Asia Pacific

Chinese banks have extended $16 billion in credit lines to shore up one of the country’s largest and most heavily indebted home builders, as pressure mounts on developers short of cash in a slumping property market, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The move by a group of mainly state-run banks to bolster the builder, Evergrande Real Estate Group, which is controlled by the colorful billionaire Hui Ka Yan, is the latest sign of tumult in China’s sprawling housing sector.

The financial world has pretty much moved on since Cyprus was briefly the epicenter of market anxiety. Two years ago this month, the country's banks failed en masse, A.T.M.s were rationing cash, and the integrity of the eurozone hung in the balance, the International New York Times reported. But after a contentious, internationally brokered “bail-in,’’ in which for the first time many bank depositors were forced to help pay for a eurozone rescue, Europe’s policy makers soon found other things to focus on.

South Korean bulker operator Daebo International Shipping has filed for bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York, TradeWinds News reported. The Chapter 15 petition follows an application to commence rehabilitation proceedings in the Seoul Central District Court, which was submitted on 11 February 2015. Since then, at least five creditors have filed lawsuits against Daebo and its affiliates in the US, which is why observers say they aren't surprised by today’s revelation.

China is signaling more measures are in the works to regain economic momentum and overcome weak demand from businesses and consumers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Policies unveiled at the annual session of China’s legislature this month called for maintaining a moderately high rate of growth—7%—and outlined further deficit spending to support the goal.

Ever since China’s gargantuan stimulus of 2009, which was unleashed to repel the global financial crisis, people have worried about how the debts incurred would be repaid. This week the finance ministry provided a partial answer, in the form of a scheme to restructure the liabilities of local governments, the most indebted of China’s public institutions, The Economist reported. Local governments will be allowed to swap 1 trillion yuan ($160 billion) of their existing high-interest debts for lower-cost bonds.

India's largest bank will hold a record online auction this weekend to sell repossessed flats, warehouses and offices worth a total of nearly $200 million as the state lender seeks to chip away at its $10 billion mountain of bad debt, Reuters reported. The State Bank of India auction will be the biggest nationwide online sale to date and is a rare public move to turn distressed loans into ready cash.

It is unlikely that the fifth and final bill completing the insolvency framework – a set of laws offering protection to distressed borrowers – will be forwarded to the House plenum by March 19, when the suspension of tougher foreclosure legislation expires, House Finance committee chairman Nicolas Papadopoulos said on Wednesday, Cyprus Mail reported. Committee-level discussion of the fifth bill, which relates to the insolvency of natural persons, started in the morning in a joint session by the Finance and Interior committees.

In a world convulsed by the rising US dollar, the renminbi looks like a port in the storm, the Financial Times reported. The Chinese currency has slipped just under 1 per cent against the dollar this year, a mere rounding error compared with the Brazilian real’s 14 per cent tumble and the euro’s 12 per cent slide. But for a currency long seen as lacking a reverse gear, the recent drop to a 28-month low is nonetheless gaining attention, with some predicting far more severe problems down the road.

Australia's IFM Investors said on Thursday it had agreed to pay $5.73 billion to buy the bankrupt operator of a major U.S. toll road, making its biggest overseas investment, Reuters reported. IFM Investors, which is owned by 30 Australian pension funds and manages $43 billion, said the purchase of ITR Concession Co LLC gave its investors access to core infrastructure in the world's largest capital market.

Germany-listed Chinese shoemaker Ultrasonic AG said on Tuesday that negotiations with its lending banks have failed and that in consequence, the management board was forced to file for insolvency, Reuters reported. Frankfurt-listed Ultrasonic said in September its top executives and most of its cash reserves in China and Hong Kong had disappeared. Read more.