Creditors of corruption-ensnared conglomerate Odebrecht SA have delayed discussion of the restructuring of 51 billion reais ($12.2 billion) in debt to March 18, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported. A vote on the plan had been expected for Wednesday, but creditors agreed to delay discussions following a decision by creditors of one of Odebrecht’s units, Atvos, to postpone their vote to March 27.

As Venezuela enters its third full year in default, its obligations have become something of an afterthought to even its biggest creditors, Bloomberg News reported. Worth just pennies on the dollar, tens of billions in bonds routinely go days at a time without trading. Sanctions bar U.S. investors from buying them and make the prospect of a full-scale restructuring all but impossible. And with no end in sight to the political stalemate in Caracas, it’s no wonder few creditors have taken the costly step of taking the government to court.

The Chamber of Deputies voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve a bill to restructure the Argentine government's $100 billion debt, which officials say is unpayable amid a deep recession that has reawakened old fears of financial crises, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. With the support of the main opposition parties, the government of President Alberto Fernández saw the measure pass 224-2 while leftist groups opposing the legislation protested outside congress. The bill now goes to the Senate for debate next week.

Colombian flag carrier Avianca Holdings is making progress with a restructuring plan for its finances that will keep it in the air without having to take measures such as declaring bankruptcy or insolvency, company executives said on Wednesday. Over the course of the restructuring, which began last year, the company will divest its non‐core activities and simplify its fleet to improve profits and leave behind a financial crisis that arose in 2019, Reuters reported. “The company’s financial situation has turned 180 degrees.

Venezuela’s opposition-run congress said on Tuesday it had set aside $20 million held in accounts in the United States to pay for litigation abroad as part of efforts to protect the country’s offshore assets from lawsuits by creditors, Reuters reported. Offshore assets including U.S. refiner Citgo have long been seen as attractive by investors holding the country’s defaulted bonds and companies seeking to be paid back for the nationalisation of their holdings.

Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA said its financial debt fell less than 0.1% in 2019 from the prior year to some $34.5 billion, though it remained in default on its bonds as sanctions freeze it out of the global banking system, Reuters reported. PDVSA, which is short for Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., has stopped paying interest on most its bonds, and together with Venezuela’s government has accumulated billions of dollars in late interest payments.

The Province of Buenos Aires improved the terms it’s offering bondholders if they agree to accept delayed payments, an about-face from the cash-strapped government after its first overture failed to attract sufficient support, Bloomberg News reported. In exchange for pushing back the deadline on a $250 million principal payment, investors would receive an extra $7.2 million in interest, according to the offer revealed Monday. Previously, officials were asking creditors to sign off on the three-month delay without any additional compensation.

Dennis Hranitzky, an attorney who helped hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer win a 15-year bond battle against Argentina, is gearing up for a potential rematch against the South American nation, Bloomberg News reported. The veteran restructuring lawyer, who joined Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan this week, said he is building up an Argentina bondholder group that now totals about 20 funds. The creditors are focused on notes that were part of the nation’s 2005 and 2010 debt exchanges.

Argentina’s top exporter of processed soy, Vicentin, is in talks over a potential takeover deal with firms including European grains giant Glencore to help resolve a debt crisis, according to two sources close to the negotiations, Reuters reported. The near 90-year-old firm, which defaulted on payments to suppliers late last year, has also told grains farmers it owes money to that it will make a debt restructuring offer in the days ahead, the sources said on Friday.

A big question facing Alberto Fernández, Argentina’s new president, is what to do with the country’s debt, the Financial Times reported. Gross government debt is equal to 93 per cent of GDP, its highest level since the 2004 restructuring, while the price of most Argentine sovereign bonds has fallen to less than 50 cents on the dollar. To some, these numbers suggest an over-indebted economy requiring an aggressive debt restructuring imposing significant haircuts on creditors to restore debt sustainability and economic growth. But is this the correct way to look at it? I think not.