The Insolvency Law Committee has recommended against giving any special dispensation to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) from the moratorium clause under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the Economic Times of India reported. According to the rules, once a company is admitted into insolvency under the code, a blanket moratorium kicks in barring regulators from initiating any fresh proceedings against the company.

The South Korean won hit its lowest point against the U.S. dollar in nearly 13 years on Thursday, opening at 1,299 won and weakening to more than 1,300 in intraday trading, the New York Times reported. The last time the country’s currency breached the 1,300-won threshold was in the summer of 2009, toward the end of the global financial crisis. The won also passed this threshold during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998. South Korea’s export-driven economy makes it particularly sensitive to conditions in the global economy, which have been deteriorating recently.

Sri Lanka was sued in the US by a bondholder after the South Asian nation defaulted on its debt for the first time in history while struggling to stop an economic meltdown, Bloomberg News reported. Hamilton Reserve Bank Ltd., which holds more than $250 million of Sri Lanka’s 5.875% International Sovereign Bonds due July 25, filed the suit Tuesday in a New York federal court seeking full payment of principal and interest.

Turkey is planning to offer local-currency liquidity to foreigners at the same rate as domestic investors, so long as the funding doesn’t reach those betting against the lira, Bloomberg News reported. Under a program designed by the Treasury and Finance Ministry and expected to go into effect early next month, offshore investors will be able to access a new swap line with a maturity of at least three to six months to buy local assets, according to an official with direct knowledge of the matter.

Two of Asia’s financial hubs aimed to reinvent the SPAC. So far, it is proving slow going, the Wall Street Journal reported. Exchanges in Hong Kong and Singapore have always said they aim for quality not quantity with their rules for blank-check companies, touting better investor protection than in the U.S. But as the U.S. SPAC business has lost momentum, global banks and international investors have grown more cautious about their involvement in these vehicles.

China’s property sector started to crumble under the weight of its huge debts. What was already shaping up to be the country’s worst housing market in years suffered another blow when a new variant of the coronavirus triggered widespread lockdowns and brought the economy to a standstill, the New York Times reported.

A bankruptcy court in Mumbai has admitted property developer Nirmal Lifestyle Kalyan Pvt Ltd under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) following a plea filed by Srei Equipment Finance Ltd., the Economic Times of India reported. Kolkata-based Srei Equipment Finance Ltd had approached the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) after Nirmal Lifestyle Kalyan, an affiliate of Mumbai-based Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd, defaulted on its dues worth around Rs 84 crore.

At least four Thai insurance companies have gone bankrupt after suffering losses from selling low-cost COVID-19 policies, raising fears of a domino effect that could weigh on the country's non-life insurance sector, Nikkei Asia reported. Syn Mun Kong Insurance is looking to raise capital and find new partners to stay afloat as it navigates a court-supervised rehabilitation. "Some foreign investors have expressed interest in joining us. We are in talks," said a source close to deals that could affect Syn Mun Kong's ability to retain its business license.

Babel Finance, the Hong Kong-based crypto lender which suspended withdrawals and redemption of crypto assets on Friday, said that it has reached an agreement with counterparties on the repayment of some debts to ease short-term liquidity, Reuters reported. Cryptocurrency valuations have plunged in recent weeks as investors dump risky assets in a rising interest rate environment. Bitcoin BTC=BTSP, which reached a record high of $69,000 in November, lost more than half its value this year.

Central banks around the world are raising interest rates rapidly, except one. The Bank of Japan affirmed on Friday that it wanted rates around zero, even if investors are using that as a reason to sell the yen, the Wall Street Journal reported. “It is not appropriate to tighten monetary policy at this point,” said Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda. “If we raise interest rates, the economy will move into a negative direction.” Japan’s outlier status partly reflects its less-serious inflation problem—prices rose 2.5% overall in April, compared with more than 8% recently in the U.S.