Australia plans to toughen its corporate merger rules amid regulators’ and public concerns that market concentration is restricting competition in key industries and adding to inflation, the Wall Street Journal reported. The reforms will strengthen and simplify Australia’s merger approval system, the federal government said Wednesday. It plans to give the competition watchdog additional powers to scrutinize all mergers above certain value and market-share thresholds.

The number of corporate bankruptcies with liabilities of at least ¥10 million in fiscal 2023 rose 31.5% from the previous year to 9,053, topping 9,000 for the first time in nine years, a survey by Tokyo Shoko Research showed on Monday, the Japan Times reported. In the year through March, bankruptcies mainly rose among small and midsize companies as they struggled to raise prices to reflect higher material and other costs. Labor shortages were also behind the rise in bankruptcies.

The National Company Law Tribunal on Monday extended the timeline for Go First's corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) beyond the April 4 deadline by 60 days, the Economic Times of India reported. Seeking the extension, the counsel for resolution professional (RP) informed the tribunal that the CIRP was in the final stage, with the committee of creditors (COC) deliberating over two resolution plans received by the grounded airline.

Shimao Group shares fell sharply after a Chinese state-run bank, in a rare case, filed a liquidation petition against the heavily indebted developer in Hong Kong, adding uncertainty to a proposed restructuring of billions of dollars of offshore debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. Shares were 14% lower at 39 Hong Kong cents after Shimao said Monday that Construction Bank (Asia) Corp. filed a winding-up petition with a Hong Kong court on April 5 related to a financial obligation of around HK$1.58 billion (US$201.8 million).

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday reserved its judgment in a plea filed by Bhavit Sheth, cofounder and COO of Dream11, challenging a bankruptcy court order initiating insolvency resolution against its parent Sporta Technologies, the Economic Times of India reported. The tribunal gave parties three days' time to file written submissions.

The Philippines central bank kept its policy rate unchanged as widely expected, extending its pause as a recent pickup in inflation resurfaces concerns about price pressures in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Eli Remolona said Monday that the central bank maintained its benchmark overnight reverse repurchase rate at 6.50%, deeming it appropriate to keep monetary policy settings tight. It held its benchmark lending rate at 7.00%.

The country’s bankruptcy regulator has warned of the rising number of personal insolvencies affecting vulnerable Australians, as small business owners struggle to make ends meet due to mounting debts. Australian Financial Security Authority chief Tim Beresford said personal insolvency was “rising,” with rates increasing from about 10,000 last year, to 12,500 this year, and 15,000 next year. “The 10-year (annual) average is 23,000,” he told small business leaders at the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia national small business summit on Thursday.

India’s central bank kept its policy rate unchanged as the country’s economic growth remains strong and inflation eases, the Wall Street Journal reported. Reserve Bank of India Gov. Shaktikanta Das said on Friday that the monetary-policy committee decided to hold its policy repo rate steady at 6.50%. The country’s gross domestic product increased 8.4% from a year earlier for the quarter ended in December, picking up from the 8.1% expansion seen in the previous quarter. Growth was fueled by a government push to pave roads, expand railroads and upgrade the power grid.

On social media forums and among friends, young people in China are questioning whether to save for old age. Some are opting out, citing the shortage of jobs, low pay and their ambivalence about the future, the New York Times reported. Their skepticism betrays the enormous challenge for China’s leaders. Over less than three decades, the country has changed from a young society to an aging one. Seven straight years of plummeting births are pushing up the day when there will be fewer people working than retirees.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) not to terminate the concession agreement of an IL&FS group entity -- Baleshwar Kharagpur Expressway Ltd, and take appropriate measures for its insolvency resolution, the Economic Times of India reported. The appellate tribunal said the resolution of Baleshwar Kharagpur Expressway Ltd (BKEL), a SPV set up by IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited (ITNL), "is in final stages" and any termination at this stage would "further complicate" the process.