Australia on Tuesday eased so-called continuous disclosure laws for publicly listed companies, which will now protect companies and their officers against liabilities for misleading and deceptive statements or forecasts unless "fault" is proven, Reuters reported. The new laws come as part of a broader clamp down on the litigation funding industry following a surge in costly class action lawsuits.

The Piramal group has sought the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) permission to reach a settlement and issue new debentures to the foreign lenders of DHFL, in what would be the first of its kind transaction, the Economic Times of India reported. Offshore investors, some of whose identities are not readily available, had put in close to ₹850 crore in masala bonds sold by DHFL — the non-bank mortgage lender that Piramal wants to take over following a bankruptcy court ruling.

The number of Malaysians becoming bankrupt and the number of companies closing down or winding up may increase when the current moratorium on bank loans ends, two economists said, Malay Mail reported. Sunway University economics professor Yeah Kim Leng said that the loan moratorium allows financially-distressed borrowers to avoid becoming bankrupt by postponing loan repayments, but said this would mean that there could be more bankruptcies once the moratorium period ends, The Sunday Star reported today.

Private equity firms are rethinking their strategies in China as a widening regulatory crackdown on some of the country's hottest sectors forces investors to scout for bets in other industries that they hope will be less vulnerable to sudden policy changes, Reuters reported. Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds are pivoting away from data-heavy, consumer-facing internet companies to sectors including semiconductors and renewable energy, industry executives said.

National Australia Bank will buy Citigroup's local consumer unit for about $882.24 million, the companies said Monday, as the American bank exits the region while buy-now, pay-later rivals challenge the old credit card business model, Reuters reported. The deal consolidates more than 90% of the country's credit cards industry into the hands of Australia's Big Four banks, with NAB adding a million customers through the deal to become the nation's second-largest credit card provider. "The proposed acquisition ...

The number of seats being offered by airline carriers in China dropped the most since early in the Covid-19 pandemic, as rising cases of the delta variant spurred fresh restrictions on movement, Bloomberg News reported. Seat capacity plunged 32% in one week, hastening a decline in the country that began at the end of July, based on data from aviation specialist OAG. China’s stumble sent global capacity on a weekly 6.5% slide, as travel comebacks also stagnated in Europe and North America.

Slow stimulus spending threatens Indonesia’s recovery as smaller businesses that are the backbone of the economy have been kept waiting for much-needed funds to weather an extended lockdown, Bloomberg News reported. Only about 30% of more than 186 trillion rupiah ($13 billion) of combined national and provincial government aid has yet been disbursed for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, Finance Ministry data show.

Future Group is fighting its final battle for existence. Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld Singapore Emergency Arbitrator’s award against Reliance Retail’s ₹24,713 crore takeover of Future group companies may have a bigger impact on Kishore Biyani’s retail chain as it is on the verge of bankruptcy, Fortune India reported. Most retail outlets are shut because of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. Vendors have stopped supplies as dues ballooned to more than ₹6,000 crore, say company sources.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has repatriated $452 million in misappropriated funds from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), it said in a statement on Thursday, bringing the total amount recovered from the corruption scandal to $1.2 billion, Reuters reported. The funds, which were repatriated to Malaysia, had been laundered through major financial institutions worldwide, including in the United States, Switzerland, Singapore, and Luxembourg, the statement said. "The funds include both funds finally forfeited and funds the Department assisted in recovering and returning.

The volume of mergers and acquisitions in Australia is already at its highest annual level on record with nearly five months of the year to go, the Wall Street Journal reported. More than $134 billion in pending and completed deals have been announced this year, according to data provider Dealogic. That already outpaces 2011, Australia’s previous busiest year on record, when just under $134 billion was announced for the entire year.