Asia Pacific

Singapore’s central bank imposed nine-year prohibition orders on Su Zhu and Kyle Davies for transgressions at their collapsed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, Bloomberg News reported. The orders from the city-state’s financial watchdog took effect Wednesday and ban both men from any regulated activity, according to a Monetary Authority of Singapore statement on Thursday. Zhu and Davies are also prohibited from managing, being directors of, or becoming substantial shareholders of any capital market services company under the Securities and Futures Act, the statement showed.

Employers hired almost 65,000 more workers in August, many more than expected, improving the prospects that the economy will avoid a hard landing but also raising the possibility the Reserve Bank may hike interest rates again, the Guardian reported. The unemployment rate last month was 3.7%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. Economists had forecast the economy would add 25,000 jobs in August, which would have left the jobless rate at July’s reported level of 3.7%. Of the 64,900 extra jobs recorded in August, all but 2,800 of them were part-time roles.

Lenders to Indian education-technology company Byju’s have alleged that it covertly transferred $533 million to a Florida-based hedge fund, adding another dimension to their legal feud with one of India’s most highly valued startups, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A lender lawsuit filed in a Miami court last week alleges Byju’s sent $533 million that should have been in its U.S. affiliate’s bank accounts to Camshaft Capital, described as a Miami-area hedge fund, and concealed the whereabouts of that money from the company’s lenders.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will hear on September 26 the resolution plan for debt-ridden Reliance Capital submitted by Hinduja Group firm Indusind International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) as Torrent Investments' plea to keep the decision in abeyance has been rejected, the Economic Times of India reported. The Mumbai bench of the insolvency tribunal has rejected the Torrent's plea to keep the application for approving IIHL's resolution plan in abeyance till a final order is passed by the Supreme Court in the matter.

China's largest private property developer Country Garden won approval from its creditors to extend repayments on six onshore bonds by three years, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, sending shares up as much as 10%, Reuters reported. The bondholder reprieve came as investors are closely monitoring whether China's latest government stimulus measures including lowering existing mortgage rates and offering preferential loans for first-home purchases in big cities might be enough to restore consumer confidence and sow the seeds for an eventual property market recovery.

China's economy is resilient and has not collapsed, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Tuesday, rejecting claims from the West that its economy is faltering and could cause wider problems, Reuters reported. Officials from countries including Australia and the United States have publicly raised concerns about the world's second-largest economy. U.S. President Joe Biden called China's economic situation a "crisis" while Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said a slowing Chinese economy could in turn weigh on Australia's.

Embattled developer Country Garden faces a new round of voting by creditors to extend several debt maturities on Monday, having avoided default at the last minute twice already this month to bring some respite to the crisis-hit Chinese property sector, Reuters reported. The voting, due to conclude by 10 p.m. Hong Kong time (1400 GMT), will have onshore creditors decide on approving a proposal by Country Garden to extend repayments of eight onshore bonds by three years. The latest voting comes after the country's largest private developer on Sept.

China’s credit demand improved, deflationary pressures eased and the yuan rallied, adding to a recent trickle of signs that the economy and financial markets may be stabilizing after a sharp downturn, Bloomberg News reported. The strong credit data published Monday showed recent steps to bolster the real estate market may be starting to lift household demand for mortgages, while corporate loans also picked up. The yuan gained after the central bank escalated its defense of the currency.

China's financial regulator on Sunday reduced the risk weighting it attaches to insurance companies' holdings of blue-chip shares and tech stocks, encouraging them to invest more in the country's lagging stock market, Reuters reported. The National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR) said on its website that the risk weighting for CSI300 Index constituents would be reduced to 0.3 from 0.35, while that for stocks listed on Shanghai's tech-focused STAR Market would be cut to 0.4, from 0.45. A lower risk weighting frees up more capital for insurers to invest.

China's central bank is tightening its scrutiny of bulk dollar purchases by domestic firms, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday, at a time when the Chinese currency faces mounting depreciation pressure, Reuters reported. Companies that need to purchase $50 million or more will now need approval from the People's Bank of China (PBOC), which convened a meeting with some commercial banks over the weekend on the matter, the sources said. "The approval process will be extended," said one of the sources.