Aron said no, declared Semgroup in default on its contracts and demanded immediate payment of losses.

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"The transfer of Younes Kaboul was completed and Portsmouth pressed for an immediate payment in order to alleviate their cashflow situation, " said the Tottenham statement.

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Please in confirmation that you are still alive, you are advised to reconfirm the below listed information to enable us facilitate an immediate payment to you.

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Not paying the May 15 bond could have triggered so-called cross-default clauses, m eaning that holders of other bonds governed by foreign law that were also not swapped could have demanded immediate payment.

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For some borrowers, such as individuals with large deferred compensation arrangements or who are expecting a large inflow of cash in the near future (access to trust funds becomes available, a legal settlement has been resolved and payout is imminent, etc.) this arrangement allows them to access their full borrowing potential without committing to immediate payment.

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And the cost to the supplier of immediate cash payment by the bank, in respect of the implicit interest rate or discount on the bill, ought to be tiny - because the bank is in effect lending to the safe big company, which ultimately honours the bill, not to the riskier supplier.

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The most immediate ones, says Visa's Mr Keeley, are bad payment infrastructures and limited card acceptance by vendors.

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Here's the thing: if the Greek government were to miss a payment on a bond as it fell due, the immediate impact on the finances of the Greek government would be considerably less than the trauma that such a default would cause for the international banking system.

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