A Shanghai court imprisoned a tycoon who used a mountain of debt to buy the Waldorf Astoria hotel. Small Chinese companies are increasingly saying they cannot repay their bills, as money gets more expensive or harder to find, the International New York Times reported. For other private businesses, the cost to borrow has shot up. Faced with the looming consequences of a decade-long borrowing binge, the Chinese government is intensifying its efforts stamp out risky lending and speculative froth from the world’s second-largest economy.

Indonesia’s household consumption, a major contributor to GDP, has been growing at a lacklustre rate in recent years because of weak commodity prices and currency devaluations, the Financial Times reported. The latest economic indicators and FT Confidential Research data show signs of recovery, although the overall outlook remains precarious. This situation is likely to drive pro-growth President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to support households with subsidies, a populist policy that is incompatible with his fiscal reform agenda as he seeks re-election in April next year.

General Motors will stay in South Korea for at least 10 years and set up its Asia-Pacific headquarters in the country, government officials said on Thursday, revealing terms of a deal aimed at rescuing the U.S. automaker’s struggling GM Korea unit, Reuters reported. The U.S. car maker’s Korean unit averted a bankruptcy filing with a wage deal clinched last month, but analysts and customers, as well as the South Korean government, have had doubts about GM’s commitment and about how long the loss-making company will remain in business.

Australian fashion brand Metalicus has entered voluntary administration and will today begin a major sale across all of its outlets, SmartCompany.com.au reported. In an email to customers on Wednesday evening, the company acknowledged the “difficult period for our staff and customers”, as it explained plans to launch a sale event at all of its flagship stores, Myer concession outlets and online, starting Friday. Metalicus said the sale event will involve “significant savings on all pieces”.

China credit spreads hit their widest level in nearly two years this week following new regulations that undermined long-held assumptions about implicit guarantees on debt linked to local governments, the Financial Times reported. Chinese localities have long used arm’s length local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) to skirt restrictions on direct fiscal borrowing and to finance infrastructure, contributing to a surge in economy-wide debt since 2008.

South Korea said on Wednesday that an impending deal with General Motors to refinance its local unit will ensure the U.S. automaker remains in the country for at least 10 years, as its rights to sell shares and assets will be curtailed, Reuters reported. GM and South Korea reached a preliminary agreement last month to inject $4.35 billion into the loss-making unit to keep it afloat. GM has also announced plans to close one of its four South Korean plants, cut headcount by almost 3,000 and has reached a deal on wages with its workers.

Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya lost a U.K. lawsuit filed by Indian banks seeking to collect more than 1.15 billion pounds ($1.55 billion) amid allegations that he committed massive fraud. Judge Andrew Henshaw in London Tuesday said the lenders, including IDBI Bank Ltd., can enforce an Indian court ruling that relates to allegations that Mallya willfully defaulted on about $1.4 billion in debt for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, Bloomberg News reported. Henshaw also refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya’s assets. The 62-year-old is fighting numerous lawsuits in the U.K.

A steep recent slide in Indonesia’s stock markets and currency is rooted in heavy foreign ownership of the country’s government bonds—something officials here have been trying to change. The Indonesian stock market has slid more than 7% in two weeks, while the rupiah has shed 1.4% since mid-April as global investors have pulled funds from emerging markets. The selloff is partly because of ripple effects from Indonesia’s local-currency bond market, which until recently has been a beneficiary of investors’ yearslong search for yield, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The wait for investors to acquire some of the $210 billion of stressed assets up for grabs in India is likely to get longer. That’s because creditors are afraid to take decisions, Bloomberg News reported. Current and former top bankers from at least four state-run lenders are under investigation for alleged impropriety over their lending decisions, while the Central Bureau of Investigation has started a preliminary inquiry into an alleged nexus between Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot and the spouse of ICICI Bank Ltd. CEO Chanda Kochhar after ICICI extended credit to the conglomerate.

Companies referred to bankruptcy courts may not be allowed to leave the process once bids have been invited or a resolution plan has been accepted, The Economic Times reported. The government is considering setting a time limit for withdrawing cases admitted for insolvency resolution, ending ambiguity on a key aspect of the procedure. A 14-member law committee on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code had recommended allowing retraction of applications if 90% of the creditors voted in favour of withdrawal. However, the panel had not specified a time limit for withdrawal of such cases.