Headlines

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that the government is in talks with potential investors for the sale of insolvent glassmaker Srpska Fabrika Stakla (SFS), SeeNews.com reported. "We are in talks with potential investors, they are conducting a due diligence, an analysis of the financial situation and the potential of the factory," Brnabic said as seen in a video file posted on the website of Tanjug news agency on Saturday.

A trio of U.K. companies which misled clients to raise millions of pounds in funds under the guise of property investments have been wound up by the courts, the Financial Times reported. An investigation by the Insolvency Service found London-based property investment firms Rationale Asset Management and Value Asset Management had "entirely misled" investors and millions of pounds without making any "genuine" investments.

Debenhams has been wound up by a judge in a specialist court. Judge Daniel Schaffer made a winding-up order at an online hearing in the Insolvency and Companies Court on Monday, the Mirror reported. He described the retailer as a "rudderless ship" drifting in an "ocean of insolvency" which needs to be brought into port. The judge said the Official Receiver now should assess the position. He had been asked to consider Debenhams' position by lawyers representing a shareholder and debtors. The judge said he was making a winding-up order of his own motion.

China’s central bank won’t exit “prematurely” from its supportive monetary policies while at the same time keeping debt risks under control, Governor Yi Gang said, Bloomberg News reported. Monetary policy will continue to “prop up the economy,” Yi said on a panel hosted by the World Economic Forum on Tuesday. Officials will remain mindful of risks, such as a rising macro leverage ratio and higher non-performing loans, he said. “Looking forward, I think our monetary policy will continue,” he said.

When India revamped its bankruptcy code in 2016, some foreign investors were hopeful it would rewrite the rules of capitalism in the country. The big US distressed debt specialist Oaktree Capital was among those that saw opportunities to invest in the country following the attempt to turn one of the slowest insolvency regimes of any large economy into one of the fastest.

Now that Britain is firmly outside the European Union, Britain's auto industry could be on the verge of dwindling even more, the New York Times reported. The Brexit deal worked out with the European Union last month avoided cross-channel tariffs that would have been disastrous for auto manufacturing in Britain. But the pact will create more customs paperwork and slow down supply chains, while creating disincentives for global carmakers to continue investing in British factories as they begin retooling for electric vehicles.

Saudi Arabia sold a two-part dollar bond as countries in the Gulf Arab region raise cash buffers to weather low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The world’s largest crude exporter priced $5 billion in bonds on Tuesday. The $2.75 billion 12-year notes were priced at 130 basis points over 10-year U.S. Treasuries, compared with guidance of 140 basis points and initial price talk of 165. The $2.25 billion 40-year security were priced at 3.45%, versus guidance in the 3.55% area and initial price talk of 3.75%.

One year after the coronavirus pandemic first disrupted global supply chains by closing Chinese factories, fresh shipping headaches are delaying U.S. farm exports, crimping domestic manufacturing and threatening higher prices for American consumers, the Washington Post reported. The cost of shipping a container of goods has risen by 80 percent since early November and has nearly tripled over the past year, according to the Freightos Baltic Index.