Financial institutions in Singapore are scouring client records after police raided a sprawling criminal organization with stockpiles of cash—and dozens of bank accounts, the Wall Street Journal reported. Police officers and agents in the city-state arrested 10 foreign nationals in mid-August on charges including fraud and money laundering. The arrests followed a series of raids that led to the discovery of $630 million worth of properties, cars, luxury goods and cash, and $81 million of assets held across 35 bank accounts.

Japanese household spending suffered its biggest drop in nearly 2-1/2 years squeezed by rising prices, although volatility in some items meant the outlook might not be as gloomy as the headline figures suggested, Reuters reported. Japan's economy grew much faster than expected in the second quarter, helped by the end of COVID-19 curbs and a resurgence in inbound tourism, and analysts expect private consumption to support overall growth amid weakness in global demand.

South Korea’s inflation outstripped forecasts in August partly on the back of higher energy costs, reinforcing the case for the central bank to keep the door open to further policy tightening to rein in prices, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices advanced 3.4% from a year earlier, quickening from 2.3% in July, the statistics office reported Tuesday. The Bank of Korea is keeping its options open for potential rate hikes until it’s confident price pressures are well under control.

Australia's corporate regulator said on Tuesday it was taking Westpac Banking Corp to court over its alleged failure to respond to customers' financial hardship notices between 2015 and 2022 within the required administrative time frame, Reuters reported. Under Section 72 of Australia's National Credit Code, an individual with overdue payments can request a change to the terms of their credit contract on the grounds of financial hardship, and creditors are expected to provide a response in writing within 21 days of being informed.

China allowed large cities to cut down payments for homebuyers and encouraged lenders to lower rates on existing mortgages in its latest attempts to halt a slide in the country’s residential property market, Bloomberg News reported. The nationwide minimum down payment will be 20% for first-time buyers and 30% for second-time purchasers, according to a joint statement from the People’s Bank of China and National Administration of Financial Regulation on Thursday. The mortgage-rate cuts will be negotiated between banks and customers. Both policies go into effect Sept. 25.

In the beginning, Hui Ka Yan followed a simple formula. Borrow to buy land. Sell homes on the site before they are built. Use the cash to pay lenders and finance the next real estate project. For two decades, starting in the mid-1990s, this approach was enormously lucrative as Chinese home prices soared. It transformed Hui, a former steel industry employee from a rural village, into China’s richest man. And it turned his company, China Evergrande Group, into a vast real-estate empire.

China’s economy limped through August. A prolonged slump in the real-estate market deepened. Factories were hit by sinking exports, and consumers kept a tight leash on spending, the Wall Street Journal reported. A new batch of data on Thursday heaped further pressure on China’s policy makers to do more to revive crumbling growth, with a dizzying mix of targeted measures so far showing little effect. On Thursday evening, the country’s central bank lowered the minimum down payment for some borrowers, an attempt to spur home buying.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday issued notice to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) in a plea by IDBI Bank to initiate insolvency proceedings against the company, the Hindu Business Line reported. IDBI Bank, in its plea, said it was unable to recover unpaid dues of around ₹150 crore from Zee. The tribunal instructed both parties to submit replies and rejoinders, setting the next hearing for the matter on October 11.

India’s economy registered impressive growth of 7.8% in the first quarter of the current financial year (April-June), attributed to good performance by the agriculture and financial sectors, according to official data released on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. The World Bank says India is one of the fastest-growing economies of the world and is poised to continue on this path. India's agriculture sector recorded growth of 3.5% in three months, up from 2.4% in the April-June quarter last year, according to the data released by the government-run National Statistical Office.

The People’s Bank of China is drafting preliminary policies to give private businesses better access to funding as authorities ramp up efforts to boost economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. Central bank leaders and officials from other financial watchdogs met with representatives from more than 10 banks as well as private companies, including property developers and manufacturers, on Wednesday, according to local media reports.