bank, Dow Jones reported. Belize defaulted in September, a month after it failed to make a payment on its $548.3 million debt. The government and its creditors have been negotiating for several weeks, but the statement, posted Tuesday, was the first public sign of progress. "I think at this point they're getting ready to formalize an offer," said Edward Al-Hussainy, an analyst at Moody's Investors Services.

Shareholders have been quietly shoved aside in the court-ordered restructuring of Sino-Forest Corp. — and they feel a lack of legal counsel is partly to blame, the Financial Post reported. Last week, veteran Bay Street lawyer Joe Groia agreed to take up the case of disgruntled Sino shareholders, who are furious about their treatment during the CCAA process. But he may be too late.

General Motors Co on Friday dismissed claims made in a $3 billion lawsuit filed by Saab's parent that the U.S. automaker deliberately bankrupted the Swedish company by blocking a deal with a Chinese investor, Reuters reported. GM, in a response filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, said the automaker had the legal right to approve Saab's transaction with China's Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. "The nub of plaintiffs' complaint is that GM declined to approve the transaction plaintiffs proposed to enter into with Youngman," GM said in the filings.

Troubled Chinese forestry company Sino-Forest Corp., which has been accused of being a massive fraud, said Thursday that its former chief financial officer David Horsley is no longer employed by the firm, The Canadian Press reported. Horsley, who stepped down as chief financial officer in April after receiving an enforcement notice from the Ontario Securities Commission, had continued to work at the company to help with its restructuring. No reason was given for his departure in the brief statement by Sino-Forest announcing the change.

As banks in Europe and America scrabble to meet stricter capital requirements, made necessary by the failures of their own exotic lending practices, Mexico is offering some a lifeline, The Economist reported. On September 26th Santander, a Spanish bank, plans to list a quarter of its Mexican subsidiary on stock exchanges in Mexico City and New York. It has already listed subsidiaries in Brazil, Chile and Peru, as well as selling its Colombian unit.

The US hedge funds Apollo and Oaktree, investment bank Goldman Sachs and Nine Entertainment begin talks on Monday and Tuesday that will decide whether the television group gets new owners quickly or slides into the purgatory of receivership, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Nine convened the meeting to try and resolve a stand-off between the hedge funds, which own most of Nine's $2.7 billion senior debt, and Goldman, which manages investment funds that own about 80 per cent of Nine's lower-ranking $1.1 billion tranche of mezzanine debt.

Indebted miner Great Basin Gold on Thursday said it was to acquire a $35-million loan by order of the British Columbia Supreme Court, following its Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) filing made on Wednesday, MiningWeekly.com reported.

Belize is poised to default on its only bond, as the country's negotiations with creditors continue, The Wall Street Journal reported. In August, the Central American nation failed to make a $23.1 million interest payment, initiating a 30-day window during which it must pay or become the first country since Greece to default on its sovereign debt. The grace period was scheduled to end at 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday. Belize and its bondholders are negotiating to restructure the country's debt.

Frustrated by Japanese chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc's plan to sell itself out of bankruptcy in Tokyo for a perceived pittance, the company's U.S. bondholders are bringing the fight back home, turning to a Delaware court in hopes of wresting control of the case, Reuters reported. Holders of some of Elpida's $5.6 billion in bonds will argue at a hearing on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., that Elpida's plan to sell itself to U.S. rival Micron Technology Inc for about $2.5 billion drastically undervalues the company.

Canada's second-biggest hog producer, Big Sky Farms, has entered receivership as the North American hog industry struggles under the bruising costs of animal feed, Reuters reported. Big Sky Farms, based in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, produces roughly 1 million pigs annually and accounts for 40 percent of Saskatchewan's total hog production. Under receivership, an outside party controls a company until it can restructure its debt or be sold, said Neil Ketilson, general manager of Sask Pork, an industry group run by hog farmers.