Japan’s consumer inflation grew at a slower pace in April, but remained above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target amid growing expectations over additional interest-rate increases, the Wall Street Journal reported. Overall consumer prices rose 2.5% from a year earlier in April, compared with the 2.7% increase in March, government data showed Friday. While the rise in food prices excluding fresh food slowed down in April, the end of the government’s utility subsidies is expected to push up consumer prices starting May.

Singapore’s economy looks on track for a strong year, with hopes underpinned by better-than-expected growth, steadying inflation and improving trade, the Wall Street Journal reported. The city-state’s economy, one of the richest in Southeast Asia, picked up in the first quarter of the year as growth in the services sector helped offset weakness in manufacturing. Gross domestic product expanded 2.7% compared with the same period a year earlier, according to revised data released by the Ministry of Trade & Industry on Thursday. That improved on the fourth quarter’s 2.2% expansion.

A woman accused of converting bitcoin into cash and property to help hide the proceeds of a 5 billion pound ($6.4 billion) fraud was jailed for nearly seven years on Friday for money laundering after a trial in a London court, Reuters reported. Prosecutors said Wen Jian helped hide the source of money allegedly stolen from nearly 130,000 Chinese investors in fraudulent wealth schemes between 2014 and 2017. She was not alleged to have been involved in the underlying fraud, which prosecutors said was masterminded by another woman who Wen believed was independently wealthy.

A major Aussie fashion brand that made dresses worn by superstars such as Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa has entered administration. The Australian franchise of clothing and apparel brand Dion Lee has become insolvent after a partnership deal collapsed, the Daily Mail reported. Antony Resnick, a liquidator from insolvency firm dVT Group was appointed as the administrator for all Australian Dion Lee stores on Thursday. dVT Group is also in the process of considering investors who may be interested in providing financial capital for the venture.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has dismissed JM Financial Asset Reconstruction's application to intervene in an insolvency resolution application filed by Bank of Baroda against Arch Pharmalabs, the Economic Times of India reported. In its application, JM Financial ARC had sought the tribunal's intervention to include it as a necessary party since it has acquired 97% of Arch Pharmalabs' debt and has credit exposure of over ₹9,500 crore.

The administrator of debt-ridden Reliance Capital (RCap) has moved NCLT, seeking a 90-day extension beyond the deadline to implement the resolution plan submitted by the successful bidder, the Hinduja Group, the Economic Times of India reported. The deadline for the implementation of the approved resolution plan was May 27, 2024.

The trial of exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui began this week in New York, where he’s accused of swindling more than $1 billion from investors in a complex fraud scheme that netted him luxuries including a $26 million New Jersey mansion and a $37 million yacht, Bloomberg News reported. Opening arguments could start this week, once a jury is selected.

Turkey’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday and introduced new measures to tackle excess liquidity and curb lending in foreign currencies, Bloomberg News reported. The Monetary Policy Committee led by Governor Fatih Karahan left the benchmark at 50% for a second consecutive month, in line with all forecasts. The MPC maintained its hawkish bias, repeating that its policy will remain tight “until a significant and sustained decline in the underlying trend of monthly inflation,” according to a statement. The lira erased earlier losses and traded little changed as of 5:22 p.m.

South Korea has no plan to lift the short-selling ban until a system is developed to detect illegal trading activities, according to a senior official at the presidential office, Bloomberg News reported. The presidential office’s stance is to not resume short selling until there is a platform to root out naked short sales, the person said. Separately, the Financial Services Commission, the nation’s financial regulator, said no decision has been made regarding the ban.

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle said on Wednesday its unit had received a letter from the country's local administrative bodies demanding repayment of 1.9 billion yuan ($262.42 million) given as subsidies and incentives, Bloomberg News reported. The local bodies sent a letter of demand for Evergrande Automotive Holdings to terminate a series of investment cooperation agreements made between the parties since April 29, 2019, the electric vehicle (EV) unit of China Evergrande said in a statement.