Vietnam's central bank will acquire all shares in a small, loss-making bank in Hanoi, a unit of Ocean Group Co, to ensure the banking system's safety, the second move in less than two months as it seeks to clean up the fragmented sector. "The State Bank has announced its compulsory purchase of all the shares owned by existing shareholders in Dai Duong (Ocean) Commercial Bank," the State Bank of Vietnam said in a statement on Saturday.

Several Chinese provincial governments have been forced to postpone bond auctions as banks balk at the low yields on offer, state media reported on Friday, highlighting the challenges of carrying out a Rmb1tn ($161bn) plan to lower financing costs for cash-strapped localities, the Financial Times reported. China’s local debt has surged since the 2008 financial crisis as regional governments borrowed to finance infrastructure projects in an effort to stimulate the economy. Economists have warned that the debt poses a risk to the banking system.

Factory activity in China contracted at its fastest pace in a year in April, an early reading of a survey showed on Thursday, suggesting that economic conditions are still deteriorating despite increasingly aggressive stimulus efforts by the Chinese central bank, the International New York Times reported. The HSBC/Markit preliminary purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.2 in April, remaining below the 50-point level, which separates growth in activity from a contraction on a monthly basis. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a reading of 49.6, equal to March’s final figure.

The enactment of the hotly-debated insolvency framework into law last Saturday was credit positive for Cypriot banks because it lays the groundwork for large-scale loan restructuring and improves the banks’ recovery prospects, Moody’s ratings agency said on Thursday.

ANA Holdings Inc said it has agreed to acquire a stake of up to 19.9 percent in bankrupt budget carrier Skymark Airlines Inc, gaining access to highly coveted landing slots and strengthening its lead over rival Japan Airlines Co., Reuters reported. Under the deal, Japanese private equity firm Integral Corp, which has provided funds to keep Skymark in business since its bankruptcy in January, will hold just over 50 percent. An ambitious expansion programme, including plans to fly Airbus A380 superjumbos on overseas routes, stretched Skymark's finances, leaving it vulnerable to competition.

Facing calls to explain why banks had largely failed to pass on to consumers and businesses two policy rate cuts this year, Raghuram Rajan, the normally easy-going governor of the Reserve Bank of India, launched a rare attack. “Banks are sitting on money,” he said after the RBI’s latest interest rate meeting. “Their marginal cost of funding has fallen.

The plight of South Korea’s 6m contract workers and the polarisation of the 18m-strong workforce goes to the heart of the country’s reform challenge, the Financial Times reported. President Park Geun-hye has put the labour market at the core of structural reforms aimed at reviving economic growth. South Korea’s economy grew just 0.4 per cent in the last three months of last year from the previous quarter — the slowest pace for two years. “Our economy is at a crossroads,” she said recently in a meeting with business leaders.

The troubled Chinese property developer, Kaisa Group, defaulted on its overseas debt, a situation that could make Western investors more wary of the country’s real estate market, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Once a darling of global money managers, the developer, with its trail of financial problems, is now a case study for the risks of investing in China. For years, big investors plowed money into Kaisa, attracted by the tempting returns and the country’s soaring real estate market.

Chinese policy makers are dealing with a financial conundrum. Overall economic growth is slipping, which argues for looser monetary policy. But the risk is that any new money is diverted to the country’s frothy stock markets, the International New York Times reported. Against this backdrop, the central bank and securities regulator appear to be taking coordinated action. On Sunday, China’s central bank freed up roughly $200 billion for new lending, a widely expected stimulus measure devised to pump more money into the economy.

Lawmakers in Cyprus passed key insolvency laws designed to open the taps for more international bailout cash, The Wall Street Journal reported. The vote makes it possible to operate foreclosure laws that international creditors have demanded as a condition for extending more loans to Cyprus. Recession, high unemployment and declining incomes have produced defaults on more than half of all private loans. The new laws should make it easier for banks to demand payment or seize assets, thereby reducing the banks’ own liabilities.