More corporates are expected to descend into defaults as the business disruption brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to unfold resulting in significant financial and operational restructuring across many industries, The Malaysian Reserve reported.

India’s corporate affairs ministry has extended suspension of new bankruptcy filings for three months from Friday, a statement from the ministry said, Bloomberg News reported. Bankruptcy filings, that have been in progress from earlier this year, have been halted to help financially-strapped borrowers hit by the pandemic, stay out of court. The move comes as the government seeks to cushion an economy already contracting at the worst pace in decades from more damage. The move has been challenged by banks, already saddled with one of the worst bad-debt ratios in the world.

Following a summer marred by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic the situation being faced by the island’s hoteliers remains dire, and prospects are bleak, the Cyprus Mail reported. According to the Cyprus Hotel Association (Pasyxe) and the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (ACTE), which counts among its members some of most prominent luxury hotels in the island, the financial situation at the moment does not leave room for optimism.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has set aside the NCLT order rejecting the insolvency plea filed against Andhra Pradesh-based Coastal Oil Gas Infrastructure on the grounds of delay in filing, Business Standard reported. A three-member NCLAT bench has now directed the Hyderabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to admit the plea filed by the financial creditors -- Bank of India and Central Bank of India -- and decide it "expeditiously" within one month.

Debt-laden China Evergrande Group, the country’s second largest property developer, has pleaded for government support to approve a restructuring plan that has languished for four years, warning it faces a cash crunch that could lead to systemic risks, according to people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported. The company, the most indebted developer in China, made the request in a letter to the government of southern Guangdong province dated Aug. 24, according to three people who confirmed the letter’s authenticity.

Australia said on Friday it would simplify bank lending rules to free up credit in a bid to stimulate the economy, which slid into its first recession in nearly 30 years due to the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. Shares of Australia’s “Big Four” banks rallied after the announcement in early trade, with the heavyweight financial sector surging more than 3%. The benchmark index was up more than 1%. National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking rose nearly 6%, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia was up more than 2%. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group rose nearly 5%.

India’s corporate affairs ministry is proposing to extend a suspension of new bankruptcy filings that has been in place since earlier this year, people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg News reported. The proposal is to extend the halt on new bankruptcy cases for another six months past its currently scheduled ending point this week. It must get final approval from Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private.

Australia on Thursday unveiled its biggest shakeup in bankruptcy laws in nearly three decades, allowing businesses to trade while insolvent and take more control over debt restructuring, in a bid to help firms through the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. Under the proposed rule changes, businesses with liabilities of less than A$1 million ($708,000) will be able to keep operating while they come up with a debt restructuring plan, rather than be placed in the hands of administrators.

Nearly 36,000 Japanese companies have chosen to discontinue their business so far this year, mainly due to the hit from the coronavirus crisis and up sharply from a year ago in a sign of the pain the pandemic is inflicting on the fragile economy, Reuters reported. The total number of companies closing businesses, without going through bankruptcy procedures, may top 53,000 by year-end. That would be the most since relevant data became available in 2000, Tokyo Shoko Research said on Wednesday.

Small businesses in India, already struggling amid the pandemic, are now having to repay mounting debt after a loan holiday ended last month, Bloomberg News reported. The Reserve Bank of India gave borrowers a six-month freeze on their loan repayments, which ended on Aug. 31, with about a third of India’s $1.8 trillion outstanding loans being deferred under the program. Businesses still trying to cope with a collapse in demand must now figure out how to pay back their loans or face closure. That’s a dilemma Regi Philip is dealing with.