The BOT (Bank of Thailand) has launched a new programme aimed at helping businesses severely hit by Covid-19 to expedite debt restructuring and facilitate their recovery amid the crisis. Launching the debt restructuring programme for businesses – known as ‘DR BIZ’ – the BOT said it wants to provide a mechanism to support coordination among multiple creditors and enable businesses to lessen their debt burdens, Regulation Asia reported.

The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on the issue of recovery of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of insolvent telcos, Mint reported. The apex court said it will also clarify additional liabilities, if any, of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel on account of past dues on the spectrum they bought from Reliance Communications, Videocon and Aircel respectively. SC noted that if the seller of spectrum did not clear its dues before sale, the liabilities would be transferred to the buyer as per trading guidelines.

Travel agent STA Travel Group has gone into voluntary administration. It comes after the collapse of the travel group’s Swiss-based parent company STA Travel Holding AG, which filed for insolvency, Business Insider Australia reported. STA operates online travel agent services and 27 outlets in Australia, with Deloitte’s Jason Tracy and Timothy Norman appointed as administrators on August 21.

Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd’s unsecured creditors will receive an average return of 9-13% of their funds as part of U.S. private equity group Bain Capital’s proposed purchase of the airline, administrator Deloitte said in a report on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The unsecured creditors include 6,500 bondholders who are owed A$2 billion ($1.43 billion) by the country’s second-biggest airline and will receive a return of 8.4-12.8%, less than the 14.4% return for critical suppliers. Priority creditors and employees will receive 100% of funds owed, the report said.

The Hong Kong-based cruise operator that spooked creditors this week by suspending all payments is still sailing a fully booked ship despite the crippling pandemic, in what may be one bright spot for the beleaguered firm seeking to revamp debt and raise fresh capital, Bloomberg News reported. About a month ago, Genting Hong Kong Ltd. restarted two- and three-day excursions around Taiwan, exclusively for residents of the island that’s seen success in containing the coronavirus outbreak.

Troubled Peking University Founder Group Corp’s (PUFG) administrator is not recognising the keepwell deed the Chinese conglomerate provided for a $300 million dollar bond issued by Nuoxi Capital, financial intelligence provider Redd reported, Reuters reoprted. Keepwell deeds are used by some Chinese companies to facilitate offshore bond sales by their subsidiaries. The deeds are similar, according to lawyers, to “letters of support” where the issuer would be backed by an onshore company, but they stopped short of guaranteeing the debt.

An Indian court has agreed to hear a petition by the nation’s largest lender seeking to initiate personal bankruptcy against tycoon Anil Ambani after the former billionaire failed to repay debt, Bloomberg News reported. A two-member panel of the National Company Law Tribunal, or NCLT, in Mumbai has appointed a bankruptcy administrator to verify a claim by State Bank of India, or SBI, that Ambani offered about $160 million of personal guarantees while seeking loans in 2016 for his now insolvent Reliance Communications Ltd.

New measures to allow Indian lenders to restructure loans will provide a “durable” resolution for cash-strapped businesses and help revive the economy, according to the central bank’s chief, Bloomberg News reported. “On one hand health of banks is very important and on the other hand businesses are under a lot of stress due to covid,” Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das Das said in an interview with CNBC-Awaaz on Friday. The plan has replaced a blanket loan moratorium that’s due to expire later this month, he said.

Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd bondholders have withdrawn plans for a proposed recapitalisation of the airline that was meant to rival one from U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, a spokesman for the bondholders said on Friday, Reuters reported. Singapore’s Broad Peak and Hong Kong’s Tor Investment Management, which had proposed the rival deed of company arrangement (DOCA) to recapitalise the airline, hold around A$300 million ($216 million) of Virgin’s A$2 billion of unsecured bonds, part of nearly A$7 billion owed to creditors.

Thailand’s fiscal policy should play a greater role to help the economy recover from the impact of the coronavirous pandemic, the central bank governor said on Friday, with the benchmark interest rate at a record low, Reuters reported. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) will focus on assisting with debt restructuring, Veerathai Santiprabhob told reporters after the launch of a debt restructuring programme for businesses. “In such critical condition, the one who is capable of stimulating the economy is the government...