Under founder Jack Ma, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. had regulators and local officials in its corner as it grew into a Chinese version of Amazon.com Inc. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent crackdown on the empire of China’s best-known entrepreneur has put an end to that, the Wall Street Journal reported. Since late last year, Alibaba has been in Beijing’s crosshairs, along with its financial affiliate Ant Group Co. Regulators already have come down hard on Ant, which they consider a risk to the financial system, forcing it to make changes that will severely hamper its prospects.
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Ares SSG, a leading Asia-Pacific alternative asset manager, announced today that certain of its funds have completed the acquisition of all underlying assets of Altico Capital India Limited, an NBFC which used to provide loans and financing to India's real estate sector before experiencing financial difficulties in 2019, according to a press release. The acquisition marks the first resolution of a defaulting NBFC outside India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and represents Ares SSG's single largest investment in India to date.
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Two developments in the China Fishery Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing have given William Brandt, the trustee overseeing the sale of the company’s Peruvian assets, hope that he will get a deal done, Seafood Source reported. On 19 February, Brandt filed a proposed settlement agreement with China Fishery Group’s court-appointed liquidator, FTI Consulting, which had sued the company, arguing it had used ill-gotten earnings to purchase Copeinca in 2013.

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Greensill Capital’s talks to sell parts of its operating business to Athene Holding Ltd. were derailed after one of the firm’s key technology partners received funding that allows it to finance Greensill’s most creditworthy clients directly, Bloomberg News reported. Taulia, a financial technology company that had worked closely with Greensill, landed a $6 billion liquidity facility from banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Taulia’s clients had an immediate need for liquidity because of Greensill’s insolvency.

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India’s combined federal and states’ budget gap in the current fiscal year will reach 12.7% on increased healthcare spending and a collapse in revenues amid the pandemic, according to an analysis by the country’s largest commercial bank, Bloomberg News reported. State Bank of India said in a report published Wednesday that there was a sharp increase in debt in the year to March 31 as states had to borrow more given their lack of resources, with the average fiscal deficit across 13 states reaching 4.5% of gross domestic product.
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Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund is sounding out global banks on refinancing its only syndicated loan as the institution emerges from a shakeup this week, Bloomberg News reported. The fund, known as TWF, is in talks to refinance a 1 billion-euro ($1.2 billion) loan it drew in March 2019 and which matures in five days. Abundant global liquidity and the government’s guarantee on 95% of the facility will likely help the sovereign investor close the deal.
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Brexit drove a shift in Japanese firms out of the U.K. and toward continental Europe, a report shows, Politico reported. The number of Japanese firms based in the U.K. fell 12 percent between 2014 and 2019, from 1,084 to 951, with most of the drop occurring during the politically tumultuous period following the Brexit referendum in June 2016.
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There are worrying signs company collapses could leap back to historical heights as pandemic-related assistance draws to a close after propping up “zombie” enterprises that would have otherwise failed, The Australian reported. CreditorWatch’s latest Business Risk Review data released on Tuesday shows external administrations spiked by 61 per cent in February – the highest they have risen for a year.
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Bankruptcy courts have sent more than 1,100 companies for liquidation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) ever since the code came into force in 2017, Telangana Today reported. Citing data from the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, Anurag Thakur told the Lok Sabha that a total of 1,126 companies have been ordered for liquidation as of December 31, 2020.
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The Supreme Court on Monday held that the NCLT has jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes, which arises solely or relates to the insolvency of a corporate debtor. The top court, however, cautioned the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and its appellate tribunal (NCLAT) to ensure that they do not usurp the legitimate jurisdiction of other courts, tribunals and forum, when the dispute is not related to the insolvency of the Corporate Debtor, the Economic Times of India reported.
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