Headlines

Lim Oon Kuin, the founder of collapsed oil trading firm Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, is expected to face another 23 charges of forgery-related offences soon, Singapore’s prosecution said, Reuters reported. The 23 charges are expected to be tendered on April 8, Deputy Public Prosecutor Navin Naidu told a Singapore court on Monday. The Singapore Attorney-General’s Chambers confirmed the prosecutor’s comments. Last year, Singapore police charged the 78-year-old former oil tycoon, better known as O.K. Lim, with two counts of abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating. Owned by O.K.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. joined a growing list of global financial firms to take a hit from the forced unwinding of bets by Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management in one of the biggest margin calls of all time, Bloomberg News reported. Japan’s largest bank warned of a potential $300 million loss related to a U.S. client, a hit that’s linked to Archegos. Lenders are just starting to tally the carnage stemming from the liquidation of more than $20 billion of positions linked to Hwang’s New York-based family office, which has roiled stocks from Baidu Inc. to ViacomCBS Inc.

The blocking of the Suez Canal by one of the world’s largest container ships is likely to result in losses worth hundreds of millions of euros for the reinsurance industry, Fitch Ratings said, even as rescue teams were successful in partially refloating the vessel yesterday, Reuters reported. The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given got wedged diagonally across the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, blocking the path for hundreds of vessels waiting to transit the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Canada is betting on a sharp increase in immigration beginning this year as a way to boost the country’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government plans to significantly increase the number of new permanent residents it accepts over the next three years, and officials have taken steps in recent months to increase the pace of permanent resident approvals, largely by drawing on residents already in Canada on a temporary basis.

Indian shares rose on Tuesday, lifted by gains in bank shares after steel conglomerate JSW Steel completed an insolvency process, allowing lenders to recover some of their bad loans, Reuters reported. JSW Steel said on Friday that it completed a resolution plan for Bhushan Steel and Power, including a payment of 193.50 billion rupees ($2.66 billion) to financial creditors. “The JSW Steel resolution has given impetus to the banks as many of them were lenders to the bankrupt company,” said Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets.

The International Monetary Fund next week will upgrade its forecast for global economic growth -- driven by improved outlooks for the U.S. and China -- while warning of high uncertainty and new virus strains that threaten to hold back the rebound, Bloomberg News reported. Economic expansion this year will be higher than the IMF’s January projections of 5.5%, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday in a speech previewing the fund’s spring meetings next week. Expansion in 2022 also will be higher than the IMF’s prior forecast of 4.2%, she said.

Pakistan is selling a $2.5 billion dollar bond that will be a key test of investor sentiment after the resumption of a $6 billion bailout program with the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The South Asian nation is offering the notes in three parts, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak about it. The debt deal comes amid a flurry of developments in recent days, as Pakistan’s economy grapples with continued fallout from the pandemic.

France and the European Union are close to a deal on a bailout for Air France, which like other carriers has been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday, Reuters reported. “We are nearing a deal...It is a matter days,” Le Maire said, adding there could be concessions to ensure fair competition. “It’s not about closing lines or cutting jobs. Concessions are being asked to ensure fair competition between Air France and other carriers,” Le Maire said without providing further details.

AirAsia Group Bhd. posted a record loss in the fourth quarter and said revenue plunged 92% from a year earlier as coronavirus restrictions affected travel demand internationally and in Malaysia, Bloomberg News reported. The airline, a low-cost pioneer in Asia, posted a net loss of 2.4 billion ringgit ($590 million) for the three months through December, taking its loss for the year to 5.1 billion ringgit. “While international borders remained closed, the group focused on resuming limited domestic operations in the areas we operate,” the company said in a statement Monday.