Asia Pacific

India’s government said banks may be asked to lend as much as 6 billion rupees ($94 million) to billionaire Kalanithi Maran’s SpiceJet Ltd., as the indebted airline seeks investment over the next two months to keep flying, Bloomberg News reported. The loans would be guaranteed by Maran and repaid as soon as investment was secured, part of a package of steps to prevent a shutdown that would damage India’s airline industry, the government said in New Delhi late yesterday.

China has set up a fund to bail out trust firms that run into trouble, putting a safety net under a major portion of the country’s fast-growing shadow-banking sector, which has played a big role in financing riskier areas of the economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The creation of the fund was announced by the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Finance on Friday, on the heels of an insurance program that will soon provide protection for bank deposits.

China is adding more cash to its financial system to spur growth, according to people with knowledge of the matter, even as the country’s leadership expresses a willingness to accept a slower economic pace—what President Xi Jinping has called a “new normal,” The Wall Street Journal reported. China’s central bank is pumping about 400 billion yuan (nearly $65 billion) into the country’s banking system, these people said, as it seeks to help Chinese banks lend money to reinvigorate weakening growth.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group on Thursday announced measures to ease financial burden on drought-hit farmers in Queensland and New South Wales states, bowing to government pressure to stop farm foreclosures. Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce issued an ultimatum to the country's major banks, telling them to stop throwing drought-stricken farmers off their properties or risk government intervention, the Australian newspaper reported.

A 25-year-old solar energy company has collapsed into voluntary administration, letting go a number of staff, but administrators say proposals on the table to recapitalise the business could offer the company a lifeline. CBD Energy is the latest in a long string of solar companies to fold this year, with commentators labelling the industry a “roller coaster” market. A second meeting of creditors will be held next week on December 19, with Grant Thornton Australia’s Trevor Mark Pogroske and Said Jahani acting as administrators, after being appointed on November 14.

Asia's financial regulators are dragging their feet on implementing measures to protect taxpayers from big bank failures, leaving governments on the hook for bail-outs and potentially forcing large global lenders to exit some markets, Reuters reported. After Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, G20 countries along with Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland, pledged to introduce new rules by the end of 2015 that would allow large financial firms to be wound down without triggering a market meltdown.

Australia’s major banks should set aside more capital to ensure they can survive a repeat of the global financial crisis, a government-backed review recommended on Sunday, the International New York Times reported. Bank executives have been bracing for the Financial System Inquiry report for months, arguing that higher levels of capital are unnecessary and would come at a cost to the economy.

Japan’s recession was deeper than initially estimated as company investment unexpectedly shrank, a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he campaigns for re-election on his economic credentials, Bloomberg News reported. The economy shrank an annualized 1.9 percent in the July-to- September period from the previous quarter, weaker than the 1.6 percent contraction reported in preliminary data. The result was also below every forecast in a Bloomberg News survey that showed a median 0.5 percent decrease.

Hindalco is gearing up for a mega debt restructuring drive. CNBC-TV18 learns from sources that over the next one year Hindalco seeks to restructure its debt of Rs 63,000 crore in three phases. Hindalco plans to refinance Rs 6,000 crore debt in the first tranche through dollarising debt. Move may reduce company’s debt cost by up to Rs 150 crore. Going ahead, it may raise ECB issue of up to USD 500 million in the second tranche. Discussions are still on to carve out a plan for the remaining debt. In the third tranche, it will actively look to reduce debt.

The Reserve Bank of India will soon allow banks more flexibility while restructuring corporate loans, The Indian Express reported. Banks will be able to increase their equity holdings above the current cap of 10 per cent in companies undergoing debt restructuring through conversion of loan into equity. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said the RBI is planning to unveil two measures to enable more productive loan restructuring. It is considering extending the 5/25 rule for fresh lending.