Headlines

Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane on Friday approved Azul’s ‍debt restructuring, allowing the Brazilian airline to cut more than $2 billion in debt and raise capital through a new equity rights ‌offering and investment from ‌American Airlines and United Airlines, Reuters reported. Azul filed for chapter 11 protection ‍in New York ​in May, aiming to ​cut its debt and make ‍its business more resilient to market challenges like fluctuations in fuel prices and currency exchange rates.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has set aside an appeal by SEBI, where the markets regulator had asked the tribunal to recover the penalty imposed by it against an entity related to the diversion of funds in the Religare Finvest matter, saying such claims cannot be filed once the liquidation process begins under IBC, the Economic Times of India reported.

Colombia’s corporate regulator has ordered provisional steps to protect the assets and operations of several Canacol Energy affiliates as part of ongoing insolvency-related proceedings, BNAmericas.com. The move applies to Canacol Energy Colombia, CNE Oil & Gas, Cantana Energy’s Colombia branch and CNEOG Colombia, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. “With the precautionary measures decreed, we ensure alignment of national regulations with international standards, without violating public order or creditor rights,” said Superintendency of Companies chief Billy Escobar.

German insurers are the most exposed in Europe to illiquid corporate bonds, a top watchdog said in one of the most detailed reports to date on the industry’s investments in private credit. At €91.8 billion ($108 billion), more than 40% of German insurers’ bond holdings were in unlisted notes at the end of last year, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority said on Monday in Frankfurt. Excluding index- or unit-linked investments, European insurers held about €1.2 trillion of corporate bonds, of which some 13% were illiquid or unlisted.

Inflation held steady in Canada last month as consumers paid less at the pumps and saw rent rise less steeply, though food prices continue to put pressure on wallets, the Wall Street Journal reported. The country’s consumer-price index rose a modest 0.1% in November and was up 2.2% on a year earlier, Statistics Canada said Monday. That was slightly softer than the 2.3% annual rate economists expected.

China's factory output growth slowed to a 15-month low, while retail sales posted their worst performance since the country abruptly ended its draconian "zero-COVID" curbs, highlighting the urgent need for new growth drivers heading into 2026, Reuters reported. With Beijing's consumer trade-in subsidies fading, a drawn-out property crisis weighing on household spending and industrial investment risking further deflation, officials have leaned on exports to support growth.

The U.K. economy contracted for a second straight month in October, cementing expectations that the Bank of England will lower its key interest rate later this week, the Wall Street Journal reported. Economic activity dipped 0.1% on month in October, the Office for National Statistics said Friday, after a 0.1% fall in September. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected a 0.1% increase. The contraction in October makes a rate cut by the BOE at its next meeting on Thursday more likely, as concerns over growth mount.

Big Japanese manufacturers' business sentiment hit a four-year high in the three months to December, a closely watched survey showed on Monday, reinforcing market expectations the central bank will raise interest rates this week, Reuters reported. But firms expect conditions to worsen three months ahead as they fret over the impact of higher U.S. tariffs and soft consumption, highlighting uncertainty over how far the Bank of Japan (BOJ) could eventually push up borrowing costs.

Canadian regulators are stepping up the fight against online fraud and scams by shutting down thousands of fake crypto platforms and websites that are believed to be orchestrating investment scams, InvestmentExecutive.com reported. In a joint release Thursday, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) reported that between June 5 and Nov. 23 they’ve taken down more than 3,900 fake platforms and scam websites that utilized upwards of 6,900 web addresses.

After a stellar 2025, investors expect shares in European banks to keep heading higher in 2026, supported by strong earnings and, crucially, cost savings stemming from artificial intelligence, Reuters reported. As fears of a recession and interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank have subsided, investors have turned even more positive towards European banks, revising up their expectations for the sector, despite a complicated backdrop.