South Korea’s exports started the year on a strong note, with outbound shipments surging in January on more working days and robust semiconductor demand, the Wall Street Journal reported. Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy jumped 34% from a year earlier to $65.85 billion, following a 13% increase in December, according to preliminary data released by the trade ministry on Sunday. The January surge had been widely expected because of 3.5 additional working days due to the Lunar New Year holidays shifting to mid-February this year. That was much stronger than expectations.

China has been flooding Latin American markets with low-priced exports, especially cars and e-commerce goods, as its exporters adjust to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and geopolitical moves, EuroNews.com reported. The world’s second-largest economy has become a major trading partner for many Latin American nations, seeking access to their abundant natural resources and growing markets while expanding its influence in a region Trump views as America’s backyard.

The government should focus on strengthening infrastructure at the National Company Law Tribunals (NCLTs) to improve efficiency in insolvency cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in the upcoming Union Budget, asserted Anoop Rawat, National Practice Head at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. "What we need is the strengthening of the infrastructure at the NCLTs. We need more and more benches," Rawat said in an interview with ANI, when asked what one change would make the IBC stronger immediately. The Union Budget for 2026-27 will be tabled in the Parliament on Sunday morning.

The Central government is set to introduce the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code amendment Bill during the second half of the Budget session starting March 9, news agency PTI quoted Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as saying, the Economic Times of India reported. The parliamentary committee has submitted its report as far as proposed legislation with respect to Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is concerned, she said during an interaction with the media a day after presenting Budget 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha.

Private commercial Padma Bank, formerly known as Farmers Bank, has remained insolvent for years, with over 90% default loans causing suffering for depositors and losses for state-owned banks against investments of over Tk700 crore. During a presentation in September 2025, the bank sought liquidity support of Tk3,500 crore from the Bangladesh Bank as part of its strategic plan to make it operational. In its last attempt after the regime change, the Bangladesh Bank discussed with the finance ministry the bank's merger with state-owned banks but did not receive any formal response.

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal Thursday approved the INR 9.19-billion resolution plan of the consortium comprising Oberoi Realty Ltd., Shree Naman Developers Pvt. Ltd., and JM Financial Properties and Holdings Ltd. for Hotel Horizon Pvt. Ltd, InformistMedia.com reported.

Inflation in Tokyo slowed to 2% year-on-year in January from 2.3% in the previous month, hitting the lowest level since October 2024, mainly due to a smaller rise in food prices excluding perishables, Japanese government data showed on Friday, the Japan Times reported. The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, in the capital's 23 wards came to 110.9 in January against the 2020 base of 100, rising for the 53rd consecutive month, the internal affairs ministry said.

The heads of Indonesia's financial regulator and stock exchange resigned suddenly on Friday in a shake up that followed this week's $80 billion stock market rout and mounting concerns over transparency and governance, Reuters reported. The departures followed a warning from MSCI that it may downgrade Indonesian equities to "frontier" status, a move that helped trigger the steepest two‑day fall in Jakarta stocks since April and intensified pressure on authorities to restore investor confidence.