Indian shares edged lower on Thursday, after retail inflation breached the central bank’s medium-term target of 4% for the first time in 15 months, while lenders fretted about a possible insolvency of Vodafone Idea, Reuters reported. Annual retail inflation rose to 4.62% last month on higher food prices, but most economists expect the central bank to look past the inflation print and cut rates for a sixth straight time next month. Higher inflation and reports of a liquidation of Vodafone Idea were pulling down the markets, said Sumit Pokharna, vice president, Kotak Securities.

A Chinese conglomerate’s rescue plan for Britain’s second-biggest steelmaker has been met by doubts from unions and industry insiders who question the buyer’s motives and business logic, the Financial Times reported. Jingye Group, a privately owned Chinese group whose interests span hotels, property, tourism and chemicals alongside steelmaking, agreed to buy British Steel from the UK’s Insolvency Service.

Lenders of debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech will meet on 18 November to take forward the process of insolvency resolution after the Supreme Court directed early this month to complete the process within 90 days, Firstpost reported. Crisis-hit Jaypee group firm Jaypee Infratech went into insolvency in 2017 after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium seeking resolution of the firm. Jaypee Infratech, a subsidiary of Jaiprakash Associates, has an outstanding debt of nearly Rs 9,800 crore.

A camper trailer company in the marginal seat of Gilmore was awarded a $750,000 federal government grant at a time that it may have been trading while insolvent, Guardian Australia can reveal. The grant, awarded under the regional jobs and investment program that was subject to a scathing report from the auditor general, was given to Off Road Camping Accessories, based in the NSW south coast town of Moruya, to develop a new type of composite panel to be manufactured for camper trailers, The Guardian reported.

Insolvency regulator IBBI is serious about enforcing a recently enacted legal provision to ensure completion of the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) in a time-bound manner, The Hindu Business Line reported. It has asked registered insolvency professionals to furnish details of all ongoing CIRP, which is not completed within 330 days. Reasons for non-compliance and details of persons responsible for non-completion have to be furnished to the regulator to enable it to take appropriate legal remedy.

China’s local governments face a record number of lawsuits for failing to pay their contractors as the country’s slowing economy puts a strain on public finances, the Financial Times reported. The financial outlook has deteriorated so markedly that analysts have warned that there is a risk of social unrest. Chinese courts have listed 831 local governments as being in default in the first 10 months of this year, compared with 100 in the whole of 2018.

China Minsheng Investment Group Corp. once sought to be the nation’s version of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Instead it’s the country’s biggest dollar bond defaulter this year, Bloomberg News reported. With $2 billion of debt maturing in 2020, the company is scrambling to raise cash. It’s slashed executive pay as much as 83% and is selling assets. One of the largest private investment companies in China, the group was set up by 59 non-state companies in 2014 with a mandate to help Chinese private enterprise expand globally.

European Bank for Reconstruction & Development will present a set of proposals to Turkish authorities and banks on Friday on how to overcome the nation’s bad-debt predicament, Bloomberg News reported. The London-based lender is suggesting that the definition of non-performing loans be updated in line with those of the European Banking Authority and that guidance be given on how banks value and manage collateral for credit. It is also urging that a longer-term solution be put in place on how troubled debt is restructured.

China’s local governments are helping inject fresh capital into small lenders across the country, part of an expanding campaign to restore confidence in the world’s largest banking system, Bloomberg News reported. At least 10 small Chinese banks have raised money this year by selling shares packaged with non-performing loans, in several cases to buyers controlled by local authorities. In at least one deal, the NPLs were sold at above-market rates.

The government is mulling a special window for resolution of stressed non-banking finance companies under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, a senior government official said, Mint reported. A special window, is certainly something which is being examined closely, the official said. The move also comes against the backdrop of financial sector players like Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) facing troubles. Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank is also grappling with financial woes.