Asia Pacific

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to shake up the leadership of the country’s financial system, installing key associates to run the central bank and reviving a Communist Party body to tighten political control over financial affairs, the Wall Street Journal reported. The moves are a continuation of efforts by Mr. Xi to reshape the world’s second-largest economy. In recent years, the central bank and other financial regulators have continued to lose their already fading independent status amid Mr. Xi’s broader effort to strengthen the party’s rule.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal or NCLAT on Friday stayed insolvency proceedings against Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), the Economic Times of India reported. Admitting a plea by ZEEL Managing Director and chief executive Punit Goenka, a two-member NCLAT bench stayed the order passed by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). On Wednesday, NCLT had admitted a insolvency plea against ZEEL by private sector lender IndusInd Bank and also appointed Sanjeev Kumar Jalan as the resolution professional in the matter.

Reserve Bank of Australia chief Philip Lowe’s expectation of further interest-rate rises ahead has prompted economists and money markets to narrow the odds of a recession in the $1.5 trillion economy, Bloomberg News reported. There is now a better than one-in-three chance of a slump over the next 12 months, a Bloomberg survey showed, up from one-in-four late last year when Lowe signaled a rate pause was in the offing. In the US, by contrast, recession probability has begun to come down.

Turkey’s central bank has warned lenders in the country against sending dollars to their correspondent counterparts abroad, according to people familiar with the matter, its latest move to try to protect the lira, Bloomberg News reported. The request comes after commercial banks wired a net $2.3 billion to deposit accounts abroad in the first six weeks of the year, one of the people said, asking not to be named because the information is confidential. Hard-currency outflows are hampering efforts to keep the lira stable and inflation in check in the run-up to elections slated for May.

U.S. subsidiaries of Australian coal mining company Allegiance Coal Ltd. filed for chapter 11 protection on Tuesday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The chapter 11 filing includes the New Elk and Black Warrior coal mines located in Colorado and Alabama, respectively, according to papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., by Allegiance Coal USA Ltd. The Australian parent company said last week that it is switching away from the production of thermal coal because of a decline in prices for thermal coal delivered to Europe.

India’s banks and bondholders stand to recover less in insolvency resolutions under a proposed change in law that would apportion more to junior creditors, such as unpaid vendors and the government, according to restructuring and insolvency professionals, Bloomberg News reported. The Indian government seeks to achieve an “equitable scheme of distribution of proceeds,” it said in a discussion paper issued in January that recommends other significant changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Shares of Zee Entertainment tumbled over 14% to Rs 176.6 in Thursday's trade on BSE after a dedicated bankruptcy court admitted two of Essel Group’s listed companies, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) and Siti Network, for insolvency proceedings, likely creating hurdles in ZEEL’s merger with Culver Max Entertainment (Sony), the Economic Times of India reported. On a year-to-date basis, ZEEL stock has fallen over 23%. Meanwhile, it has declined by 28% in the last six months.

Authum Investment and Infrastructure has filed a petition in the Kolkata National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking revaluation of the appraisal matrix that gave the winning bidder National Asset Reconstruction Co (NARCL) a higher score in the bid for the twin Srei companies, the Economic Times of India reported. The Mumbai-based non-banking finance company (NBFC) has also offered an additional upfront payment of ₹250 crore over and above its original amount of ₹3,240 crore in a petition filed before the court. The next date for the hearing is set for February 28.

The Bank of Japan intends to maintain easy monetary policy and the government's energy assistance programme will hold down inflation, the central bank's governor Haruhiko Kuroda told a news conference at a G20 event on Thursday, Reuters reported. The governor expects inflation to be below 2% for fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024, adding that Japan is no longer in a deflationary environment. Given that import prices have fallen, the Japanese government's energy assistance will aid in holding down inflation, Kuroda said.

Turkey’s central bank surprised with a smaller interest-rate cut than forecast after the country’s worst earthquake disaster in decades, signaling further monetary easing is now less likely, Bloomberg News reported. After a two-month pause, the Monetary Policy Committee led by Governor Sahap Kavcioglu lowered its one-week repo rate to 8.5% — the lowest in three years — from 9%. Most economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a full percentage-point reduction. The Turkish lira weakened slightly after the decision.