The former head of China's securities regulator has raised concern about banks addressing funding shortages by ramping up issues of short-term interbank debt instruments that have in the past attracted regulatory scrutiny, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Xiao Gang, former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said that against the background of a large increase in bank credit, banks faced an "arduous task" of making up for cash shortfalls for maturing old products.

Pre-dominance of cash transactions, independence of directors and frequent changes of auditors are among the potential red flags for insolvency professionals in detecting avoidance transactions during insolvency proceedings, according to an IBBI document, ETRealty reported. Under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, resolution professionals and liquidators are required to determine whether corporate debtors concerned were subject to avoidance transactions. The Code provides for a time-bound and market-linked resolution of stressed assets.

Australian companies are likely to deliver smaller dividends in what is forecast to be the country’s worst earnings season in a decade because of the coronavirus pandemic, with even firms that benefited from the upheaval expected to show caution, Reuters reported. Fund managers and analysts expect the corporate results season that begins this week to reveal an overall decline in profits of around one-fifth due to the abrupt shutdowns that followed the virus outbreak.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has upheld an NCLT order setting aside a plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against Gujarat Ambuja Exports Ltd, Business Standard reported. A three-member NCLAT bench upheld the order of the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which had set aside the plea of Samay Impex, an operational creditor of Gujarat Ambuja Exports Ltd (GAEL).

The true financial cost of Covid-19 is something India would rather not acknowledge, let alone bear — at least not until the pandemic has played out. That explains why the central bank on Thursday allowed a one-time restructuring of corporate and personal loans that have been under stress ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the country under a severe lockdown in March, Bloomberg News reported in a commentary. Those nationwide restrictions have given way to more localized containment. But with India becoming only the third country after the U.S.

German prosecutors suspect Wirecard AG extended large loans to partner companies before its implosion in June, at a time when the payments company was already facing media reports alleging accounting fraud, Bloomberg News reported. The prosecutors surmise the loans by the disgraced German firm may have been unsecured and may have been made to partner companies in Dubai, Singapore and the Philippines, a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing the private information said.

Turkey stepped back from currency interventions and moved to relax some of the restrictions that tethered the lira for months, allowing it to tumble to a record against the dollar, Bloomberg News reported. State banks withdrew support for the lira at specific levels against the U.S currency even as it dropped to an all-time low, and were largely absent from the market on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter.

China’s central bank has announced the first bankruptcy of a commercial bank in nearly two decades, authorising the liquidation of regional lender Baoshang Bank, a year after it seized control of the institution, the Financial Times reported.

Vacancies at offices in central Tokyo rose by the most on record in July as the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread and virus-related bankruptcies in the capital reached 100, Bloomberg News reported. Office vacancies in five of Tokyo’s major business districts increased for a record fifth consecutive month, rising to 2.77% from 1.97% in June, real estate brokerage Miki Shoji Co. said on Thursday. It was the largest one-month gain on record, beating a high set in 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Vodafone Idea Ltd., the beleaguered Indian wireless carrier facing a government demand for billions of dollars in back fees, reported an eighth straight quarterly loss and said a court verdict on a staggered payment plan for the dues is critical for survival, Bloomberg News reported. Net loss was 254.6 billion rupees ($3.4 billion) in the three months ended June, the country’s No. 3 mobile phone carrier said Thursday. It took a one-time charge of 194.4 billion rupees for back fees paid.