United States

British refinery Coryton will continue to operate for at least three more months after Marcel Van Poecke, a co-founder of insolvent owner Petroplus, teamed up with Morgan Stanley and investor KKR to provide fresh crude supplies, Reuters reported. Coryton is the most coveted asset of the five refineries owned by Petroplus around Europe, traders and analysts say. It has been running at half capacity since banks stopped financing Petroplus in late December.

The trustee supervising the liquidation of MF Global Holdings Ltd.'s brokerage on Friday said that more than $1.6 billion in customer cash remains out of his grasp, more than previously estimated, The Wall Street Journal reported. Included in that figure for the first time is roughly $700 million in client money residing in the U.K., which is likely to be the center of a legal fight with KPMG, the U.K.-based administrator overseeing the unwinding of MF Global's London-based division. "We now know we're in for a long haul with the U.K.

Oilsands Quest Inc., which explores for oil in sand deposits in western Canada, is seeking protection from its U.S. creditors and shareholders, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Oilsands, which once did business as CanWest Petroleum Corp., sought the protection of a Canadian court last November. The Calgary, Alberta, company is now asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan to recognize the Canadian proceeding and extend its protection to the company in the U.S., where it faces three shareholder lawsuits.

Mexican glass maker Vitro SAB said Tuesday that a court in Mexico has approved its debt restructuring, but that it expects certain of its bondholders who have fought the deal to continue efforts against the plan, Dow Jones reported. In a press release, Vitro said a judge in Monterrey approved the proposed restructuring put forward by the conciliator in the case. The restructuring of $1.5 billion in third-party debt has caused controversy among bondholders, as it involves Vitro voting on an additional $1.9 billion in intercompany debt to secure the majority needed for approval.

U.S. hedge fund Elliott Advisers LP is suing Vietnamese state-run shipbuilder Vinashin in the U.K. High Court, according to a filing seen by The Wall Street Journal. Vinashin defaulted on a $600 million syndicated loan last December, when the first repayment of $60 million was due. Other investors in the loan, which was arranged by Credit Suisse AG in 2007, include Dublin-based Depfa Bank PLC and Malayan Banking Bhd., as well as Credit Suisse.

A fight between Vitro SAB and its creditors is heating up, as a New York judge ruled that the Mexican glass maker must honor more than $1 billion in debt obligations to a group of disgruntled bondholders, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The decision by New York Supreme Court Judge Bernard J. Fried, signed Monday, came one day before Vitro announced that creditors holding 74% of its debt have signed off on its restructuring plan in Mexico.

General Motors Co said on Tuesday it would not support a proposed ownership structure for Saab that included a Chinese bank, moving the Swedish auto company closer to liquidation, Reuters reported. "We have reviewed Saab's proposed changes regarding the sale of the company," GM spokesman James Cain said in a statement. "Nothing in the proposal changes GM's position. We are unable to support the transaction." GM has said it would be difficult to support a sale of Saab that hurts GM's competitive position in China and other key markets.

Mexican mining and railroad company Grupo Mexico SA said it has dropped a plan to merge its U.S. unit Asarco with Southern Copper Corp., the subsidiary that runs its Mexican and Peruvian mining operations, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In its third-quarter earnings report, released Sunday, Grupo Mexico said Americas Mining Corporation, the holding company of its mining division, will explore strategic alternatives which could include securities offerings in capital markets.

Two Congressmen from opposite sides of the aisle are calling on the Mexican government to take action in Vitro S.A.B.'s restructuring, which they say could set a "dangerous precedent" that will hurt investors in the Mexican glass company and future cross-border investment, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Rep. Jared Polis (D., Colo.) and Rep. Patrick Meehan (R., Pa.) sent a letter last week to the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., warning about the danger of allowing Vitro's pending restructuring to proceed.

India mining giant Ashapura Minechem Ltd. filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan in a move to block foreign shipping companies that won a $125 million legal judgment against it from raiding the company's U.S. bank accounts, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The Mumbai-based company, a mineral miner and processor with debts topping $223.4 million, argued that the seizure of its U.S.-based assets would jeopardize the financial overhaul underway in its home country.