Headlines

The Supreme Court of Singapore and the Supreme Court of Indonesia on March 30 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance cross-border communication and cooperation in cross-border insolvency proceedings, according to a press release. The signing ceremony was held on the sidelines of the inaugural Judicial Well-Being Workshop for ASEAN Judges in Bali, Indonesia, with The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon of Singapore and Chief Justice Prof. Dr. H. Sunarto, S.H., M.H. of Indonesia as the MOU signatories.

The Bank of Japan will keep raising interest rates if its economic forecasts hold, ‌a senior central bank official said, reinforcing a tightening bias even as fresh surveys show firms feeling the pinch of rising fuel costs linked to the Iran war, Reuters reported. While higher oil prices pose risks to economic growth, they could also push up underlying inflation by raising long-term inflation expectations, said Koji Nakamura, the BOJ's executive director overseeing monetary policy, ​in parliament on Friday.

The EU is assessing “all possibilities” including fuel rationing and releasing more oil from emergency reserves as it braces for a “long-lasting” energy shock from the Middle East war, the bloc’s energy commissioner has said, the Financial Times reported. “This will be a long crisis . . .

Greek Prime ​Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled his cabinet on Friday, as he seeks to limit ‌the fallout from a growing scandal over alleged fraud related to European Union farm funds, Reuters reported. Last year European prosecutors accused dozens of Greek stockbreeders with faking ownership of pastureland to claim millions of euros in EU subsidies, allegedly ​with the help of state employees and conservative politicians.

AS Monaco took an important step on Friday, April 3, in its financial case, Basket News reported. Four weeks after the appointment of judicial administrator Stephane Garino, the Roca Team was not declared insolvent, according to Gabriel Pantel-Jouve of BeBasket. The Monegasque court has postponed the case until June 12, 2026, giving the club temporary breathing room to sort things out. This temporary relief largely comes from emergency state intervention, which provided enough money to avoid immediate bankruptcy.

Insolvency proceedings are being opened for a portfolio of 175 hotels linked to Revo, according to German industry reports, HotelNewsResource.com reported. The scale of the portfolio makes the case one of the more significant recent insolvency developments in the German hotel sector, drawing attention to underlying financial pressures facing some operators in Europe’s largest hospitality market. Details regarding the portfolio's financial structure and the specific causes of the insolvency have not been fully disclosed.

Canada posted a merchandise trade deficit of $5.7 billion, its largest deficit since August last year as imports hit a record high, boosted by shipments of gold, BNN Bloomberg reported. Statistics Canada said on Thursday the result compared with a deficit of $4.2 billion in January as imports rose 8.4 per cent to a record $72.1 billion in February. Imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products increased 45.6 per cent in February as imports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys more than doubled.

U.K. businesses polled in March expected to raise their prices at a slightly faster rate than they did prior to the conflict in the Middle East, while wage increases were seen slowing, according to a Bank of England survey released on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. Some 2,004 chief financial officers were questioned between March 6 and 20, with energy prices having jumped after the attacks on Iran in late February.

The Financial Services Agency plans to conditionally ease capital adequacy regulations for banks to encourage investment in companies. The plan is to reduce capital buffers against loss risks while still maintaining fiscal soundness, informed sources said on Friday, the Japan Times reported. By revitalizing the supply of funds, the FSA aims to promote industrial reorganization and support startups and midsize companies in rural areas.

Italy’s deficit breached the European Union’s ceiling last year in the biggest fiscal setback for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government since she took office in 2022, Bloomberg News reported. The shortfall was 3.1% of gross domestic product, according to data published on Friday by the national statistics institute in Rome, confirming a preliminary estimate. Read more. (Subscription required.)