The board of Brazilian telephone operator Oi SA has referred to a bankruptcy judge an activist investor's request for legal action against company managers, its second straight bid to thwart the investor's moves, according to a securities filing late Wednesday. In the filing, Oi's board referred a decision on activist investor Société Mondiale's late July request for a shareholders meeting to approve an arbitration claim against controlling shareholder Pharol to the Rio de Janeiro judge overseeing the company's bankruptcy.

A Brazilian activist investor with a stake in bankrupt telecom provider Oi SA has requested a meeting with shareholders to discuss allegations that the carrier's majority owner Pharol SGPS SA committed improprieties, according to a securities filing made late on Friday. Société Mondiale, which holds 7 percent of Oi's voting shares, proposed that the meeting be called in eight days, the filing showed. Oi said in a statement on Monday its board would analyze Société's request, without giving a date for the meeting.

The judge overseeing the bankruptcy protection of Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA could force the company to call a shareholder vote on proposed changes to its board as soon as next week, according to a lawyer for an activist shareholder, Reuters reported. The ruling should come after the judge hears opinions from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the in-court administrator in Oi's bankruptcy, and the public prosecutor's office, João Mendes de Oliveira Castro, legal advisor to Oi's minority shareholder Société Mondiale, said in a phone interview on Thursday.

Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA wants creditors to cut debt by almost two-thirds and inject $1 billion in fresh cash to exit bankruptcy protection, O Globo newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported. Under terms of an accord that is under discussion between Oi bondholders represented by investment-banking firm Moelis & Co, and shareholders and management of Brazil's No. 4 wireless carrier, total debt would be reduced to about 25 billion reais ($7.6 billion) from the current 65.4 billion reais, Globo said, citing the source.

A group made of about 70 different bondholders in Oi SA vowed on Monday to work towards a successful in-court reorganization of Brazil's largest fixed-line phone carrier, Reuters reported. In a statement, the so-called Ad Hoc steering committee that is being advised by Moelis & Co said a letter by distressed debt investor Aurelius Capital Management LP in which it lambasts the Moelis-led group's restructuring proposal prior to Oi's bankruptcy filing is based on "incomplete and erroneous information" about the way Brazilian laws work.

Shares in Brazil's largest listed banks posted their biggest decline in a month on Thursday on concerns about the financial health of Odebrecht SA, the engineering group that is embroiled in a large corruption scandal, despite a denial by the company that it would seek an accommodation with creditors, Reuters reported yesterday. Odebrecht denied plans to seek an in-court reorganization, as reported yesterday by financial blog Brazil Journal. Ongoing negotiations with banks as well as efforts to sell assets "continue to be positive," the statement said.

Venezuela’s bonds are soaring on speculation the government may be looking to strike a deal to push back looming debt maturities, a move that would give the cash-strapped nation desperately needed breathing room, Bloomberg News reported today. State-owned oil producer Petroleos de Venezuela SA has seen its $3 billion of bonds due in April jump 5.3 cents this week to 69 cents on the dollar, the highest September 2014.

Brazil's telecommunications industry watchdog Anatel yesterday proposed a list of four candidates to become the in-court administrator of phone carrier Oi SA, which last month filed for the nation's biggest-ever reorganization, Reuters reported. Brasilia-based Anatel picked Alvarez & Marsal Holdings LLC, BDO LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers as candidates for the role, Anatel said in a statement. The list was sent to Fernando Cesar Ferreira Viana, a Rio de Janeiro judge overseeing Oi's bankruptcy protection proceedings, the statement said.

Braskem SA said yesterday controlling shareholder Odebrecht Serviços e Participações SA has placed the entire stake it has in the firm as collateral for outstanding bank loans, in a sign of Odebrecht's challenging debt refinancing outlook, Reuters reported. No details on the accord between Odebrecht Serviços, a subsidiary of Grupo Odebrecht SA, and lenders were disclosed in a securities filing by Braskem. Odebrecht Serviços, a unit of Latin America's largest engineering group, has voting control of Braskem despite having a 38 percent stake in Latin America's biggest petrochemical firm.

The Inhauma shipyard in Brazil is the latest to succumb to a crisis that has wiped out nearly half of the country’s naval industry jobs in the past two years, leaving companies bankrupt and creditors unpaid, Bloomberg News reported today. State-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA, which had agreed to pay more to have platforms built at home to help jump-start the naval industry, is now sending work back to Asia, underscoring the vulnerabilities of an industry that basically relies on a single client.