Asia Pacific

Malaysia may pursue lawsuits against Goldman Sachs over the U.S. investment bank's role in the multi-billion dollar corruption scandal at state fund 1MDB, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in an interview with CNBC, Reuters reported. Goldman settled with Malaysia in 2020 by agreeing to pay $2.5 billion in cash and guaranteeing the return of $1.4 billion in assets to the country in exchange for dropping all criminal charges against the bank. But Anwar, who came to power in late 2022, said earlier this year that Malaysia was re-evaluating the deal as the settlement sum was small.

As the lira was approaching a decade of continuous losses, Turkish policymakers hit on an idea that promised a quick fix, and it helped stave off another currency crisis. But nearly two years on, a government-backed savings program — which protects lira deposits from depreciation against hard currencies — has become too big to unwind and too dangerous to live without., Bloomberg News reported.

China Evergrande, which is the world's most heavily indebted property developer and became the poster child for China's property crisis, yesterday filed for chapter 15 protection from creditors in a U.S. bankruptcy court, Reuters reported. An affiliate, Tianji Holdings, also sought chapter 15 protection yesterday in Manhattan bankruptcy court. Evergrande's filing comes amid growing fears that problems in China's property sector could spread to other parts of the country's economy as growth slows.

Signs of financial stress at a large asset manager in China are making investors nervous about contagion from the country’s slumping property sector, rekindling a debate over whether a “Lehman moment” could occur in the world’s second-largest economy, the Associated Press reported. Zhongrong International Trust, a seller of esoteric financial products that had the equivalent of $108 billion in assets under management at the end of 2022, has become the market’s latest worry.

China's securities regulator unveiled a package of measures on Friday aimed at reviving a sinking stock market, but investors said they would do little to boost confidence if the economy remains sluggish, Reuters reported. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) proposed steps including cutting trading costs, supporting share buybacks and encouraging long-term investment to support a stock market that has slid to nine-month lows.

Less than a year after a debt crisis shook South Korea, concern is growing that souring lending at credit unions risks bringing back distress, Bloomberg News reported. A branch of one of Korea’s biggest such lenders, MG Community Credit Cooperatives, was shut last month when it reported a 60 billion won ($45 million) loss on real estate-related loans. That triggered deposit outflows at the group of lenders on concerns over rising default rates.

State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals has challenged an insolvency petition filed against West Bengal-based coal power producer Hiranmaye Energy, as it will "stall" BHEL's efforts to enforce a ₹388.4 crore arbitration award against the company, the Economic Times of India reported. BHEL has filed an application before the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), seeking cancellation of the insolvency petition filed by REC.

China's central bank said on Thursday it would keep liquidity reasonably ample and keep its policy "precise and forceful" to support the country's economic recovery, amid rising headwinds, Reuters reported. Data for July has highlighted the intensifying pressure on the economy on a number of fronts, including a property downturn and deflationary pressure, prompting Beijing to introduce direct stimulus to revitalise growth.

Buy the state, sell the capitalist - that's how global investors are trying to play China's latest anti-graft crackdowns as they see private enterprise increasingly sidelined in Beijing's quest for "common prosperity," Reuters reported. China's recent sweep of the medical sector came as a shock to many investors who had thought the end of Beijing's three-year regulatory purge of the property and tech sectors meant there would be no more industry-wide crackdowns as policymakers prioritised economic recovery.

The Philippine central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a third straight meeting as the economy slowed while signaling that policy settings will remain tight amid inflation risks, Bloomberg News reported. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas maintained its overnight reverse repurchase rate at 6.25% on Thursday during Eli Remolona’s first policy decision as governor. The move was predicted by 22 of 24 economists in a Bloomberg survey, with two expecting a rate hike.