Headlines

Japan's government plans to cut sales of super-long bonds by about 10% from its original plan in a rare revision to its bond programme for the current fiscal year, trimming overall bond issuance as a result, a draft document seen by Reuters showed, Reuters reported. The move aims to soothe market oversupply concerns, after weak demand at recent auctions and a surge in super-long yields to record highs last month rattled the bond market.

While the last 12 months saw a number of high-profile airline insolvencies and even a few liquidations, several travel companies in different parts of the world have also filed for bankruptcy, The Street reported. In June 2024, German group tour giant FTI Touristik GmbH canceled over 175,000 tours from Germany and nearby countries like Austria and the Netherlands, despite securing €125 million from new investors just a few months earlier.

Australian employment dipped in May after solid gains the previous month, data showed on Thursday, although full-time jobs jumped and the jobless rate held steady in a sign of continued resilience in the labour market, Reuters reported. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that net employment dipped 2,500 in May from April, when they rose a revised 87,600. That was below market forecasts for a 22,500 increase, though the series has been very volatile in recent months. The jobless rate held at 4.1%, where it has been for over a year now.

LeddarTech Holdings Inc., an AI-driven software company specializing in advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving, announced in a press release that Nasdaq has issued a determination letter indicating its intention to suspend trading of the company's securities on June 24, 2025, leading to delisting, nasdaq.com reported. This decision is based on LeddarTech's recent announcement to file under the Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), raising public interest concerns regarding the company's financial stability and compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements.

The Swiss National Bank cut its interest rate to zero on Thursday and did not rule out returning borrowing costs to negative territory in future, although it stressed this was not a step it would take lightly, Reuters reported. The SNB reduced its policy rate by 25 basis points from 0.25%, as expected by markets and a Reuters poll, to stand on the brink of negative rates for the first time since 2022. The central bank now has the lowest borrowing costs among its peers, with markets giving a 53% probability of further cuts in September.

The Victorian Liberal party will provide a $1.5m loan to former leader John Pesutto to ensure he can pay Moira Deeming’s legal fees and avoid bankruptcy, The Guardian reported. The loan was debated by the 19-member administrative committee on Thursday night and ultimately endorsed after a secret ballot, which was proposed to limit any factional retribution within a deeply divided party. Deeming, also a Liberal MP, successfully sued Pesutto for defamation after he falsely implied she sympathised with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

The disgraced bosses of Dundee University were panned in a "devastating" report into the financial issues at the institution that have brought it to the brink of bankruptcy, the Scottish Daily Express reported. They were accused of covering up the perilous financial position and that it was a "self-inflicted" issue.

Failed Mosgiel businessman Malcolm Burns - who owes creditors millions - has finally been declared bankrupt despite a last-ditch effort to delay the decision a fourth time, the Otago Daily Times reported. Associate Judge Dale Lester declared Mr Burns bankrupt in the High Court at Dunedin on June 12 after the previous week giving him "a last chance" to pay what his company Otago Excavation owes vehicle leasing business FleetPartners Group.

The bill on bankruptcy of individuals will be considered in the Bulgarian National Assembly, BNT reported. The amendments will be voted on at the 2nd reading, creating a legal framework for personal bankruptcy. Until now, Bulgaria was the only member state of the European Union without a legal framework for bankruptcy of individuals.

Norway's central bank cut its policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% on Thursday and said there were more cuts to come due to a more benign inflation outlook, a decision that took most analysts by surprise and weakened the currency, Reuters reported. "The economic outlook is uncertain, but if the economy evolves broadly as currently projected, the policy rate will be reduced further in the course of 2025," Norges Bank said in a statement.