China’s premier said today that his government would respond to an economic slowdown by cutting taxes, easing burdens on the private sector and giving markets a bigger role, Keith Bradsher and Chris Buckley of the NYT write. 2019 is a “crucial year” for China’s economy, Premier Li Keqiang, the second-ranking official in the country after President Xi Jinping, said at the opening of the National People’s Congress in Beijing this morning.

The Reserve Bank's proposals to double minimum bank equity levels will cost New Zealand's economy $1.5-to-$2 billion a year without making banks much safer, according to former long-serving central bank official Ian Harrison, The New Zealand Herald reported. Worse, he says the bank's decision to base its policy on ensuring that bank collapses occur only once in every 200 years happened at the last minute when it realised that its initial target of limiting bank collapses to once in every 100 years would have meant New Zealand banks already had sufficient capital to meet that test.

Market Regulator SEBI on Friday came out with rules for providing exemption from open offer requirements for corporate debt restructuring, which will now be restricted to scheduled commercial banks and all-India financial institutions, Moneylife reported. The decision could help the cash-strapped Jet Airways which is looking for investment from lenders. The market watchdog met in Delhi on Friday and decided that "such exemptions will not be available for acquisition of shares by persons other than lenders by way of allotment by the target company or purchase from lenders".

Probably the single biggest geopolitical issue for the EU right now, and especially for Germany, is future relations with China, the Financial Times reported. The two countries do have a lot in common. Both are export-driven economies with large external savings surpluses. But Germany’s economic strategy is not nearly as consistent. The German political preference is to reduce public debt. Yet the country’s biggest problem is falling behind in the technological race.

Crown Resorts director and former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has been grilled in court over the $145 million collapse of education group Acquire Learning, ABC News reported. Mr Demetriou was never a director of the company but was executive chairman of an advisory board and paid $75,100 a month and $1.6 million in shares for three days a week of work in an office downstairs from the directors.

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is considering to tighten the takeover rules that are applicable to firms undergoing bankruptcy proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Business Standard reported, citing sources. According to the BS report, the sources said that the regulator is planning to do away with the provision that lets a ‘competent authority’ to exempt an acquirer from the open offer requirement, CNBC reported on a Business Standard story.

Big Four audit and consultancy firm PwC Hong Kong has published guidance for financially distressed or insolvent businesses in the crypto sector, Cointelegraph reported. The document, released February 2019, tackles the complexities specific to the nascent industry, in particular in regard to asset valuation and multi-jurisdictional operations.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal today asked the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal to pass its final order in the Rs 42,000-crore resolution plan submitted by ArcelorMittal for the insolvent Essar Steel by March 8, BloombergQuint reported. Earlier, the NCLAT had given time till Feb. 28 for the NCLT to deliver its final order in the case, stating that the appellate tribunal would take over from March 1. In October 2018, the committee of creditors for Essar Steel had selected the Lakshmi Mittal-owned company as the winning bidder for the insolvent steelmaker.

Bank of Japan board member Hitoshi Suzuki on Thursday warned that profits in the country’s financial institutions could be significantly hurt by rising credit costs if the economy slides into recession, Reuters reported. With their margins squeezed by years of ultra-low interest rates and a dwindling population, Japan’s regional lenders have increased loans to borrowers with low credit standings that could sour if economic conditions deteriorate, Suzuki said. “If the default rate of borrowers rises, banks would have to set aside more allowances for bad debt.

Construction business Arrow International has gone into voluntary administration after a contractual dispute left it with insufficient cashflow to meet operating costs, The New Zealand Herald reported. Administrators from accountancy BDO were appointed at 2.30pm today. "This is not the outcome we wanted or expected, but in light of a recent adjudicator's decision, we had no choice but to take this course of action," the company's board said in a statement.