North America

While General Motors Corp. will almost certainly file for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. on Monday, its Canadian subsidiary should emerge from a massive restructuring process relatively unscathed, The Canadian Press reported. The restructuring, which has already been in the works for months and will cost governments around the world tens of billions of dollars, will see the company that once defined the automobile--and capitalism--in North America emerge a government-controlled shadow of its former self.

The government is warning that it will not be reluctant to place the Jamaica Citrus Growers Limited into receivership if its board of directors fails to make certain critical decisions, by the end of this week, about the restructuring of the company, The Gleaner reported. The company is now facing bankruptcy following liquidity problems that commenced in 2006.

Air Canada is in a cash crunch partly because the previous management group "lost the plot" as the economy turned last year. But the company may still be able to avoid a return to bankruptcy protection, provided it can strike a deal with its unions that doesn't increase costs and ensures labour peace, said Robert Milton, chairman and CEO of Air Canada's controlling shareholder, ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. Pensions have emerged as the central issue in the talks with pilots, flight attendants and other unionized employees for new contracts.

One of Putnam County's largest employers is seeking protection from its creditors in a Canadian court, LimaOhio.com reported. W.C. Wood Corp., a Canadian manufacturer with a plant in Ottawa, filed a Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act application for protection in the Canadian courts. It has also filed a Chapter 15 application, which assures that any action stemming from the CCAA would also apply to the company's U.S. plant. The action will allow W.C. Wood to hold off creditors while it works on a restructuring plan.

The Canadian government will not move to limit interest rates on credit cards, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Thursday, confirming that new credit card rules in Canada will not be as far-reaching as those just introduced in the United States. Flaherty said the government will not limit credit card interest rates because of a belief "in consumer choice", Reuters reported. Read more.

The tug-of-war over the rights to Asarco LLC continues, with parent company Grupo Mexico SAB de CV protesting a bankruptcy court's apparent protection of Sterlite Industries Ltd.'s $1.7 billion bid to acquire the bankrupt copper mining unit, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. While Sterlite appears to have the edge, Grupo Mexico is not out of the running yet to regain control of the indirect subsidiary. Earlier this month, Judge Schmidt extended until Sept.

Mexico is in “very advanced” discussions to make financing available to local units of U.S. automakers if they need help to keep their Mexican plants operating, an Economy Ministry official said. The loans would be made through Mexico’s development bank, known as Nafinsa, and secured by accounts receivable, inventories and possibly assets such as land and machinery, said Lorenza Martinez, undersecretary for industry and commerce.

General Motors Canada has demanded concessions far greater than the Canadian Auto workers granted to Chrysler Canada last month, the union said Friday, as both parties face a looming midnight deadline to reach a cost-cutting labor agreement, The Associated Press reported. The federal and Ontario governments set the deadline for the two sides to agree on a deal to replace a pact that was negotiated in March. The governments have asked the union to give GM Canada the same concessions that it recently gave Chrysler Canada. "It's slow, but we're making progress.

Stanford International Bank Ltd.’s Antiguan receivers can seek relief under U.S. bankruptcy laws for the business U.S. regulators claim was at the heart of an alleged $8 billion fraud by financier R. Allen Stanford, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge David Godbey in Dallas said the receivers appointed to recover bank assets by the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda can pursue relief under Chapter 15, a statutory scheme that enables U.S. courts to assist in bankruptcies pending in other countries.

A Quebec company’s financial troubles are no excuse to renege on a new collective agreement provision for early pension, the Quebec Superior Court has ruled, Canadian Employment Law Today reported. Montreal-based forestry and newsprint company AbitibiBowater negotiated a new collective agreement with its union that changed the company’s retirement policy and pension plan. However, Abitibi experienced financial problems after the signing of the new collective agreement and is currently under bankruptcy protection in both Canada and the United States.