Asia Pacific

NIS Group Co. fell as much as 39 percent in Tokyo after the Japanese consumer and business lender said its liabilities may exceed assets after Incubator Bank of Japan Ltd. went bankrupt, Bloomberg reported. NIS has 9,720 shares in Incubator Bank, which declared bankruptcy last week, NIS said in a statement on Sept. 10. NIS also has 6.7 billion yen ($79 million) of debt in Incubator Bank. NIS fell 33 percent to 12 yen at 9:19 a.m. in Tokyo, after earlier declining 39 percent to 11 yen.

Dubai World, the ports and real-estate conglomerate that shocked global investors late last year by delaying debt payment, said Friday it had won support from 99% of its creditors for its restructuring plan, putting a final deal for over $24.9 billion in debt one step closer, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In a statement Friday, the company and its owner, the government of Dubai, said they were pleased with the outcome.

The Japanese government Friday announced a Y915 billion stimulus package aimed at helping the export-driven economy deal with domestic deflation, a surging yen and a slowdown in overseas markets, Dow Jones reported. The plan, which draws on existing funding to avoid the need for yet more debt, has already been dismissed by economists as too small to have much impact given the scope of Japan's economic malaise. The wide-ranging program includes incentives and regulatory reforms to prop up employment, consumer spending and corporate investment at home.

The Incubator Bank of Japan, a small, unlisted lender that specialises in small business loans, was expected to file for bankruptcy protection on Friday, Japan's financial regulator said, Reuters reported. Depositors will be protected for up to 10 million yen ($119,200) in principal, the regulator said. The Bank of Japan said it expected no adverse impact on the country's banking system from the small lender's failure and financial markets took the news in stride.

More than 90% of Dubai World's creditors, holding around $14 billion of debt, have agreed to a lock-up deal, a person familiar with the situation said, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The lock-up agreement - preventing the creditors from selling their debt - is a step toward the restructuring of around $23.5 billion in debt under the Dubai World corporate umbrella. A consortium, comprised largely of banks, is required to sign up to the lock-up for the restructuring to go ahead.

The higher requirements for the capital base of banks under the so-called Basel III proposition will not affect Korean banks, a government official in charge of the issue said Wednesday, The Korea Times reported. To the envy of many European and American institutions, Korean banks need not shrink their assets or raise more capital, because they already meet those strict capital-to-asset standards, said Kim Yong-beom, director general of Seoul’s G20 committee.

Demand for withdrawals from the beleaguered Afghan bank whose troubles have sparked a political and economic crisis here dropped sharply Tuesday, a day after the country's central banker said the bank would get a bailout if it needed one, The Wall Street Journal reported. Nearly a week of massive withdrawals sapped Kabul Bank's cash reserves, threatening to render the politically connected lender insolvent.

The timber investment company Willmott Forests has collapsed, owing about $520 million, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The company, which had been suspended from the stock exchange since July 1, went into receivership yesterday after failing to strike a deal with its bankers, Commonwealth Bank and St George. The banks, who are owed about $120 million, yesterday appointed receivers Mark Korda, Mark Mentha and Bryan Webster of KordaMentha.

One of the principal owners of the Afghan bank at the center of an accelerating financial crisis here said depositors had withdrawn $180 million in the past two days. He predicted a “revolution” in the country’s financial system unless the Afghan government and the United States moved quickly to help stabilize the bank, The New York Times reported. Khalil Frozi, one of the two largest shareholders of Kabul Bank, said reports indicating that the institution had lost as much as $300 million were overstated.

Lehman Brothers Holdings' Japanese subsidiary is one of the first major units to get going with its liquidation process, after it got court approval for its debt repayment plans, the Nikkei business daily reported. Lehman Brothers Japan Inc got approval for liquidation from the Tokyo district court and secured support for the plans from a majority of its creditors on Wednesday, and is expected to start repaying its debt by late November, the paper reported.