Headlines
Resources Per Region
Blockchain payments firm Ripple has not experienced any fallout in its Asia Pacific business after being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company’s chief executive officer said on Friday, Reuters reported. In late December, the SEC charged Ripple, which is associated with cryptocurrency XRP, with conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering. After that, the top U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase shut down trading in XRP, which is the world’s seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market value.
Up to 250,000 workers could lose their jobs when the JobKeeper wage subsidy ends this month as insolvency data reveals just three companies have used the Australian federal government’s new rules to help struggling employers restructure to avoid shutting down, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The end of the $90 billion JobKeeper program on March 28 is expected to result in thousands of businesses failing, pushing 125,000 to 250,000 people out of work, University of Melbourne Professor Jeff Borland estimates.
Brian McKiernan, chief executive of Ireland’s biggest securities firm Davy, resigned after regulators accused the company of a “lack of candor” in dealing with one of the worst scandals to hit Dublin’s stockbroking community in years, Bloomberg News reported. The board has also accepted the resignations of Kyran McLaughlin as a non-executive deputy chairman and Barry Nangle as head of bonds, the Dublin-based firm said in a statement Saturday. Bernard Byrne, deputy CEO, has been appointed interim chief executive.
Read more
While supply-chain experts are stepping up talk about moving manufacturing to new sites, container ship operators are putting down big bets that the world’s factory floor will remain in China, the Wall Street Journal reported. Shipping lines have placed, or have in the wings, orders for dozens of new ultra-large box ships designed to move massive amounts of cargo on each voyage. Vessels like the six behemoths capable of carrying 23,000 containers apiece that Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG recently ordered are meant for the world’s big trade lanes between China and Europe.
Read more
Norwegian Air expects its dispute with Boeing over the cancellation of orders for 97 aircraft to be decided in U.S. legal proceedings and not as part of an Irish restructuring process, a lawyer for the airline said on Friday, Reuters reported. Norwegian was given protection from bankruptcy in both Norway and Ireland, where most of its assets are registered, late last year and is aiming to emerge from the process in April with fewer aircraft and less debt. On Friday, the airline indicated to the Irish court that it was seeking to repudiate three aircraft sales contracts with Boeing.
Read more
The U.S. and U.K. are weighing additional penalties against Russia over the use of chemical weapons, with options ranging from sanctions against oligarchs to the extreme step of targeting the nation’s sovereign debt, Bloomberg News reported. British officials plan to push for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to continue to pressure Russia to provide answers over its use of banned substances, and will raise potential measures with key European allies, including France and Germany, in the coming weeks.
Read more
Dr. Agarwal Healthcare Limited has evinced interest in buying Vasan Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chennai, was informed, while seeking extension of time for the insolvency resolution process, The Hindu reported. In 2017, the NCLT had ordered the commencement of insolvency proceedings against Vasan Healthcare, in a petition filed by Alcon Laboratories (India) Pvt. Ltd., one of its suppliers. Later the proceedings were stayed by a single judge of the Madras High Court.
Read more
For aviation, a lot is riding on e-commerce right now—perhaps too much for its own long-term good, the Wall Street Journal reported. In the midst of the worst crisis for the industry ever, air freight has been a lifeline. The money yielded by each pound of cargo was 75% higher in January 2021 than a year earlier, the latest figures from data provider WorldACM show. Since few people are traveling, legacy airlines are planning their networks based on where they can fly goods, and have exploited regulatory exemptions allowing freight to fill passenger seats.
Read more
France finally unveiled its long-awaited plan for using state aid to prevent a wave of bankruptcies in the nation after the pandemic, hailing it as a model for the rest of Europe, Bloomberg News reported. The innovative program, which has now been approved by the European Union, will combine private and public money to provide as much as 20 billion euros ($24 billion) to strengthen the finances of small and medium-sized companies. The so-called participative loans adopt some of the advantages of equity and debt and are a central plank of President Emmanuel Macron’s stimulus.
Read more
Offshore drilling rig contractor Seadrill said on Thursday it had taken an additional $2.9 billion non-cash impairment on its assets due to a bleak outlook for the sector, which has reduced demand for its drilling rigs, Reuters reported. Seadrill, which in February filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States for the second time in four years, said it expected offshore drilling demand to remain depressed well into 2021, with some degree of market recovery seen by mid-2022.
Read more