Singapore authorities aim to conclude their probe of commodity trader Noble Group Ltd. and its subsidiary for potential breaches by the third quarter, with investigations now at an advanced stage, Bloomberg News reported. The investigations -- which have been ongoing since November 2018 -- involve suspected disclosure-related offenses, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s enforcement report published on Wednesday.

Air New Zealand Ltd will centralise operations in Auckland and move its workforce in the city to a refurbished airport campus, the airline said on Wednesday, adding that the decision will help it cut costs by a fifth over 15 years, Reuters reported. The move, expected to occur in 2024, comes as New Zealand's flag carrier looks to reduce property costs while aiming for an uptick in business after two years of hard-line international border restrictions at home.

The World Bank has agreed to provide Sri Lanka with $600 million in financial assistance to help meet payment requirements for essential imports, the Sri Lankan president's media division said in a statement on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "The World Bank has agreed to provide $600 million in financial assistance to address the current economic crisis," the statement said. The World Bank would release $400 million "shortly", it said. According to the statement, the World Bank said it would continue to help Sri Lanka to overcome the current economic crisis.

Lenders weigh legal action over takeover of 947 Future Retail store by Reliance Lenders will soon initiate insolvency proceedings against Future Enterprises Ltd (FEL), the linchpin company of Future Group, which manufactures, designs, procures and distributes fashion apparel for the group companies, the Economic Times of India reported. The collapse of the Rs 24712 crore deal with Reliance Industries and defaults on a series of payments to lenders in the last week of March as per the terms of one-time restructuring (OTR) prompted lenders to pursue insolvency proceedings.

Private sector lender Yes Bank Ltd has moved National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking initiation of insolvency proceedings against Zee Learn, according to a regulatory filing, the Economic Times of India reported. The company said that Yes Bank Ltd has allegedly claimed that the total amount in default with respect to a financial facility is Rs 468 crore. Zee Learn has received a notice from the Mumbai bench of the NCLT over Yes Bank's petition and is in the process of compiling information to verify the facts, the filing said on Monday.

Oil climbed as Chinese central bank assurances of economic support eased fears that a new round of virus lockdowns will crimp crude demand. Diesel markets also spiked amid a global clamor for supplies, Bloomberg News reported. West Texas Intermediate settled above $101 a barrel after shedding more than 5% in the previous two sessions. China’s central bank pledged to ensure ample liquidity and assist sectors battered by the pandemic even as virus testing expanded in Beijing. The resurgence of Covid-19 has hammered fuel consumption in the world’s second-largest economy.

Singapore's key consumer price gauge rose in March by its fastest pace in a decade, outpacing economist forecasts, driven by higher inflation for food and services, official data showed on Monday, Reuters reported. The core inflation rate — the central bank's favoured price measure - rose to 2.9% in March on a year-on-year basis, the highest since March 2012. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a 2.4% increase.

China’s economy is a giant, sophisticated machine that requires numerous parts to work together. Behind its 1.4 billion consumers are 150 million registered businesses that provide jobs, food and everything that keeps the machine humming. Now, in the name of pandemic control, the Chinese government is meddling with the economy in ways that the country hasn’t seen for decades, wreaking havoc on business, the New York Times reported.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced the indictment of two Europeans for allegedly conspiring with a recently sentenced American cryptocurrency researcher to help North Korea evade U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported. Alejandro Cao de Benos of Spain, who founded a pro-Pyongyang affinity organization, and Christopher Emms of Britain, a cryptocurrency businessman, were accused of recruiting the researcher Virgil Griffith to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to North Korea. Both defendants are at large.

The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday that its staff held "fruitful technical discussions" with Sri Lankan authorities on the crisis-wracked country's request for an IMF-supported loan program this week, Reuters reported. The Fund said in a statement that the discussions included the need for Sri Lanka to implement "a credible and coherent strategy" to restore macroeconomic stability, and to strengthen its social safety net and protect the poor and vulnerable during the current crisis.