Japan's corporate bankruptcies for the first half of this year hit the highest level in a decade, data from a research firm showed on Friday, as high prices, labor shortages and reduction of COVID-era relief complicated firms' management, the Japan Times reported. There were 4,887 bankruptcies between January and June, up 22% from the same period a year ago, according to corporate credit research firm Teikoku Databank.
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Japan expects corporate bond issuers to start adding investor protection as it pushes the use of covenants, opening the way for lower-rated companies to enter the debt market, Bloomberg News reported. A working group led by the Japan Securities Dealers Association finished a series of monthly meetings in June that discussed details of applying covenants to local corporate notes with lower ratings. The group agreed on applying Change of Control clauses and reporting covenants on bonds of BBB+ and lower, while keeping conditions flexible, according to an official at JSDA.
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Ten national university hospitals lost an estimated 1.26 trillion won ($912 million) in medical revenue from February to May, during the peak of the government-doctor conflict over the medical school enrollment quota increase, Korea Biomed reported. The situation is so dire that some insiders claim the bankruptcy crisis for national university hospitals is now a reality.
Rep. Han Ji-a of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) said so after analyzing the data submitted by national university hospitals.
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The threshold for involuntary bankruptcy will rise to $20,000 and bankrupts will have their official records cleared after seven years, under an overhaul of personal insolvency laws being unveiled on Monday, the Finanicial Review reported. The Albanese government will also extend the time frame for responding to a bankruptcy notice from 21 days to 28 days, and will scrap debt agreements as “an act of bankruptcy” under the legislation.
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Lenders have rejected the one-time settlement offered by Jaiprakash Associates Ltd in the insolvency case filed against it, the Times of India reported. After the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) ordered the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings against the company last month on a petition filed by lenders led by ICICI Bank in 2018, its suspended board of directors challenged the order in NCLAT, the appellate tribunal. During a hearing on June 10, NCLAT asked JAL to increase the amount it was to pay upfront in its original settlement offer.
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China's central bank said on Monday it would start conducting temporary bond repurchase agreements or reverse repos to make open market operations more efficient and keep banking system liquidity ample, Reuters reported. Market participants and analysts believe the move paves the way for a new interest rate corridor, with the seven-day reverse repo rate serving as a central guide, giving the bank more leeway to manage cash conditions and interest rates amid hot demand for bonds.
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Sri Lanka struck a deal to restructure $12.6 billion of bonds with its creditors, bringing the South Asian nation closer to completing its debt overhaul two years after it defaulted, Bloomberg reported. Investors agreed to take a 28% nominal reduction on the bonds’ principal, according to a statement released Wednesday at the conclusion of the second round of talks. The deal included the issuance of notes whose payouts are linked to economic growth and a potential governance-linked bond.
Since time immemorial, the world of technology has continued to evolve, throwing up exciting innovations, ideas, and happenings that keep the tech scene buzzing, and one cryptocurrency that does not cease to amaze everyone is Bitcoin, The National Somaliland reported. Recently, Bitcoin saw a whopping 10,000% price spike. Consequently, creditors of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, Mt. Gox, are reaping enormous windfalls from their claims in the Bitcoin bankruptcy estate. For those not familiar with the Mt. Gox saga, it was formerly the world’s biggest Bitcoin exchange.
Many business owners in Japan are struggling to find enough workers to stay afloat, NHK World reported. The number declaring bankruptcy as a result was at a record high in the first half of this year. Private research firm Teikoku Databank says Japan's labor shortage drove 182 companies to the wall between January and June. The number was up by 72 from a year earlier. It's the highest figure since the firm started keeping track. Fifty-three of the businesses were in the construction industry, and 27 were in logistics.
A severe labor shortage and rising prices are weighing heavily on Japan's nursing care providers, with 81 nursing homes going bankrupt over the past six months, a Tokyo-based research center has said, the Japan Times reported. This is the highest number recorded for the first half of the year since the nursing care insurance system started in 2000. It also marked a 50% increase from the same period of last year, Tokyo Shoko Research said. Previously, the highest number of bankruptcies recorded was 58 in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.