Asia Pacific

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has suspended the order of the lower tribunal that admitted Essar Oil and Gas Exploration & Production Ltd under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, the Economic Times of India reported. On Tuesday, the division bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan and technical members Barun Mitra and Arun Baroka, while suspending the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order observed that Section 9 Application has been resorted as a recovery mechanism which is not permissible under the IBC.

China has opened a criminal investigation into Hywin Wealth Management Co. for alleged involvement in illegal fundraising, with “coercive measures” taken against multiple suspects at the firm, according to Shanghai police, Bloomberg News reported. The police didn’t specify on the measures in a statement that it released, but in China, “criminal coercive measures” could typically take the form of seizure or detention.

China's state council on Wednesday said it will issue concrete guidelines to strengthen supervision and prevent risks in the country's insurance industry, according to a statement, Reuters reported. The broad move will strictly approve the establishment of new insurance agencies, and improve the overall quality of the sector.

The Bank of Japan will continue to raise interest rates if inflation moves in line with its forecast, policymaker Junko Nakagawa said, signalling that last month's market rout has not derailed the bank's plan to hike borrowing costs steadily, Reuters reported. But the central bank must take into account the impact that such market moves could have on the outlook for the economy and prices when considering whether to raise rates, she added. Her comments pushed up the yen as markets took them as a renewed sign the BOJ could raise rates in coming months.

The Reserve Bank of Australia said it continues to anticipate the unemployment rate to rise only gradually over the coming months and for conditions in the job market to remain relatively tight, the Wall Street Journal reported. “Conditions in the labor market have eased since late 2022, but our assessment is that the labor market is still tight relative to full employment,” Sarah Hunter, RBA’s chief economist and Assistant Gov., told a financial markets conference Wednesday.

The number of corporate bankruptcies with debts of at least ¥10 million in Japan in August dropped 4.8% from a year earlier to 723, down for the first time in two years and five months, Tokyo Shoko Research data have shown, the Japan Times reported. The figure stood below 800 for the first time in four months, according to the data, released Monday. Growing moves by companies to pass on higher costs reflecting a rise in inflation are believed to have led to the decrease in bankruptcies.

Two major Chinese developers are moving closer to unveiling plans to overhaul their local debt, as defaulters shift their restructuring focus from global creditors, Bloomberg New reported. Representatives of Sunac China Holdings Ltd. and Logan Group Co. told creditors in recent days that they aim to finalize and present their debt proposals covering local bonds and loans in the coming months.

China’s exports in August beat expectations and accelerated despite growing trade barriers, giving Beijing a little breathing room in its efforts to lift domestic demand and reawaken the anemic economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Outbound shipments in August rose 8.7% compared with the same period a year earlier, picking up from July’s 7.0% increase, the General Administration of Customs said on Tuesday.

The average household debt in Thailand is seen rising to the highest in at least 16 years as an uneven post-pandemic economic recovery hurts family incomes, according to a survey, Bloomberg News reported. The debt pile per household is set to jump 8.4% to 606,378 baht ($17,959) this year, according to a survey by the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce. That’s the highest family debt obligation since the university began the survey in 2009. The findings are based on survey of 1,300 respondents during Sept. 1 and 7.

Australia’s banking regulator has proposed lenders scrap the use of AT1 bonds in capital requirements, potentially becoming the first jurisdiction to phase out the securities that were wiped out after Credit Suisse’s collapse last year, Bloomberg News reported. Replacing additional tier 1 bonds with existing, more reliable securities would simplify and improve the effectiveness of bank capital in a crisis, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said in a statement on Tuesday.