Headlines

The Singapore High Court on Tuesday granted oil trader GP Global APAC Pte Ltd a six-month debt moratorium, the company’s lawyers said on Thursday, paving the way for its parent company to restructure more than $1 billion in debt, Reuters reported. GP APAC is the Singapore unit of GP Global, a global oil trader and ship fuel supplier based in the United Arab Emirates that is in default amid allegations that employers carried out fraudulent trades.

A funding crisis at Greensill Capital could spill over to some of its high-risk borrowers and lead to losses for insurers and banks that have done business with the UK-based supply chain finance firm if its clients default, according to several industry experts and a review of public filings, Reuters reported. Greensill, backed by Softbank Group Corp’s Vision Fund, helps companies spread out the time they have to pay their bills. The loans, which typically have maturities of up to 90 days, are securitized and sold to investors, allowing Greensill to make new loans.

German business groups expressed dismay on Thursday after Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders agreed a gradual easing of coronavirus curbs but added an “emergency brake” to reimpose restrictions if case numbers get out of control, Reuters reported. The tentative reopening plan dashed any hopes of a swift rebound in consumer spending this month to end a weak first quarter on a stronger note. Some economists also worried about long-term damage to the economy and people’s opportunities in life.

Boris Johnson's combative new Brexit minister is already ruffling feathers in Brussels, Politico reported. David Frost managed to irk both the Irish and the European Commission’s top brass with a unilateral U.K. decision to exempt British firms from some bureaucracy when shipping food to Northern Ireland, a move the EU says breaches the Brexit divorce deal. The policy, announced by the U.K. in a written statement, marks Frost’s opening gambit as Johnson’s new Brexit “super minister,” a role he only just inherited from Michael Gove.

Billionaire Lakshmi Mittal is revisiting a plan to set up a steel plant in the mineral-rich eastern Indian state of Odisha with an investment of $6.9 billion, after abandoning an earlier attempt to build a mill in the province, Bloomberg News reported. ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd. has signed an accord to build a steel plant in the state with an investment of 500 billion rupees ($6.9 billion), Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s office said in a Twitter post. Federal Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Twitter earlier this week that he had “good conversations” with Mittal.

The United States on Thursday agreed to a four-month suspension of retaliatory tariffs imposed on British goods such as Scotch whisky over a long-running aircraft subsidy row, with both sides pledging to use the time to resolve the dispute, Reuters reported. The U.S. administration under former President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Scotch whisky and other European Union food, wine and spirits, which the industry says have put its future at risk.

Pushing member states to address salary disparities between men and women, the European Union revealed details on Thursday of a proposed law that would require companies to divulge gender pay gaps and give job candidates access to salary information in employment interviews, the New York Times reported. It also would provide women with better tools to fight for equal pay. The move comes as female workers across the world have been disproportionately affected by the economic repercussions of the coronavirus crisis, and it could lead to sanctions on companies that do not comply.

Thailand’s finance ministry, the largest shareholder of Thai Airways International Pcl, signaled its support for a restructuring plan that includes raising fresh capital, a temporary freeze on repayment of borrowings and slashing its workforce by half to return the debt-ridden airline to profit, Bloomberg News reported. The key elements of the debt rehabilitation plan are “quite acceptable,” Pantip Sripimol, director general of the State Enterprise Policy Office under the finance ministry, said Wednesday.

European governments must help businesses boost their equity or face a wave of bankruptcies and unemployment that could cost 15 million jobs, according to analysis by the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The Fund estimates massive public cash handouts during the pandemic helped save 30 million jobs, but the share of insolvent companies still increased, with small firms particularly affected. To lift European business out of danger, it said a combination of public and private support totaling 2% to 3% of economic output is needed.