The U.S. Supreme Court handed Argentina a major setback in its long-running battle with a small group of determined creditors, heightening the risk the country will default for the second time in 13 years, The Wall Street Journal reported. The justices on Monday rejected Argentina's appeal of a lower-court ruling that said the country can't make bond payments until it compensates hedge funds that refused to accept restructured debt in the years following Argentina's 2001 default.

The cost of insuring against global bank defaults has plunged to its lowest level since the financial crisis in a sign that investors are willing to bet the industry has become safer, the Financial Times reported. Buyers of bank debt often purchase “credit default swaps,” a type of derivative that helps insure their investments against a default. The price they are paying for that protection is now the lowest since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. “We’ve gone back to pre-crisis levels,” said Brian Monteleone, analyst at Barclays.

A judge approved a restructuring plan for Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA, the oil company controlled by Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista, according to a statement by the Rio de Janeiro court that heard the bankruptcy proceedings, Reuters reported. The court's approval grants a quick and expected resolution to the largest bankruptcy in Latin America's history. Creditors of the company, formerly known as OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA, approved the plan on June 3. Holders of 90 percent of the Rio de Janeiro-based company's nearly 12 billion reais ($5.4 billion) in debt agreed to the plan.

Average daily oil output at bankrupt Brazilian oil company Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA fell 2.5 percent in May compared with April, according to data released by the company on Thursday, reducing the volume of oil available to pay for its restructuring, Reuters reported. Total output from the company's two producing offshore fields east of Rio de Janeiro was 424,464 barrels, or an average of 13,692 barrels a day (bpd). That compares with 421,287 barrels, or an average 14,043 bpd, in April.

Brazilian bank Banco Cruzeiro do Sul SA on Wednesday sought Chapter 15 relief in Miami, where a liquidator suspects some of its assets are located, after a Brazilian regulator took over its operations, Law360 reported. The bank’s liquidator and foreign representative, Eduardo Felix Bianchini, is asking a Florida bankruptcy judge to recognize the liquidation pending before the Central Bank of Brazil as the foreign main proceeding. The Central Bank seized Banco Cruzeiro’s and its affiliates’ assets in June 2012.

A majority of creditors of Brazil's Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA approved the terms of restructuring plan for the bankrupt oil and gas exploration and production company, its lawyers said Tuesday, Reuters reported. Oléo e Gás, formerly known as OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações SA, filed Latin America's largest-ever bankruptcy-protection petition in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 30. "The challenge now is for the company to operate as a going concern," said Sergio Bermudes, a partner at Sergio Bermudes Advogados, which is one of the law firms representing the company.

A group of small creditors in the bankrupt former flagship company of Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista have initiated legal action against Deutsche Bank alleging the institution acted unfairly during restructuring of the oil producer’s debts, the Financial Times reported. The lawsuit, filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, alleges Deutsche Bank, the trustee of $3.6bn of defaulted notes issued by OGX Oleo e Gas Participações, favoured majority bondholders in a deal to restructure the company’s debts.

The rescue of the troubled oil firm founded by Brazilian businessman Eike Batista is becoming a legal battlefield, The Wall Street Journal reported. Creditors are scheduled to vote on Tuesday on a plan to restructure Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA, formerly known as OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year. But two creditors have come forward to try to block the vote.

Argentina has reached a landmark deal with the Paris Club of creditor nations to pay a longstanding $9.7bn debt in its latest move to win back confidence from international capital markets, the Financial Times reported. After marathon negotiations in Paris, ending after midnight on Wednesday, Argentina agreed to pay the debt that remained from its 2001 default over five to seven years. The government will pay $650m in July, and a further $500m by May 2015. The deal marks an important step in Argentina’s efforts to attract foreign investment.

The chief executive of Brazil's Oleo e Gas Participacoes said Thursday he is confident the oil and gas company will manage to exit bankruptcy protection despite efforts by some of its creditors to derail the company's restructuring plan, The Wall Street Journal reported. Bondholders will gather in Rio de Janeiro to vote Tuesday on a restructuring plan for the company, formerly known as OGX. Earlier this week, one of the company's creditors was able to get an injunction from a judge in Rio aimed at stopping that vote.