The Ministry of Education (MOE) has sent inspectors to investigate the finances of the Chang Jung Girls’ Senior High School in Tainan after school dean Tai Chih-hsun confirmed that the school is on the brink of insolvency and cannot pay its faculty, the Taipei Times reported. In August, the school’s board of directors declared a salary cut, which led to the dismissal of two board members: Wang Chao-ching, who doubled as the school’s dean, and Chen Tsung-yen, the deputy minister of the interior.

Administrators plan to close 40 per cent of Harris Scarfe’s national store network in a bold plan to make the ailing department store viable for sale,The Weekly Times reported. Deloitte Restructuring Services sent a flyer to prospective buyers outlining a dramatic restructure, according to The Australian Financial Review, which included shutting 27 of the 66 stores. The closures will mainly focus on the less-profitable sites in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

The creditors of Catalist-listed lithium miner Alita Resources have approved a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) from a Chinese firm for the acquisition of Alita's assets, the Business Times reported. China Hydrogen Energy (CHE) and its Australian subsidiary Liatam Mining had proposed the DOCA this month. CHE is a special purpose vehicle for an unidentified Chinese party. In Australia, a DOCA is a rescue plan that allows a company to restructure its debt and avoid insolvency.

Tamarind Taranaki was placed in liquidation at a watershed meeting with creditors this morning, The New Zealand Herald reported. The company, which operates the Tui oil fields ran into debts when a drilling campaign in September went over budget and was unsuccessful. Malaysian-owned Tamarind Taranaki reportedly has debts of around $350 million, including a US$100 million claim from the New Zealand Government for the decommissioning costs of closing and cleaning up the fields.

Eric Watson's Cullen Group has been moved into liquidation by court order, meaning it might no longer fight a $112 million tax judgment against it. The company was moved into the hands of KPMG liquidator Vivian Fatupaito earlier this week, by court appointment, The New Zealand Herald reported. The Inland Revenue Department had been pursuing the company's liquidation after Justice Matthew Palmer ruled in March this year that Cullen Group was part of Watson's "web of entities" designed to avoid paying non-resident withholding tax.

China’s economy started the decade in a boom and will end it suffering the worst slowdown since the early 1990s, Bloomberg News reported. What comes next? Bloomberg asked some of the world's most prominent China watchers, several of which distinguished themselves over the past 10 years with prescient forecasts or market-beating returns. Predictions of even slower economic growth were near unanimous among the group, though most respondents also said policy makers have the tools to avoid a crisis.

China’s sovereign-wealth fund is coming to the aid of a troubled lender in a 100 billion yuan ($14.28 billion) bailout, the latest show of government support for the banking sector, which has come under intensifying financial stress as the economy slows, The Wall Street Journal reported. Hengfeng Bank, based in eastern China’s Shandong Province, will sell 100 billion shares at a valuation of 1 yuan per share, almost all of them to government-backed investors, according to the bank and one of its backers.

Thailand's household debt in the second half this year has slowed from the first half thanks to weak housing demand, excess supply in the property market and tighter lending from financial institutions, the Bangkok Post reported. Car loans slowed down because of lower car and motorcycle sales, while most financial institutions retained strict scrutiny for credit lending, according to a report to the cabinet yesterday by state planning unit National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC). Yet loans for other personal consumption increased, mainly for credit cards.

Anti-government protests have prompted investors to pull some $5bn out of Hong Kong since April, according to the Bank of England, the Financial Times reported. That amount is equivalent to 1.25 per cent of the gross domestic product of the Asia financial hub, the UK central bank said in its biannual Financial Stability Report. The bank cited data from EPFR Global, Refinitiv and its own calculations. However, the $5bn in outflows from investment funds since April is modest in the context of Hong Kong’s monetary system.

A tribunal has started insolvency proceedings in the case of Chennai-based wind turbine manufacturer ReGen Powertech, emphasising the dire times the wind energy sector is passing through, The Economic Times reported. The National Company Law Tribunal ordered the commencement of a corporate insolvency resolution process of ReGen Powertech on December 9, the interim resolution professional said in a notice dated December 13 in the Times of India. “This does not come as a surprise… They have not been able to ramp up their order book since 2017,” said an industry expert.