Some dollar bonds of higher-rated Chinese developers were poised for their biggest-ever weekly drops, amid declines for many risk assets around the world, as ongoing worries about the property sector spread to stronger builders, Bloomberg News reported. Notes issued by CIFI Holdings Group Co. and Country Garden Holdings Co. fell at least 16 cents on the dollar this week to hit record lows, according to Bloomberg-compiled prices, plunging toward 50 cents. For China’s junk-rated dollar bonds overall, the average yield topped 25% for the first time Thursday in a Bloomberg index.

New Zealand banks are calling on the Reserve Bank to delay implementation of new mortgage lending restrictions such as debt-to-income ratios as the housing market cools. Existing restrictions and rising interest rates are already slowing home-lending growth, and banks are concerned the introduction of further limits could have “unintended consequences,” the New Zealand Bankers Association said in a submission to the RBNZ posted on its website. It urged the central bank to assess the impact of market changes before using additional tools.

Singapore’s Makara Capital, and asset reconstruction companies including JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Company and Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (ARCIL) are among some of the few entities that have submitted their Expressions of Interest (EoIs) to acquire Srei group companies under the consolidated corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), The Hindu reported. The deadline for submitting EoI ended late Saturday evening.

Capital-hungry smaller Chinese startups are vying for speedy offshore listings by merging with blank-check firms at a time when Beijing's tighter scrutiny has slowed capital raising via overseas IPOs, company executives and bankers said, Reuters reported. As a string of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) hunt for targets to merge with, the startups see an opportunity to raise funds and get listed by cutting the time and regulatory rigour needed for traditional market debuts, they said.

Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, issued a stern warning on Tuesday to Chinese companies that might defy U.S. restrictions against exporting to Russia, saying the United States would cut them off from American equipment and software they need to make their products, the New York Times reported. The Biden administration could “essentially shut” down Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation or any Chinese companies that defy U.S. sanctions by continuing to supply chips and other advanced technology to Russia, Raimondo said.

China’s central bank stepped up its financial support for the economy, saying it will transfer more than 1 trillion yuan ($158 billion) in profits to the government to help finance fiscal spending, Bloomberg News reported. It’s the first time the People’s Bank of China has disclosed this kind of transfer, although it’s required by law to hand over profits to the government every year.

In a U.S. court, former Goldman Sachs partner Tim Leissner has admitted to taking $60 million in kickbacks, lying to the bank about his corrupt deals, and twice forging divorce documents to take on new wives, Reuters reported. Despite his history of deceit, Leissner is the key witness prosecutors are asking jurors to believe in the trial of Roger Ng, a former colleague of Leissner's at Goldman who is charged with helping loot Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund during a scheme that lasted from 2009 to 2014.

Sri Lanka’s painful decision to effectively devalue its currency this week could pave the way for the island nation to get help from the International Monetary Fund as a $1 billion debt payment looms in four months, Bloomberg News reported. The country’s dollar bonds due July 2022 gained 1.6% on Wednesday to halt five days of losses, while the rupee advanced 0.3% after plunging as much as 12% -- the most in more than four decades -- in reaction to the central bank’s announcement that it was letting the currency float as international reserves dwindle.

As the government in Hong Kong struggles to contain the city’s worst Covid outbreak ever, some residents have panicked, the New York Times reported. Tens of thousands of new Omicron cases are being reported each day, and deaths have surged. The anxiety gripping Hong Kong is not just about the explosion of infections, but also about what the government will do next. Under pressure from Beijing to eliminate infections, Hong Kong officials have vowed to test all 7.4 million residents.

Japan has frozen the assets of an additional 32 Russian and Belarusian officials and oligarchs following the invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The newly added sanctions target 20 Russians including deputy chiefs of staff for President Vladamir Putin's administration, deputy chairmen of the state parliament, the head of the Chechen Republic and executives of companies with close ties to the government such as Volga Group, Transneft and Wagner.