In the Region

Sunoco agrees to fine for Ohio site

Sunoco Inc., Philadelphia, agreed to pay $32,250 to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for safety violations at its Toledo refinery. In April 2008, the Ohio EPA cited Sunoco with four violations. The refinery has agreed to correct "improperly sized pressure-relief devices" and "external fire cases for two sphere-shaped butane tanks" and to complete inspections of pressure-relief valves, according to the report. Sunoco will "correct deficiencies in equipment and the risk management plan," the Ohio EPA said in a report. - Bloomberg News

Gamesa plant in W. Pa. lays off 141

Spanish wind-turbine maker Gamesa is laying off nearly 150 people from a Western Pennsylvania plant. The layoffs reduce the workforce by more than half at Gamesa's plant in Ebensburg, about 70 miles east of Pittsburgh. The layoffs will be effective Jan. 1. Company officials said Wednesday that 141 people were being laid off. Seventy-nine will be furloughed temporarily and more than 60 could be offered buyouts or jobs in other parts of the company. Gamesa spokesman Michael Peck says the economic downturn is to blame. He says power companies are delaying plans to build wind farms using Gamesa's blades. Gamesa officials say the company's plant in Fairless Hills is not affected. - AP

Elsewhere

RBS entering insurance program

Royal Bank of Scotland Group P.L.C., the parent of Citizens Bank in the Philadelphia area, said entering the government's asset insurance program and accepting additional capital is the only way to avoid full nationalization. RBS made the statement yesterday in a circular detailing the terms and risks of joining the U.K.'s Asset Protection Scheme and selling 25.5 billion pounds ($42 billion) of shares to the government. RBS plans to put about 280 billion pounds of risky assets, including corporate and real estate loans, into the Asset Protection Scheme. The bank, 70 percent owned by the government, said the additional capital would increase the U.K.'s economic interest to 84.4 percent. Even after joining the asset-protection program, the risk of full nationalization remains if the bank experiences losses on assets not included in the APS, credit ratings drop, or funding costs increase, RBS said in the circular. - Bloomberg News

China vows stable economic policy

Chinese leaders pledged to stick to stimulus spending and easy credit to support growth next year, making clear their unease about the stability of China's nascent recovery from the global crisis. Ending a closely watched annual planning meeting, the Communist Party leadership gave no sign it planned an early exit from the stimulus despite a recent upturn in growth. But it said stimulus efforts would shift emphasis from state-led investment to encouraging more consumer spending and private investment. The annual planning meeting, usually held in December, was moved up to November in a possible move to quiet uncertainty about the direction of government policy. - AP

Interest expressed in buying Saab

A spokeswoman for General Motors' Saab unit says several potential buyers have expressed interest in the Swedish brand after a specialty car maker pulled out of a deal to acquire it. On Tuesday, a group led by Sweden's Koenigsegg Automotive AB dropped out of a deal to buy Saab that had been in the works since June. Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs says a few potential buyers have approached Saab after the deal fell through. She didn't identify the potential suitors but said Saab was in close contact with more than one. - AP

CIT files amended plan

CIT Group Inc., the bankrupt commercial lender, filed an amended reorganization that calls for management incentives and slight changes to creditors' recoveries. The incentive plan calls for awards of as much as $10 million a year for eligible individuals and might consist of stock options, restricted stock, and other equity instruments. People eligible for the plan include officers, employees, directors, consultants, advisers, and independent contractors, CIT said. The amended plan, filed Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, provides for noteholders to appoint three of the company's 13 board members and for non-debtor subsidiaries to give cash collateral to lenders to secure the obligations of CIT's Chinese units. Several classes of creditors will have their recoveries changed by fractions of a percent, according to court papers. Some noteholders will be paid interest accrued before the bankruptcy. - Bloomberg News

AIG Fed debt rises to $45.1 billion

American International Group Inc.'s draw on a Federal Reserve credit line climbed for a second straight week, reaching the highest in six months. AIG owes $45.1 billion on the line, compared with $44.9 billion last week, according to Fed data. The New York-based insurer has a $60 billion line as part of a U.S. bailout valued at $182.3 billion. Mark Herr, a spokesman for the insurer, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. - Bloomberg News

Spain seeks to fix economy

Spain unveiled an ambitious reform package aimed at weaning its troubled economy off the construction sector and nudging it toward a more sustainable growth model. The 10-year plan features everything from tighter supervision of the financial sector - and forcing listed companies to tell shareholders how much their executives earn - to measures making it easier for Spaniards to start small businesses. Spain, once among Europe's largest creators of jobs and boasting more than a decade of solid GDP growth, is suffering its worst recession in decades. It has run up five straight quarters of economic contraction after the collapse of a boom fueled by residential construction. - AP