South Korea's first-generation online video service (OTT) platform Watcha is in danger of going through corporate restructuring, Chosun Biz reported. This comes as Inlight Ventures, one of the investors, has requested court administration. Due to prolonged deficits, it has become difficult for the investor to recover the invested funds, prompting the creditor to directly request the restructuring process. Watcha plans to request the withdrawal of corporate restructuring through negotiations with investors. However, the situation is challenging.

Liquidators are probing how money for a $15 million Queensland government project was transferred from the contract-winning cybersecurity company to its founder's bank account within 24 hours of the funds arriving, ABC.net.au reported. The funds transfer to Cryptoloc Holdings founder Jamie Wilson, who once wooed the state's top politicians and pop stars, is under investigation as a potential "fraudulent" transaction, according to a liquidator's report. The move is the latest shock from a disastrous cybersecurity tender won just before last year's state election by Cryptoloc Holdings.

Confronting a trade war with the United States, China’s government has poured $42 billion this year into a consumer trade-in program, double last year’s amount. The aim was to jolt a much-needed surge in spending at a precarious moment for the economy by subsidizing discounts for a wide variety of consumer goods, from washing machines to electric vehicles, the New York Times reported. The program has proved so successful that several municipalities have suspended or curtailed the program in recent weeks to prevent the money from running out prematurely.

In the first quarter of this year, 18 out of 23 savings banks located in Seoul showed non-performing loans (NPLs) ratios exceeding the recommended level, Chosun Biz reported. Notably, the number of savings banks in the Seoul area with NPL ratios exceeding double digits increased from 8 to 12 during the same period. The situation of savings banks has worsened since the real estate project financing (PF) defaults began in the second half of 2022.

Thailand is considering offering zero tariffs on more U.S. imports, the finance minister said on Monday, Reuters reported. The government is also preparing 200 billion baht ($6.1 billion) worth of soft loans to ease the impact of tariffs, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira told a business seminar. Thailand faces a 36% tariff from Washington if a deal cannot be reached before August 1. Read more.

The struggles continue for global automakers in China, Electrek reported. After halting production, Volkswagen announced it will close a plant in China. And that’s not all: Another OEM is filing for bankruptcy through its joint venture. Although it might not seem significant, China is one of, if not the most important markets, for Volkswagen, accounting for around 30% of its deliveries. Volkswagen has already halted production at its manufacturing plant in Nanjing and plans to close it officially later this year. The Nanjing facility was opened by VW’s joint venture, SAIC Volkswagen, in 2008.

It's the official end of an ambitious project launched nearly fifteen years ago: The court in Changsha, Hunan province, has declared the Gac-Fiat Chrysler joint venture bankrupt, putting a definitive end to the industrial presence of Stellantis via this entity in China, italpassion.fr reported. This joint venture, created in 2011 at the instigation of Sergio Marchionne, was to enable Fiat Chrysler to conquer the world's largest automobile market alongside Chinese giant GAC Group.