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Paralysed by financial crisis and riven with political risk, a number of Lebanon’s banks are struggling to meet a central bank target to raise their capital defences by 20% by the end of this month, Reuters reported. Less than half of the country’s dozen or so large banks are expected to meet the requirement, which the central bank set in August to reinforce the sector, according to four banking sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
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European governments must find the right moment to wean the economy off unprecedented crisis support so they don’t harm growth in the long run, financial supervisors warned, Bloomberg News reported. While a wave of liquidity stabilized lending and kept businesses and households afloat during the virus shutdowns, extending such stimulus for too long could complicate its removal and make an eventual restructuring more painful, the European Systemic Risk Board said in a report on Tuesday.
New post-Brexit trade restrictions have pushed up the cost of parts and raw materials for two thirds of small British manufacturers surveyed last month, and a majority reported some level of disruption, Reuters reported. The survey of nearly 300 firms, by consultants South West Manufacturing Advisory Service (SWMAS) and the Manufacturing Growth Programme, a government and European Union-funded initiative providing support to small firms, adds to the picture of disruption from new customs checks that came into force on Jan. 1 for goods trade with the EU.
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Nigeria’s federal government has set the terms for the conversion of its stock of central bank overdrafts into long-term notes in a bid to create transparency around its dependence on that source of funding, Bloomberg News reported. The 10 trillion naira ($25.6 billion) debt will be exchanged for 30-year notes issued to the central bank, Patience Oniha, head of the Debt Management Office said by email. The agreement on timing for the conversion needs to be finalized to get the required approval from the cabinet, at the earliest in the second quarter, Oniha said.
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International companies that want to participate in the Saudi government’s investment opportunities “will have to make a choice” and establish regional headquarters in the kingdom as of 2024 or they will not win government contracts, the Saudi finance minister told Reuters yesterday.
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The New South Wales (NSW) state gambling watchdog considers Crown Resorts unfit to hold a gaming license for its flagship Sydney casino, Crown said on Tuesday, a week after an inquiry found widespread money laundering and governance issues, Reuters reported. The casino operator said the state gambling watchdog gave it a notice in a letter after its Sydney casino breached a clause of the VIP Gaming Management Agreement. The watchdog has now begun a consultation process and invited Crown to address the authority, it said.
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Cavalier Construction’s insolvency took down its equipment supplier affiliate even though the latter had generated a net profit in each of the previous four years, its liquidators have revealed, the Nassau Tribune reported. Andrew Davies and Kendrick Christie, the Crowe Bahamas accountants and partners, in their first report to the Supreme Court on Bobcat Bahamas’ winding-up disclosed that it was placed into liquidation only because it lost the services and back office support provided by Cavalier when the latter collapsed in January 2020.
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When China’s leader Xi Jinping late last year quashed Ant Group’s initial public offering, his motives appeared clear: He was worried that Ant was adding risk to the financial system, and furious at its founder, Jack Ma, for criticizing his signature campaign to strengthen financial oversight, the Wall Street Journal reported. There was another key reason, according to more than a dozen Chinese officials and government advisers: growing unease in Beijing over Ant’s complex ownership structure—and the people who stood to gain most from what would have been the world’s largest IPO.
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France is optimistic that the European Commission will sign off within days on an innovative plan for helping companies through the post-pandemic recovery, according to a finance ministry official, Bloomberg News reported. The French government has proposed a program to partially guarantee billions of euros of so-called participatory loans to improve corporate balance sheets and encourage borrowing for investment. The scheme is intended to benefit companies with long-term prospects.
Belgian tax authorities and National Social Security Office, ONSS, have agreed, for the moment, not to declare businesses that are too heavily indebted bankrupt, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne told the Chamber’s Economic Affairs Commission this week, the Brussels Times reported. A moratorium on bankruptcies ended on Monday and Parliament is yet to approve a new bill on the judicial reorganisation procedure. Amendments to a text prepared by the Government were submitted only on Friday.