Asia Pacific

Whitcoulls creditors have voted in favour of a pittiful 3c in the dollar return instead of liquidating the company that owes them $21.5 million, The National Business Review reported. Unsecured creditors have just voted with an overwhelming majority of 84% in favour of a return of just 3c at a watershed meeting with Australian-based administrators Ferrier Hodgson in Auckland. Ferrier Hodgson asked the unsecured creditors of Whitcoulls' parent company Red Group Retail to accept 3 cents in the dollar, instead of liquidation, in a deed of company arrangement (DOCA).

Chinese firms must get approval from bond investors before they restructure their assets, China's top economic planning agency said, in a move aimed at containing default risks from its pile of local government debt. The order by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) confirms a Reuters report last week and thwarts any plan by indebted local governments to move assets out of their affiliated firms when they struggle to repay loans.

Kevin Podmore has been given three months to come up with $20 million to help repay investors in his failed Wellington finance company, St Laurence, or face possible bankruptcy, Stuff.co.nz reported. St Laurence was put in receivership in April last year owing 9400 investors $245m plus interest. Podmore and three companies he controlled had offered a $20m guarantee as part of an earlier moratorium repayment agreement, to cover any shortfall in repayments to investors if St Laurence was put in receivership.

The Bank of Cyprus on Monday urged the government to take immediate action to prevent the country from becoming the fourth euro-zone member to seek a bailout from the European Union, The Wall Street Journal reported. The call from the commercial bank—the island's largest financial institution—comes as discussions among Cypriot lawmakers on spending cuts appear increasingly strained. "There is no more time left," the bank said in a statement. "We are at a crucial crossroad where we will be judged by history.

The National Financial Monitoring Committee President has emphasized the need to restructure Vietnam’s commercial banking system if the country did not want to lag behind the rest of the world, VOV News reported. Vu Viet Ngoan told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing National Assembly meeting in Hanoi that Vietnam’s financial system was rated as “weak” in the pre-crisis period and that the world was now rushing to restructure the global financial system in order to increase working capacity and reduce risk.

Ferrier Hodgson, the administrators of Whitcoulls' previous owners, REDgroup Retail, have proposed that its unsecured New Zealand creditors be paid out at 3c in the dollar, The New Zealand Herald reported. The proposal, or deed of company arrangement (DOCA), will be put to creditors at a so-called "'watershed" meeting set down for Thursday. "Based on our investigations, we do not believe that any dividend would be payable to unsecured creditors in any of the companies should they be placed in liquidation," said Ryan Eagle, administrator and Ferrier Hodgson partner.

Chinese banks can withstand a 50% decline in property prices, the chairman of the country's banking regulator said, citing the results of the latest stress tests, The Wall Street Journal reported. Liu Mingkang told state-run China Central Television on Friday that the tests aren't a reflection of the regulator's view on China's property market, but they show banks will be able to press ahead with curbs on credit to the property sector.

Korean policymakers are at a loss. For seven months they chucked everything plus the kitchen sink at the beast of inflation, only to be kicked in the teeth by alarming consumer price index (CPI) figures that underscored the futility of their efforts, The Korea Times reported. Breathing heavily on the ropes, government officials are desperately scrambling for more options to fight back against higher prices. But it’s unclear whether there is anything left to do when their actions are beginning to test the limits of political and economic acceptability.

Blue Star Print Group's board has reiterated that if proposed restructuring, including a haircut for bondholders, is not accepted banks will likely call in receivers, The National Business Review reported. The warning, in a statement from the group's board, said "if Bondholders reject the offer, it would likely result in a complete loss of principal." "The Board's expectation is that, following a no vote, Blue Star's banks will immediately move to protect their interests, likely through the appointment of a receiver ...

Investors are worried about the health of China's banks. They're afraid—with good reason—that the massive, state-directed lending binge that was instrumental in pumping up China's GDP figures the past two and a half years will end up producing an equally massive pile of bad debt, The Wall Street Journal reported in a commentary. Barely a week goes by without new word of a troubled project or impending default. Never fear, say the banks and some analysts.