China will improve policies to help medium-to small and micro companies deal with bankruptcy more smoothly, state broadcaster reported on Wednesday, citing the state council meeting, Reuters reported. China will also crack down on such firms dodging repayment obligations for defaulted bonds in order to protect the interests of workers, creditors and investors, the cabinet said.
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Ant Group Co. has agreed a restructuring plan with Chinese regulators under which the fintech giant will become a financial holding company, potentially easing founder Jack Ma’s regulatory woes, Reuters reported. The plan calls for putting all of Ant’s businesses into the holding company, including its payment processing and technology offerings in areas like blockchain and food delivery, the person said, declining to be named due to confidentiality constraints.
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Australia’s central bank will extend its quantitative easing program by a further A$100 billion ($76.2 billion) and doesn’t expect to increase interest rates until 2024, following in the footsteps of global peers in moving to stamp out premature tapering speculation, Bloomberg News reported. Governor Philip Lowe left the key rate and three-year yield target at 0.10%, the Reserve Bank said in a statement Tuesday. In addition to the QE program now extended beyond mid-April, the RBA also operates a bank lending facility.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Monday proposed a nearly half-a-trillion-dollar budget for the 12 months beginning on April 1 that shows New Delhi is taking a largely conservative tack, the New York Times reported. Infrastructure and health care spending are set to rise significantly, but Mr. Modi’s budget also calls for reducing debt. Over all, spending would rise less than 1 percent at a time when India is suffering from its worst recession in years while battling the coronavirus.
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Siam Commercial Bank, one of the largest banks in Thailand and whose largest individual shareholder is King Maha Vajiralongkorn, said Monday it has secured a 26.49% stake in upscale grocer Dean & DeLuca by converting debt held in the U.S.-based company, Nikkei Asia reported. The stake acquisition results from a debt-to-equity option exercised for a $45.83 million loan extended to Dean & DeLuca. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court last March.
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An Indian court has temporarily restrained Future Group from selling its retail assets to Reliance Industries Ltd., an interim win for Amazon.com Inc. which is opposing the deal with an eye to dominate a large and vital consumer market, Bloomberg News reported. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the Future Group and Indian authorities to ensure the status of the indebted Indian retailer’s assets are maintained as is, putting on hold any further steps toward completing the $3.4 billion sale to billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance conglomerate.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga looks set to extend a state of emergency for major metropolitan areas that will inflict more pain on the economy, as he tries to stem the latest wave of Covid-19 cases and reverse a fall in public support, Bloomberg News reported. The emergency covering 11 areas including Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya has helped halt a rapid acceleration of virus cases threatening the developed world’s oldest population. While infection numbers have started to drop under the guidelines, Suga’s government has said the number of cases remains worryingly high.
Japan Airlines Co. expects a worse loss this fiscal year than previously forecast as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on international demand for travel, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s flag carrier is now forecasting a net loss of 300 billion yen ($2.9 billion) for the 12 months ending March 31 and sales of 460 billion yen, according to an exchange filing on Monday. For the third quarter, JAL reported a net loss of 51.5 billion yen, wider than the 36.9 billion yen estimated by analysts. Sales for the period were 161.8 billion yen versus the 170 billion yen forecast.
Even as the Covid-19 pandemic ravages the economy, the number of people who went bankrupt in Singapore last year sank to the lowest in five years, the Straits Times reported. Bankruptcy orders tumbled more than 40 per cent to 965 from 1,645 in 2019. Figures from the Law Ministry's Insolvency Office website showed more than 1,600 bankruptcy orders were made annually between 2016 and 2018. Experts said the drop in numbers could be due to the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act and government support schemes which provided temporary relief for financially distressed individuals.