The bankruptcy court has decided to entertain a plea by Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot seeking to consolidate separate insolvency proceedings initiated by lenders led by State Bank of India against 15 of his companies under a single court, the Economic Times reported. National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) principal bench in New Delhi on Thursday admitted Dhoot’s plea and sought a reply from SBI by October 24. The country’s top bank and other lenders had filed separate proceedings against Videocon companies in different courts during June-September to recover Rs 2
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The International Monetary Fund launched formal bailout talks with Pakistan on Thursday, and IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said she would require “absolute transparency” of Pakistan’s debts, including those owed to China, Reuters reported. She said such disclosures were necessary to determine the debt sustainability of countries seeking IMF loans. The requirements are likely to shine a spotlight on the extent, composition and terms of Pakistan’s debts to China for infrastructure projects as part of Beijing’s massive Belt and Road building program.
HNA, the troubled Chinese group, is in advanced talks with Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management to sell Swissport International, the air services company, according to people briefed about the matter. A deal would be the latest for the Chinese aviation-to-finance conglomerate, which has sold an estimated $18bn worth of assets this year as it is desperately trying to ratchet up funds to meet its domestic debts, the Financial Times reported.
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Restructured foreign currency loans in Turkey will be converted to Turkish lira at the central bank exchange rate in force on the day of restructure, a presidential decree said on Thursday, a move that could damage banks if the lira continues to fall against the dollar, Reuters reported. The decree published in the Official Gazette allowed the day’s lira rate to be used in companies’ restructuring of forex loans as private sector debt continues to grow.
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China plans to increase the number of companies it deems systemically important financial institutions, people familiar with the matter said, a sign that policy makers are stepping up crisis-prevention efforts as the nation’s debt burden swells to unprecedented levels, Bloomberg News reported. Regulators led by China’s central bank will initially shortlist at least 50 of the country’s largest lenders, insurers and brokerages as possible SIFIs, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
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Chinese corporate bond defaults will likely continue to rise next year due to daunting refinancing costs, with defaults expected to concentrate on the country’s cash-starved private sector, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Availability of credit for firms to refinance their borrowings remains tight despite the central bank’s monetary policy easing steps, as commercial banks continue to be cautious in lending to private companies and non-strategic, financially wobbly state-owned enterprises (SOEs), Fitch said.
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South Korea’s Hyundai Merchant Marine is getting another $5 billion in state funding to finance a series of new orders for megaships as the company tries to compete with bigger Asian and European rivals in a difficult container shipping market. HMM, the country’s de facto flag carrier after the collapse of Hanjin Shipping Co. in 2016, will spend $2.8 billion to buy 20 large container vessels from South Korean shipbuilders, The Wall Street Journal reported. The rest of the money will likely be used to buy container terminals, according to people involved in the matter.
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The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has narrowed on five arms of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) that may have been involved in fund diversion and mismanagement, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. Indian government took control of the debt-laden IL&FS last week after defaults on a string of debt obligations triggered wider concerns about risks in the country’s financial sector, Reuters reported.
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Chinese conglomerate HNA Group has put up for sale property assets worth at least $11 billion, according to documents seen by Reuters, accelerating a push to cut its large debt and restructure, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Two sets of documents reviewed by Reuters listed more than 80 assets that HNA has either put up for sale or intends to sell, including hotels, commercial and residential buildings. They are mostly within China, with the bulk of them located in Hainan Island, where HNA is headquartered.
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The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecasts for global economic growth this year and next, citing rising trade protectionism and instability in emerging markets, The Wall Street Journal reported. The IMF said the global economy will expand 3.7% this year, down from its April estimate of 3.9%.