Fiat SpA is racing to meet a Feb. 17 deadline to comb through the operations of Chrysler LLC before going forward with a joint venture by the car makers, Fiat's chief executive said in an interview Monday with The Wall Street Journal. Under terms of the emergency loans Chrysler received from the U.S. government, it must present a plan by that date showing how it intends to be viable. The Fiat pact is a key part of the effort. Sergio Marchionne said Fiat is still studying the vehicle-production operations of Chrysler and then will turn to its due-diligence analysis of its finances.

Personal bankruptcies among Canadians rose 9% in the first 11 months of 2008 over 2007, Equifax Canada has reported. The information solutions company’s most recent data, as of Nov. 30, shows that the number of consumer bankruptcy filings for 2008 had reached 109,068, up from 100,253 bankruptcies at the end of November 2007, Investment Executive reported. By the end of November, total consumer bankruptcies had already surpassed, by 1.6%, the total amount of bankruptcies for all of 2007, which totalled 107,312.

Former employees of bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp. have called on the troubled telecommunications company to restore promised severances it suspended after filing for Chapter 11 protection earlier this month, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. In a memo sent to Nortel Chief Executive Mike Zafirovski and other officers, the workers urged the Canadian company to show good faith and reverse its decision to deny the payouts.

An unplanned bankruptcy has disrupted a plan by Flying J to open a chain of travel plazas across Europe that would be modeled after its outlets in the U.S. and Canada, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. The Ogden, Utah-based company had been mapping out its first expansion outside North America when a steep drop in oil prices and a lack of available financing suddenly brought on a liquidity crisis that forced it into bankruptcy last month.

CPI Plastics Group Ltd., the plastics maker based in Mississauga, Ontario, sought bankruptcy protection in Canada and the U.S., blaming the deepening U.S. recession and rising prices of raw materials, Bloomberg reported. The 37-year-old firm and four of its units were forced into bankruptcy by the Bank of Montreal after CPI’s $3.4 million loss in the fourth quarter violated loan agreements with the bank. CPI, which has a facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, has debt of about $54.4 million and estimated assets of less than $100 million, court papers show.

Herbert Smith has won the lead role on the administration of the UK subsidiary of telecoms manufacturer Nortel, a deal which will see the UK firm representing the company throughout 18 jurisdictions, Legal Week reported. The firm was appointed by administrators Ernst & Young after it had been advising Nortel on pre-administration matters. The administration order includes entities from across Europe and the Middle East, including France, Germany, Spain and Sweden.

Amid the ongoing restructuring processes of Nortel Networks, the Philippine operations will remain safe, Inquirer.net reported. Nortel Asia Communications Director Matthew Wray said operations in the Philippines, as well as their other affiliates across Asia, are working with partners and suppliers to avoid operational disruptions. "Our affiliates across Asia, including the Philippines, are not subject to the creditor protection filings in North America and Europe and are expected to continue to operate as normal," Wray said in an email.

Strategic Resource Acquisition said on Thursday it had filed for bankruptcy protection as a plunge in metals prices and tight credit conditions left the zinc miner unable to pay its bills, Reuters reported. Toronto-based SRA said it and its U.S. subsidiary, Mid-Tennessee Zinc Corp, have filed for U.S. Chapter 11 protection, and said it was also seeking protection in Canada under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

Toronto-based Nortel Networks Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the U.S. on Wednesday, becoming the first major technology company to take that step in this global downturn, the Associated Press reported. The filing came a day before Nortel was due to make a debt payment of $107 million. Facing a sharp drop in orders from phone companies, the telecommunications equipment maker used the bankruptcy filings to buy time to explore restructuring options like selling off assets.

Nortel Networks Corp., North America’s biggest maker of phone equipment, plunged in European trading after the Globe and Mail reported the company will file for bankruptcy protection as early as today. The board met last night to deal with “a financial crisis,” the newspaper reported, citing people working with Nortel and its creditors. Nortel will file in Toronto and an undisclosed U.S. location, the Globe and Mail reported. The company faces a $107 million interest payment tomorrow, the newspaper said. David Silke, a Nortel spokesman in Ireland, didn’t immediately return a call for comment.