Plans by two distressed Chinese companies to ease their imminent debt crisis are betraying a subtle shift in Beijing’s delicate balancing act between combating financial risk and preserving stability as the coronavirus outbreak continues, Bloomberg News reported. The proposed bond swap by a waste management firm and a privately negotiated repayment deal secured by a coal producer suggest policymakers are growing wary of the destabilizing impact that surging bond failures could have on an ailing private sector.

Commodity trader Trafigura has reached an agreement to buy and then sell on a stake in Puma Energy from a retired Angolan general, aiding the efforts of the debt-laden fuel supplier to attract more lenders and investors, the Financial Times reported. Under a complex deal announced on Monday, Cochan Holdings, an investment vehicle controlled by Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento — widely known as “General Dino” — will reduce its stake in Puma from 15 per cent to less than 5 per cent.

A Japanese cruise operator filed for bankruptcy on Monday after its restaurant ship Luminous Kobe 2, which offered buffets and night views of the western port city of Kobe, was hit by cancellations amid concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported. Luminous Cruise said it had already been struggling with rising fuel costs and setbacks from recent typhoons before the coronavirus outbreak on the Diamond Princess, an unrelated cruise ship now docked at Yokohama. “Since February 1, we have had many cancellations which appear connected to the coronavirus.

Indian shadow bank Altico Capital India Ltd. is inching toward the final stage of a debt restructuring that’s been keenly watched as the country grapples with a crisis in the industry, Bloomberg News reported. Rival hedge fund bidders Cerberus Capital and SSG Capital raised their bids for Altico late last week, people familiar with the matter said. The raised bids mean that creditors of the shadow lender could recover at least 71% of their outstanding debt of 38.7 billion rupees ($538 million), a marked improvement from earlier bids.

HNA Group has asked the government of China’s province of Hainan to lead a work group dedicated to resolving its increasing liquidity risks after a slowdown in business caused by the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported. HNA Group is not able to thoroughly deal with liquidity risks itself, the company said in a post on its official WeChat account on Saturday. HNA directly owns or holds stakes in a number of local Chinese carriers, including Hainan Airlines (600221.SS), and is among many companies pressured by the coronavirus outbreak that has forced widespread flight cancellations.

An embattled Chinese property developer has sparked concern about a potential default on a dollar bond, after offering investors a swap for cash and new bonds for the bulk of the $300 million note, Bloomberg News reported. Yida China Holdings Ltd., a business park developer, proposed an exchange for at least 75% of the bond due April, saying its existing internal resources “may be insufficient to repay” the note, according to a company filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Hontop Energy (Singapore) Pte Ltd, the trading arm of a Shandong-based refiner, has gone into receivership, according to its business profile on the website of Singapore’s accounting and corporate regulator, Reuters reported. Singapore bank DBS, one of Hontop’s creditors, has appointed accounting firm KPMG as the receiver, a KPMG official told Reuters. DBS declined to comment. “Hontop continues to be run by the existing management. The receiver has been appointed over specific charged assets which mainly relate to one trade transaction financed by DBS.

China’s battered banks are being asked to sacrifice profits to help millions of cash-squeezed companies struggling under the weight of the coronavirus outbreak, Bloomberg News reported. Now they may finally see some relief for themselves. Liu Guoqiang, a deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said over the weekend that policy makers are considering lowering their benchmark deposit rate for the first time in five years.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that banks have informed the Finance Ministry regarding the number of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) that have been restructured, approached and provided loans to, Republic World reported. The Finance Minister has also directed the banks to clear out all the pending MSMEs by March 15. This comes as FM Sitharaman informed that the Government has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to extend the deadline for restructuring the debt scheme for MSME beyond March 31, 2020.

Koon Holdings on Wednesday said that creditors have approved the scheme of arrangement for its subsidiary Koon Construction & Transport (KCT), as part of the group’s debt restructuring exercise, the Business Times reported. However, Koon Holdings has yet to put its own proposed scheme to a vote, as its creditors’ meeting on Tuesday was adjourned. Before the meeting began, a major creditor had requested the adjournment because it would like to receive more information before committing its vote, Koon Holdings said in a bourse filing.