Asia Pacific

Australian billionaire Richard White has reached an out of court legal settlement with an alleged former lover who he was pursuing for bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. A notice of discontinuance was filed with the Federal Court of Australia late Monday, the court’s website shows. The case was settled out of court on Friday, according to a representative in barrister Bridie Nolan’s office, who asked not to be named because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly. Nolan was representing wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan, who White had filed bankruptcy proceedings against.

China’s youth unemployment rate dropped in September after hitting a seasonal high during the summer but remained elevated, underscoring the strains in the country’s job market, the Wall Street Journal reported. The jobless rate among 16- to 24-year-olds, excluding students, stood at 17.6% last month, down from the peak of 18.8% in August, when millions of college graduates entered the labor market, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen rebuked China’s “opaque” lending practices and urged global financial institutions and other creditors to accelerate debt relief to low- and middle-income countries in an interview on Monday, the New York Times reported. Her comments came ahead of this week’s annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where global economic policymakers are gathering in Washington at a pivotal moment for the world economy. Inflation has eased, but war in the Middle East has threatened to jolt energy markets.

Thailand central bank’s interest rate cut last week was a “recalibration” made by policymakers and doesn’t mark the start of an easing cycle, according to Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, Bloomberg News reported. “We do not see it as the beginning of an extended easing cycle,” the governor said at the Institute of International Finance forum in Washington on Tuesday.

Bhaane Group, owned by celebrity Sonam Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja, is buying Rhythm House, an iconic music store in India’s financial capital Mumbai for 478.4 million rupees ($5.7 million), Bloomberg News reported. The 3,600-square foot Rhythm House had been shuttered in 2018 after Nirav Modi, the owner of Firestar Diamond International Pvt that ran the music store, defaulted on billions of dollars of bank loans. A resolution professional appointed by the Indian bankruptcy court oversaw the sale of the store confirmed the value of the deal to Bloomberg News in a telephone interview.

Chinese banks cut their benchmark lending rates after easing by the central bank at the end of September, part of a series of measures aimed at reviving economic growth and halting a housing market slump, Bloomberg News reported. The one-year loan prime rate was lowered to 3.10% from 3.35%, while the five-year LPR was reduced to 3.60% from 3.85%.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has closed the insolvency proceedings against Jaypee Healthcare after the financial creditors' dues were settled by Max Healthcare, the Economic Times of India reported. The appellate tribunal's direction to close the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Jaypee Healthcare Ltd (JHL) came after the financial creditor submitted that they had received the amount of Rs 1,035.29 crore as part of the settlement and no claim had survived.

Three U.S. education-software companies that bankrupt Indian tech-firm Byju’s bought for $820 million just a few years ago will be put up for sale in order to repay lenders, a court-appointed trustee said, Bloomberg News reported. It is unclear how much the units are worth and if all three — Neuron Fuel Inc., Epic! Creations Inc. and Tangible Play Inc. — will attract offers, the trustee, Claudia Springer, said in an interview.

Japan’s consumer-price inflation slowed in September due mainly to the impact of the government’s energy subsidies, possibly giving the Bank of Japan more time to think about the timing of its next move, the Wall Street Journal reported. Overall consumer prices rose 2.5% in September from a year earlier, compared with 3.0% growth in August, government data showed Friday. The pace of inflation slowed for the first time in five months as the government reintroduced its program to cut household utility bills.