Headlines

China's market regulator proposed amendments to the country's e-commerce law, saying that licences can be revoked if the platforms fail to take necessary measures against vendors who infringe intellectual property rights, Reuters reported. The amendments are open for public review before Oct. 14, an article published by the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) website on Tuesday said. China has been tightening regulatory control over the country's internet giants, drafting new laws in areas such as anti-monopoly and data security.

It began as a market stall in West Yorkshire, selling eggs and butter just before the turn of the 20th century. Today that market stall is Morrisons, Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket chain, with nearly 500 stores and the prize in a 7 billion-pound ($9.6 billion) bidding war between American private equity groups. It is a financial drama that is playing out almost weekly in Britain: A domestic company is courted and snapped up by, most likely, private equity investors awash with cash, the New York Times reported.

U.K. mortgage approvals fell for a second month in July but remained well above pre-pandemic levels, suggesting demand for property is holding up despite the tapering of a tax break on purchases, Bloomberg News reported. Banks and building societies authorized 75,152 home loans, the least in a year and down from 80,272 in June, the Bank of England said Tuesday.

The Norwegian government has proposed overhauling the taxation system for the petroleum industry, which has been in place since 2005, cutting reimbursements for exploration costs, Finance Minister Jan Tore Sanner said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "The changes mean that the tax conditions will be tighter and have a more neutral effect on investments. At the same time, we are making sure that companies have predictable framework conditions," Sanner told a news conference.

Mexico's central bank on Tuesday raised its forecasts for inflation and economic growth this year, and warned that price pressures could be stronger than expected in the months ahead, Reuters reported. Setting out its latest quarterly forecasts, the Bank of Mexico projected annual consumer price inflation would be 5.7% in the final quarter, up from a prior prediction of 4.8%. Mexican gross domestic product (GDP) growth was seen at 6.2% in 2021, up from 6.0% previously, the bank said.

Axel Kicillof, the outspoken governor of Buenos Aires, called journalists to one of the province’s opulent 19th-century mansions and conceded defeat. It was early 2020, just weeks before the pandemic hit, and Kicillof, a man reviled in investing circles for his brash negotiating style when he was economy minister during Argentina’s default a decade ago, was once again doing battle with creditors. This time around, he lamented bondholders’ “enormous intransigence” in refusing his province’s request to delay a $250 million bond payment.

Austria’s government is stepping up its efforts to urge fellow European Union nations to quicken a return to cautious budget policies, as the latest wave of the pandemic will require less stimulus, Bloomberg News reported. Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel said further measures to support economies were unlikely despite an increase in infections, as higher vaccination rates allowed governments to avoid lockdown measures. Instead, EU member states should look ahead and start rebuilding state financial coffers to prepare for future crises.

Canadian courts have granted Laurentian University permission to extend its insolvency restructuring efforts into the new year, Sudbury.com reported. Laurentian asked that the stay of proceedings protecting it against its creditors be extended until Jan. 31, 2022, and that the maturity date for its bridge financing loans also be extended to the same date. In granting the motion presented by Laurentian in the brief court hearing on Friday, Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz said Laurentian has demonstrated significant progress in its restructuring efforts amid a difficult situation.

China’s top manager of distressed assets, China Huarong Asset Management Co., confirmed it made a net loss of roughly $16 billion last year, and warned investors that it fell short of regulatory requirements on financial strength, the Wall Street Journal reported. The publication of the 2020 results is a key step in the rehabilitation of Huarong. The company, a major borrower in international bond markets, had rattled global investors earlier this year after it delayed the release of its annual results.

Argentina’s Province of Buenos Aires says it received creditor support to restructure 98% of its $7.1 billion in overseas debt, putting it a step closer to ending a 16-month default, Bloomberg News reported. The province, which is Argentina’s largest and most populous, will swap all of the bonds it had offered to exchange except for dollar-denominated notes due 2021 and euro-denominated bonds due 2020, which had been issued under indentures that required a higher amount of creditor participation, according to a statement. The deal is expected to settle Sept. 3.