Fiat SpA's chief executive might swear that he is not trying to build an empire, but he is certainly looking for scale--on the cheap. Sergio Marchionne faces a Thursday deadline to close a landmark deal to form a partnership with ailing U.S. car maker Chrysler LLC but he has already shown an interest in Opel, the German unit of General Motors Corp (GM). News reports also speak about a possible collaboration between Fiat and GM in Latin America, especially Brazil where they both have a strong presence.

Ecuador has offered to buy back up to $3.2 billion in defaulted bonds at a large discount in a move that reinforces President Rafael Correa popular tough stance on debt ahead of a presidential election on Sunday, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Elsa Viteri said on Monday Ecuador was offering 30 cents per dollar in a process that would involve a "modified Dutch auction." She did not spell out the terms of the modified Dutch auction. In a standard Dutch auction, the lot for sale is offered at an initial price, which if there are no takers, is then reduced until there is a bid.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa may unveil an offer today to holders of $3.2 billion in defaulted bonds, a restructuring he says could include a discount of about 70 cents on the dollar. Falling income from oil has made it unlikely the proposal will include the outright buyback offer that Correa previously mentioned as a possibility, said Ramiro Crespo, head of Analytica Securities in Quito. Instead, he may offer to swap the defaulted debt for new bonds that carry a lower interest rate and longer maturity, he added.

Ecuador says it will formally default on a second set of bonds later this week, the International Herald Tribune reported. Finance Minister Maria Elsa Viteri says the government will default Sunday on $2.7 billion in bonds due in 2030 because it refuses to pay $135 million in interest by the end of a monthlong grace period. Viteri said in a communique Thursday that Ecuador plans to make an official proposal to debt holders this month for an "integral solution" to the defaulted bonds, which account for 32 percent of its foreign debt.

Brazilian bankruptcy filings are set to soar as the country’s corporates are squeezed by a global downturn and gridlocked capital and bank markets, say lawyers specializing in the matter. Ronald Herscovici, a partner at Souza Cescon in Sao Paulo, said the new bankruptcy law in Brazil makes it more attractive for companies to file because it encourages the preservation of the concern, rather than pushing towards asset liquidation, as with the former law, LatinFinance reported.

President Hugo Chavez ordered the expropriation of a rice-processing plant in Venezuela owned by American food giant Cargill Inc. on Wednesday because the company allegedly was not distributing rice at prices imposed by the government, the Associated Press reported. The socialist leader also threatened to nationalize Venezuela's largest food producer, Empresas Polar, amid rising tension between his government and privately owned food producers that authorities accuse of sidestepping price controls aimed at stemming high inflation.

Venezuela took control of a local bank owned by Allen Stanford, who faces U.S. fraud charges, the finance minister said on Thursday, as the impact of the American case spread through Latin America, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said the government would seek to quickly sell the bank. In recent days, depositors had worried that the trouble at Stanford International Bank would hurt Stanford Bank Venezuela and had withdrawn cash from the small local bank even though the companies' assets are separate, industry officials and bank customers said.

Apex Silver Mines Ltd, which runs silver mining operations in Latin America, has sought bankruptcy protection from creditors with a New York court, with plans to sell its stake in a Bolivian mining operation, Reuters reported. The company filed a Chapter 11 petition with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan late Monday, and says it will receive $27.5 million plus other consideration for its stake in the San Cristbal Mine in Bolivia from Sumitomo Corp.

Oilexco Inc., a North Sea producer of oil and gas, lost more than half its market value in London trading today after saying its U.K. subsidiary was likely to file for insolvency administration as early as next week, Bloomberg reported. Calgary-based Oilexco North Sea Ltd. has been informed by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc that lenders aren’t prepared to provide further financing, Oilexco said today in a statement. The unit “does not have any other source of funding,” it said, adding that the parent company “remains solvent.” Oilexco hired Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch & Co.

Twice in the last three decades, Mexico has demonstrated that one country’s profligacy and mismanagement can spell economic catastrophe beyond its borders. In 1982, the country defaulted on its foreign debt and set off a Latin American debt crisis that led to a decade of anemic growth across the region. In 1994, the peso collapsed and halted capital flows to emerging markets around the world, until the Clinton administration arranged a $50 billion Mexican bailout.