A round-up of today's other business news in brief

HSBC to scale back US credit card lender

HSBC will today announce plans to scale back its US consumer finance operations as the bank launches a £12 billion-plus (€13.3 billion-plus) rights issue designed to re-establish its position as one of the world's best-capitalised banks.

The bank, which employs over 700 in Ireland, is expected to say it is further shrinking HSBC Finance Corporation, its US-based credit card and mortgage lender.

Walsh Maguire in debts of 20m

A financial squeeze has forced Dublin builder Walsh Maguire into provisional liquidation with debts of about €20 million.

The company said the High Court has appointed Kieran Wallace of KPMG as provisional liquidator of the business, which provides contract building work mainly to the public sector, utilities and pharmaceutical industry.

The company has a deficit of €13 million. Its creditors include Allied Irish Banks which is owed €2 million on an unsecured overdraft facility.

Russia the place for developers

Struggling Irish construction firms should look to Russia in the economic downturn, according to Ibec and Enterprise Ireland, joint hosts of a Russian Business Forum in Dublin tomorrow.

Ibec’s head of trade and international relations, Pat Ivory, said Russia was likely to offer significant opportunities in construction and other sectors.

Insolvencies at twice 2008 level

The number of insolvencies this January and February was more than twice that of the same period last year, according to insolvency firm Kavanagh Fennell.

There were 200 insolvencies in the period this year, compared with 94 in 2008 and just 52 in 2007.