North America

Paris has set aside €100 million in stimulus funds earmarked for what the French like to call their cultural patrimony, The New York Times reported. It is a French twist on how to overcome the global downturn, spending borrowed money avidly to beautify the nation even as it also races ahead of the United States in more classic Keynesian ways: fixing potholes, upgrading railroads and pursuing other “shovel ready” projects.

Bankrupt newsprint producer AbitibiBowater Inc said that it has appointed Bruce Robertson as its chief restructuring officer, Reuters reported. Robertson, who recently served as senior managing partner at Brookfield Asset Management, will work toward a negotiated settlement of claims and a comprehensive restructuring plan, the company said in a statement. The forestry firm, headquartered in Montreal but incorporated in the United States, crumpled under an overwhelming debt-load and filed for bankruptcy protection in April this year.

Adaltis Inc, a Canadian medical device maker, said on Friday it was granted protection from its creditors by a Quebec court while it works on a reorganization plan, Reuters reported. Montreal-based Adaltis, which warned earlier this week that it was running out of money, said the Quebec Superior Court approved its application under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada). The court also approved debtor-in-possession financing of up to C$3 million ($2.6 million) through Victoria Square Ventures Inc to fund operations during the reorganization process.

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics have become a bargaining chip at Air Canada as the country's largest airline tries to overcome labour strife and avoid filing for bankruptcy protection, The Globe and Mail reported. Air Canada mechanics and technical staff, worried about losing their jobs to El Salvador, narrowly voted down a tentative 21-month labour pact that had been recommended by union negotiators, throwing the cash-strapped carrier's recovery strategy into jeopardy.

Bankrupt commercial printer Quebecor World Inc on Tuesday gained approval of its bankruptcy reorganization plan from judges in the United States and Canada, clearing the way for the company to exit bankruptcy protection. Quebecor World, which expects to emerge from its insolvency proceedings in July, prints books, magazines, directories and advertising materials. It filed for court protection in January 2008 and has about 20,000 employees. In a rare joint cross-border hearing conducted via video teleconference, Judge James Peck of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan also gave U.S.

Zimbabwe’s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, said Tuesday that an official he had appointed had secured lines of credit worth $950 million from China, President Robert Mugabe’s longtime ally, The New York Times reported. Mr. Mugabe’s party has mocked Mr. Tsvangirai for failing to bring home much aid from his three-week tour of the United States and Europe. Zimbabwe’s government — a virtually bankrupt contraption led by Mr. Mugabe and his rival, Mr. Tsvangirai — needs an estimated $8 billion to rebuild the country’s ruined economy.

A British company has won its bid to buy a Chicago-based clothier that made inaugural and election night suits for President Barack Obama, The Associated Press reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago on Friday approved the sale of Hartmarx Corp. to Britain-based Emerisque Brands and SKNL North America BV for $119 million. Hartmarx creditor Wells Fargo & Co. had previously rejected an $83 million offer. Hartmarx was forced into bankruptcy protection in January after lenders cut it off. Wells Fargo had pushed for a liquidation because Hartmarx couldn't repay $114 million.

Further fattening its offer to reclaim bankrupt mining company Asarco LLC, Grupo Mexico SAB de CV affiliate Americas Mining Corp. has filed another reorganization proposal for Asarco, under which it would make $3.1 billion available to pay back claims — including setting up an asbestos liability trust — and bring the company out of Chapter 11, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. The upped bid is one of three competing plans to reorganize bankrupt Asarco. Under the other plans, Asarco would either be sold to India-based Sterlite Industries Ltd.

Antigua and Barbuda's government on Tuesday dismissed the country's chief financial regulator over his alleged role in the Allen Stanford fraud case, and vowed to root out further corruption "cancer" if it existed, Reuters reported. Leroy King had already been suspended last week as head of the Caribbean nation's Financial Services Regulatory Commission over U.S. charges that he collaborated with Texas billionaire Stanford in a $7 billion "massive Ponzi scheme". In announcing the Antigua and Barbuda cabinet's decision, Attorney General Justin Simon told Reuters he had received from U.S.

Strains in pensions systems, in both private and public provision, threaten to turn the financial crisis of the past two years into a social crisis lasting for decades, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned on Tuesday. In its annual analysis of the health of pensions systems globally, the Paris-based organisation found private pension plans lost 23 per cent of their value last year, while higher unemployment “leaves little room for more generous public pensions”, the Financial Times reported.