A high-level panel is likely to recommend a United Nations model for cross-border insolvency cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, according to a senior official, The Economic Times reported. The Insolvency Law Committee (ILC) is looking into the discussion paper related to having the UN model for cross-border insolvency matters as well as the comments received on the paper. Under the Code, there are provisions to deal with cross-border insolvency matters.

Malaysia charged a former deputy prime minister with breaking money-laundering and corruption laws as Mahathir Mohamad’s government steps up investigations into graft allegations plaguing the former administration, The Wall Street Journal reported. Zahid Hamidi, who waved to supporters as he arrived at court, pleaded not guilty to all 45 charges. The charges involve a total of 114 million ringgit ($27.4 million), and include allegations he used funds from a family-run charity to pay off credit card debts. He was freed on bail. Mr.

China’s gummed-up credit system is threatening economic growth and officials may have little choice but to let unregulated lenders step in, the New York Times DealBook blog reported. The nation’s economy is not in desperate straits yet, but confidence appears shaken. The economy expanded 6.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018, missing expectations.

India stocks fell as concern resurfaced over tight liquidity impacting the financial sector, adding to worries about surging oil prices and global trade conflicts, Bloomberg News reported. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index fell 1.1 percent to 34,779.58 in Mumbai, snapping three straight sessions of gains. It had climbed as much as 1.3 percent earlier in the session. Seventeen of 19 sector sub-gauges compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, led by realty and auto companies. Yes Bank Ltd. and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone were the worst performers on the gauge. Infosys Ltd.

Jindal Stainless Ltd., part of billionaire Savitri Jindal’s steel and power conglomerate, expects to leave behind its debt troubles by March, allowing it to boost its capacity by half over the following two years, Bloomberg News reported. India’s dominant stainless steel producer had been forced into a central bank-mandated restructuring after its debts piled up.

A group of lenders including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development hired Lazard Ltd. to manage the restructuring of a $500 million loan for an Istanbul ferry company part-owned by Stagecoach Group Plc founder Brian Souter, Bloomberg News reported. The banks, including several local firms, gave the mandate to New York-based Lazard on Tuesday, according to Necmi Riza Bozanti, chairman of the company, Istanbul Deniz Otobusleri AS. He favors turning the debt into a lira-based liability, he said.

ArcelorMittal SA said on Wednesday it would pay 74.69 billion rupees ($1.01 billion) to creditors of two Indian companies in which it previously held stakes, in order to make its acquisition offer valid for Essar Steel, another debt-ridden Indian steel firm, Reuters reported. ArcelorMittal will clear overdue debt of steel firm Uttam Galva Steels and oil and gas pipeline construction services provider KSS Petron, two companies in which the world’s largest steelmaker held stakes until earlier this year.

Beijing is keen to show results after four rounds of policy easing, so China’s big banks are playing along, highlighting their efforts to boost lending to cash-starved small firms, offering collateral waivers and setting loan targets. But in reality, banks’ loan eligibility requirements for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain stringent, making it too difficult or too expensive for them to borrow, according to bankers and company executives, Reuters reported. That has forced some small firms, including exporters, to simply give up on borrowing and put investment plans on hold.

China’s local governments may have accumulated 40 trillion yuan ($5.8 trillion) of off-balance sheet debt, or even more, suggesting further defaults are in store, according to S&P Global Ratings. “The potential amount of debt is an iceberg with titanic credit risks,” S&P credit analysts led by Gloria Lu wrote in a report Tuesday. Much of the build-up relates to local government financing vehicles, which don’t necessarily have the full financial backing of local governments themselves, Bloomberg News reported.

China’s peer-to-peer lenders expect their numbers to collapse from more than 1,500 to as few as 50 over the next 12 months, as regulators push through tough reforms while also barring company executives from fleeing the country. Peer-to-peer lending, the business of connecting private lenders with borrowers online, is a $120bn industry in China and traditionally has been lightly regulated with a high risk and return profile, the Financial Times reported.