A TUSSLE over the rights to wind up a Dublin-based subsidiary of the scandal-hit Italian food giant Parmalat looks set to go in favour of an Irish liquidator after a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

THE administrators of Parmalat, the huge Italian food company that collapsed in 2003, have lost their case to oversee the liquidation of the company’s Irish subsidiary, Eurofood.

The resignation of Italy’s embattled central bank chief has cleared the way for the government to focus on reforming the nation’s scandal-tainted banking industry at a special cabinet meeting today.

Shielded by a cordon of policemen, Parmalat’s former chairman Calisto Tanzi appeared briefly in a packed courtroom in Milan yesterday as angry investors who lost their savings crowded outside for the opening of a trial into the huge fraud at the dairy empire.

Parmalat’s founder and former chairman goes on trial today in Milan alongside other former directors, lawyers and accountants, nearly two years after the prolonged and massive fraud at the Italian dairy giant was discovered.

ITALY’S Parmalat and Bank of America wrestled over control of an Irish Parmalat subsidiary, Eurofood, at the European Court of Justice yesterday, in a case that could affect the secrecy of off-shore vehicles.

A MILAN judge sentenced 10 former Parmalat executives and a lawyer to jail yesterday in the first guilty ruling following the €14 billion collapse of Italy’s biggest listed food company.

An Italian judge today handed down the first verdicts in the fraud scandal at Italian dairy giant Parmalat, convicting 11 people under plea bargain arrangements.

A MILAN judge has formally charged Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi, plus 15 other executives and three financial institutions over their role in the scandal that plunged one of Italy's best-known brands into insolvency.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association has criticised new laws requiring company directors to sign a statement certifying that they have complied with tax, company law and other statutory requirements.

Two former auditors at Parmalat were ordered to stand trial today for market rigging – the first indictments since the massive fraud scandal at the Italian dairy giant.

Parmalat Finanziaria SpA Chairman Enrico Bondi has proposed honouring 1% of the €1.8bn in debt claims from the Italian food company’s US lenders, including Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp.

PARMALAT Finanziaria SpA, the bankrupt Italian dairy company, will give creditors until September 18 to present claims for repayment of debt and to submit comments on the list of creditors eligible for compensation.

The administrator appointed by the Italian government to restructure dairy giant Parmalat SpA filed a lawsuit yesterday against UBS AG seeking to recover €290 million from the Swiss bank.

Milan prosecutors today requested the indictment of 29 people in the Parmalat fraud scandal, including Calisto Tanzi, the founder of the Italian dairy multinational.

Parmalat Finanziaria SpA’s founder and former chairman Calisto Tanzi was granted house arrest, his lawyer Fabio Belloni said.

COMPANIES owed tens of millions of euro by failed Italian food company Parmalat are fighting to decide if the Irish or Italian courts have jurisdiction in the case.

An Italian daily has reported on a Dublin court ruling that Parmalat Finanziaria SpA's Irish unit Eurofood must be liquidated, as requested by the group's creditor Bank of America.

Milan prosecutors moved yesterday to bring charges against 29 executives and three financial institutions to stand trial for crimes in the Italian food company Parmalat.

Parmalat Finanziaria SpA has begun proceedings to sell its US interests, but has decided to keep its Australian, Canadian and South African businesses, according to unsourced Italian news reports.

Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi, who was arrested months ago for his alleged role in the dairy giant’s near-collapse, was taken to a hospital in Parma today.

A United States unit of the Italian dairy group Parmalat at the centre of a multi-billion euro accounting scandal has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York.

A GROUP of investors in Parmalat, the troubled Italian dairy giant, are challenging Italy’s new bankruptcy law to ensure bondholders get a say in the company’s debt repayment.

In Milan, unsourced newspaper reports suggest that Parmalat's Finanziaria SpA's administrator Enrico Bondi is studying the possibility of swapping 70-75% of the group's debt, held by bondholders and creditor banks, for shares in the company.

Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi, who is under arrest for his alleged role in the food giant’s near-collapse, has been rushed to hospital with heart problems.

Dale Farm, the processing arm of Northern Irish co-op United Dairy Farmers, has purchased the British dairy operation of Parmalat, the controversial Italian food giant.

The son and daughter of Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi were arrested today as the investigation into alleged fraud at the Italian food giant deepened.

The fallout from the biggest corporate scandal in European history has spread to Dublin, with a liquidator appointed to Eurofood IFSC, an Irish subsidiary of Parmalat, by the High Court and Bank of America.

PARMALAT’S debt reached €14.3 billion at the end of September, almost eight times the amount reported by the dairy company’s previous management before it went bankrupt.

Troubled Italian group Parmalat said today that according to a preliminary restatement of the company's 2002 and 2003 accounts by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC),the group had a net debt of €14.3bn at the end of September, compared to the €1.8bn reported previously by the company.

A Parmalat employee who had been questioned in the Italian company’s fraud scandal died in an apparent suicide after he jumped off a bridge into a river, officials said.

THE European Commission is to propose that only one auditor be responsible for the overseeing of company accounts under new rules for statutory auditors to be released in March.

The Italian businesses of Grant Thornton and Deloitte & Touche have been formally placed under investigation for their role in the Parmalat collapse, according to reports from Italian news agency Ansa.

Eurofood IFSC Limited, an Irish subsidiary of Parmalat, which provided financing facilities for companies in the group, is still being investigated by Italian authorities.

THE Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) has set out its stall for the next three years placing a strong emphasis on a fair deal for the consumer and strict ethical behaviour by the financial institutions.

Bank of America offices in Milan are being searched by investigators looking into the collapse of Italian food company Parmalat.

The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority is investigating the role played by Eurofood IFSC in the €10bn fraud at Italian food group Parmalat, accordingt o a report in the Irish Times.

Accounting firm Grant Thornton has said it has cut ties with its Italian unit involved in the Parmalat food group scandal .

The National Pension Reserve fund has confirmed that it has suffered a loss of €1.4m as a result of the financial scandal at the Italian Group Parmalat.

The National Pension Reserve fund has confirmed it has suffered a loss of €1.4 million as a result of the financial scandal at Italian food group Parmalat.

PROSECUTORS piled pressure on Parmalat’s former finance chief on Tuesday to reveal how billions of euro vanished from the food group, as US banking giant Citigroup and accounting firms faced legal action in the widening scandal.