Headlines

China’s distressed loan managers are facing mounting pressure as the pandemic has made it harder to dispose of assets, according to a closely watched survey by China Orient Asset Management Co., Bloomberg News reported. Increasing credit losses at the managers themselves threaten to hurt profits and have adverse impact on their capital strength over the long term, China Orient, one the nation’s four state-owned bad loan banks, said in a report published on Friday. It also warned of growing difficulties to manage the maturity mismatch as their liabilities are mostly short-term.

Three-quarters of Canada’s travel agents, ITAs and travel agencies say they could face insolvency if the government doesn’t extend financial aid programs until the end of 2021, or until 90 days after travel restrictions are lifted, according to a new ACTA survey, Travel Week reported. After calling on travel agents, ITAs and travel agencies across Canada to fill out its quick 5-minute survey earlier this month, ACTA has revealed the sobering results. More than 1,000 respondents took part in the survey, including 58% who were Independent Travel Agents, 31% owners and 11% employees.

Canadian lawmakers on Thursday urged the leaders of the United States and Canada to take further steps to resolve a dispute between Enbridge Inc. and the state of Michigan over the cross-border Line 5 oil pipeline, Reuters reported. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered Calgary-based Enbridge to shut down a 4-mile section of the 540,000 barrel-per-day pipeline that runs underneath the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes by May 12, because of concerns it could leak. Enbridge is challenging Whitmer's order in U.S. courts.

According to the latest data from Statbel, 599 enterprises were declared bankrupt in Belgium in March 2021, the Brussels Times reported. March’s bankruptcies resulted in 1,445 job losses, which includes 916 full-time positions, 296 part-time jobs and 233 salaried employers. The sectors with the highest numbers of bankruptcies were transportation and other service activities, plus 142 losses in construction, 114 in wholesale and retail trade and 89 in accommodation and food service activities.

African trade contracted 11.9% in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions to curb its spread pushed the continent into its first recession in a quarter of a century, according to a new report, according to Bloomberg News. “Although the contraction was synchronized across the whole region, the greatest impact was on economies dependent on tourism and commodities,” African Export-Import Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Making Finance Work for Africa Partnership of the African Development Bank said in the report.

Millions of people in India in danger of sliding out of the middle class and into poverty due to the economic crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Times reported. Now a second wave of Covid-19 has struck India, and the middle class dreams of tens of millions of people face even greater peril. Already, about 32 million people in India were driven into poverty by the pandemic last year, according to the Pew Research Center, accounting for a majority of the 54 million who slipped out of the middle class worldwide.

Indian supermarket-operator Future Retail Ltd. approved a debt resolution plan that eases some immediate concerns as a legal battle with partner Amazon.com Inc. threatens to delay an asset sale to Reliance Industries Ltd., Bloomberg News reported. Future Retail’s board agreed to a proposition to restructure its secured bank debt and three rupee-denominated bonds, according to an exchange filing Saturday. The plan, which was accepted by lenders, is subject to approval by a committee formed by the central bank and exchanges.

Real estate firm Wave Megacity Centre has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) voluntary requesting it to initiate insolvency proceedings against itself as it is unable to clear the dues of the Noida Authority, the Economic Times reported. Wave Megacity Centre Ltd is developing commercial and residential projects in sectors 25A and 32 of Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It has asked NCLT to initiate the insolvency proceedings "due to failure of...

More businesses and individuals across Britain were declared insolvent last month than earlier in 2021 though levels remained mostly below those of a year ago as government support muted the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. Britain’s economy shrank by almost 10% last year and millions of people have been unable to work due to lockdown restrictions, but state loan guarantees and wage subsidies have kept most companies and households financially afloat for now. Government figures on Thursday showed 992 companies in England and Wales were declared insolvent in March.

South Korea’s SsangYong Motor has been put under court receivership, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court said on Thursday, in an attempt to rehabilitate the car maker after majority owner Mahindra and Mahindra failed to secure a buyer, Reuters reported. SsangYong applied to the court in December for receivership after it defaulted on a loan repayment. The South Korean automaker is expected to submit a rehabilitation plan to the court by June.