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.

The man who masterminded Chile’s world-famous privatised pension system still calls it the “Mercedes-Benz” of retirement systems, but that has proved an enraging comparison when the average pensioner is eking out an income that turned out to be less than the minimum wage, the Financial Times reported. José Piñera created the scheme as social security minister 35 years ago when Chile, under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, was the world’s free-market laboratory.

The reorganization plan presented by Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA to a bankruptcy court this week was rejected by a group of bondholders on Thursday, who accused the company of putting the interests of shareholders first, Reuters reported. The steering committee for Oi's biggest organized group of bondholders, which holds 40 percent of Oi bonds by face value, said the company's proposal includes a debt reduction of 22 billion reais ($6.9 billion), which they called "unacceptable." The committee said it is working with other creditors to submit an alternative debt restructuring proposal.

Almost a year after a deadly dam spill at the Samarco mine, owned by BHP Billiton and Vale, there is still no date for restarting operations, complicating attempts to restructure Samarco's debt and increasing the possibility the miner may be allowed to run out of money. Vale and BHP have assured authorities they will cover the cost of Brazil's worst ever environmental disaster, sources familiar with their thinking say, stopping short of saying they will keep Samarco, for whom the closed mine is the only real revenue stream, afloat. Samarco's debt is trading at distressed levels.

Creditors of Oi SA, the Brazilian phone company that filed for bankruptcy with $20 billion of debt, view the restructuring plan the company presented late Monday as unfairly benefiting shareholders, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The main issue is the right Oi has to redeem bondholders’ convertibles anytime it wants, the people said, asking not to be named because the position isn’t public yet.

Rio de Janeiro prosecutors have asked the court supervising Oi SA's bankruptcy proceedings to suspend a shareholders meeting scheduled for Sept. 8 to give the Brazilian phone carrier time to negotiate with a minority investor, Reuters reported. The purpose of the meeting is to decide on changes to Oi's board as proposed by activist minority investor Société Mondiale, according to a statement on Wednesday.

Pacific Andes group executives are disputing creditors' notion that the Peruvian insolvency proceedings for its fishmeal companies can block the New York court's access to those assets, Undercurrent News reported. In recent days, Pacific Andes International Holdings (PAIH) executive director, Jessie Ng, as well as representatives from its Peru-based China Fishery Group subsidiary and suppliers to the Peruvian companies have made statements before the court asserting that China Fishery's current management is best suited to operate the company during its restructuring.

Testimony began Thursday in the impeachment trial of suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, amid occasional shouting matches and mutual accusations between opposing lawmakers, The Wall Street Journal reported. “From now on, you will be judges,” Ricardo Lewandowski, the chief justice of Brazil’s Supreme Court, said in his opening remarks, reminding senators of the role they will play in a trial that is expected to conclude by next week. But from the start, the process took on overtly political overtones. Senators who have publicly supported Ms.