The European Union unveiled draft rules on Wednesday aimed at cracking down on state-subsidized foreign companies in Europe, a move that could allow regulators to pursue big Chinese companies in much the same way they have targeted U.S. multinationals such as Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported. The legislation is the latest sign of Europe’s shifting stance toward China, the bloc’s biggest trading partner for goods and a crucial market for its exporters.
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Drugmaker Mundipharma International Ltd，owned by the billionaire American Sackler family, has kicked off the sale of its China unit in a deal that could fetch more than $1 billion, Reuters reported. Mundipharma has invited a select group of potential buyers, including private equity firms and local and international pharmaceutical companies, to bid for the asset. Initial bids are due by the end of May. Mundipharma hired Deutsche Bank last year to explore a sale of itself and some individual businesses. It decided to run a standalone sale process for its China business earlier this year.
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Australia's corporate watchdog accused Westpac Banking Corp. of insider trading while financing a A$16 billion ($12 billion) energy grid privatisation in 2016, the latest in a series of regulatory problems for the country's No. 2 lender, Reuters reported. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Westpac knew it had won the contract to help two pension funds buy Ausgrid, a state-owned power supplier to millions of people around Sydney, for two hours while it bought A$12 billion of derivative products to support the deal.
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China’s antitrust watchdog is beefing up its senior ranks as authorities step up efforts to rein in the country’s powerful technology companies, the Wall Street Journal reported. Dong Hongxia will take on a new role as a third deputy director-general of the Antimonopoly Bureau, part of the powerful State Administration for Market Regulation. Ms. Dong, currently director of a division responsible for reviewing mergers, is an expert on antitrust issues and a frequent speaker at seminars and events.
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Australian insolvency and restructuring experts say that reforms announced on Monday designed to help struggling companies at risk of collapse would benefit from adopting US-style bankruptcy options, the Australian Financial Review reported. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced steps to overhaul insolvency laws, including a strengthening of schemes of arrangement to better support the so-called debtor-in-possession model for large companies.
Smaller businesses are proving to be a weak link in China’s economic recovery as they struggle to fully bounce back from the effects of Covid-19, the Wall Street Journal reported. Like the U.S., China has tens of millions of small and medium-size private businesses, including restaurants and shops, which form the backbone of everyday economic activity. They account for as much as 80% of urban jobs and at least half of China’s tax revenue.
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Ping An Insurance Group and other investors have agreed to contribute to an $11.3 billion bankruptcy restructuring package to secure and rejuvenate a financially troubled corporate empire established by China's top university, Nikkei Asia reported. Peking University Founder Group (PKU Founder), a state-owned conglomerate founded by the university, has been in a Beijing court-supervised bankruptcy proceeding since February 2020.
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Southeast Asia's largest lender, DBS Group Holdings, reported a 72% surge in net profit for the three months ending in March, keenly eyeing a strong recovery in 2021 after a tough year last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nikkei Asia reported. The bank booked a record net profit of 2 billion Singapore dollars ($1.51 billion) for the period, compared with SG$1.17 billion the year before, marking a shift toward performance levels seen before the new coronavirus outbreak overshadowed most of 2020.
Shares rose in early European trading on Friday after retreating in Asia as the latest batch of economic data provided mixed signals about prospects for the recovery from the pandemic, the Associated Press reported. Two surveys showed Chinese manufacturing expanded in April but growth appeared to be slowing. Figures showed Europe’s economy contracted in the first three months of the year, while the U.S. economy steamed ahead, growing at a 6.4% annual pace.