China’s consumer finance industry is sagging under an intensifying campaign of regulation, Bloomberg News reported. That could be a problem for an economy that’s relying on domestic demand to sustain growth amid the trade war with the U.S. The government has started a fresh round of checks on thousands of peer-to-peer lending sites, Bloomberg News reported last week. Meanwhile, shares of U.S.-listed cash-loan provider Qudian Inc. fell 12 percent on Friday after a separate Bloomberg report that it would lose access to customers through Ant Financial’s Alipay app.

An Indian court rejected a plea by the nation’s power producers to exempt generators from central bank’s rules on repaying loans, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of India.

Singapore-listed Noble Group Ltd faces a make-or-break shareholders’ meeting on Monday as investors vote on a $3.5 billion debt restructuring plan that its creditors and board say is vital to prevent insolvency, Reuters reported. The company, once a global commodity trader with ambitions to rival Glencore or Vitol, has shrunk to an Asian-centric business focused on coal and freight trading after it slashed hundreds of jobs and sold prized assets to cut debt.

China is tightening its clampdown on cryptocurrencies, nearly a year after the government imposed a wide-ranging ban on local exchanges and fundraising for digital currencies, The Wall Street Journal reported. Financial officials in an eastern district of Beijing issued a notice last week to stores, hotels and offices urging them not to host any cryptocurrency-related speeches, events or activities.

U.S. officials seem to think they have the upper hand in trade talks with China because its economy is struggling. Judging by the string of measures they’ve recently announced to shore up growth, Chinese officials may privately agree. The trouble is, such measures aren’t going to work as fast or as well as markets seem to think they will. China’s growth woes are homegrown, not the result of U.S. tariffs, a Bloomberg View reported.

Insolvency practitioners could face fines of up to $75,000 if they don't report serious issues in failed businesses, if proposed legislative amendments go ahead, Radio New Zealand reported. The penalties were one idea floated in a Supplementary Order Paper on the proposed amendments to the Insolvency Practitioners Bill. The legislation aimed to get rid of errant behaviour by so-called friendly liquidators, administrators and receivers who did not give all creditors a fair go. Submissions on the bill close on Friday.

Nearly 80 large borrowers, with at least Rs 2000 crore of outstanding loans each, are likely to be impacted by the Reserve Bank of India's February 12 circular on non-performing loans unless they implement a resolution plan before the August 27 deadline, sources told CNBC-TV18. According to the central bank's revised framework for the resolution of stressed assets, now popularly referred to as the February 12 circular, banks were given 180 days to resolve defaulting accounts of over Rs 2,000 crore, CNBC-TV18 reported.

As China’s economy slows and the trade war with the United States intensifies, Beijing’s economic bosses are swinging into action, the International New York Times reported. Chinese officials are pushing banks to lend more and allowing indebted local governments to spend money on big projects again. They have moved to shore up the value of the country’s currency. They have also helped out the stock market, say financial analysts, as the government works to avert a stock market collapse like the one three years ago that shook the world.

On October 27, 1997, the S&P 500 fell nearly 7 per cent as contagion from Asia’s currency crisis spread globally. About a year later, Russia’s debt default and the collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management sparked a 20 per cent decline in the S&P 500. In August 2015, fears of a hard landing in China, following a surprise 2 per cent devaluation in the currency, led the S&P 500 into correction territory, the Financial Times reported in a commentary.

Force India mechanics were preparing their cars for the Belgian Grand Prix on Thursday despite lingering uncertainty about the Formula One team’s eligibility to race after a change of ownership, Reuters reported. The pink and white trucks and hospitality unit had no Force India branding, with the official team name appearing only over the garage on signs put up by Spa circuit organisers.