Brazil’s federal prosecutors on Monday filed new corruption charges against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, this time for allegedly using his influence to obtain government loans for a Brazilian construction company in exchange for kickbacks paid to his nephew, prosecutors said. Mr. da Silva was charged with corruption, money laundering, influence peddling and conspiracy. If found guilty of the charges, Mr. da Silva, who led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, could face up to 35 years in prison. A judge in Brasília would have to accept the charges for Mr. da Silva to face trial.

PDG Realty SA said that it continues to discuss options with its financial advisers, denying a newspaper report that it would soon file for bankruptcy protection, the Brazilian homebuilder said in a securities filing, Reuters reported yesterday. PDG said that it is still weighing alternatives to strengthen its capital structure and restructure its finances, the company said in the filing.

Venezuela’s state-owned oil company offered an improved deal to bondholders as it seeks to push back debt payments coming due this year and next, Bloomberg News reported today. Petroleos de Venezuela SA said that it will pay investors as much as 1.22 times the face value of the notes they hold in exchange for longer-maturity securities, after offering no price premium in a proposal Sept. 16. While the original swap offer was for $7.1 billion of bonds, PDVSA said yesterday that it wouldn’t swap more than $5.325 billion of securities.

Argentina’s shrinking economy and high unemployment are triggering ever-louder grumbling from its citizens, posing problems for President Mauricio Macri in a country where economic discontent has undone previous leaders, The Wall Street Journal reported. The difficulty for Mr. Macri is that he promised it wouldn’t be like this. When he took office in December vowing to slash inflation and jump-start the economy, he told Argentines they could look forward to a brighter future in the second half of this year.

Venezuela’s petroleum industry, whose vast revenues once fueled the country’s Socialist-inspired revolution, underwriting everything from housing to education, is spiraling into disarray, the International New York Times reported. To add insult to injury, the Venezuelan government has been forced to turn to its nemesis, the United States, for help.

Brazilian airlines are up in arms over a decision by Brazil’s tax authority to list Ireland as a tax haven, which means about 1 billion reais (€273.7m) in new taxes on aircraft leases for carriers struggling to regain profitability, the Irish Times reported. “The impact is brutal,” said Eduardo Sanovicz, head of Brazilian airline association Abear, who will meet today with tax authorities in Brasilia to try to reverse the surprise tax decision taken without consulting the airline industry.

A Brazilian state appeals court postponed on Monday a vote on the legality of several aspects of Grupo OAS SA's restructuring plan for at least a couple of weeks, adding uncertainty to efforts by the debt-laden engineering conglomerate to emerge from bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported. The appeals court in São Paulo agreed earlier in the day to reconvene as early as Oct. 3 to discuss the 19 challenges put forward by a number of local and foreign creditors.

Viver Incorporadora & Construtora SA filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday, becoming the first listed Brazilian homebuilder ever to seek an in-court reorganization amid a harsh recession, tough refinancing conditions and slumping home prices, Reuters reported. In a securities filing, Viver said management and advisers, led by Alvarez & Marsal Holdings LLC, filed the request in a commercial court in São Paulo.

The top two shareholders in Oi SA have agreed to end their dispute over the future of Brazil's largest fixed-line carrier, which is mired in a protracted bankruptcy protection process, two people briefed on the matter said on Tuesday. Under terms of the accord, Pharol SGPS SA, Oi's biggest shareholder, and Brazilian investor Nelson Tanure of investment fund Société Mondiale FIA will devise and discuss strategies aimed at helping pull Oi from creditor protection, said the first person.

Brazilian prosecutors filed criminal charges against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his wife in connection with a vast graft scandal, raising the prospect that the nation’s most towering political figure could land behind bars, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a dramatic presentation carried live on Brazil’s main news stations, prosecutors charged Mr.