Headlines

An easyJet board member has resigned following scrutiny over her role at Wirecard, the collapsed German payments company. Anastassia Lauterbach quit on Monday as a non-executive director of the low-cost carrier with immediate effect after less than two years’ service, the Financial Times reported. Her exit came days after influential shareholder advisory group ISS questioned her place on the board, given that she had been a member of the supervisory board of Wirecard, the scandal-hit German company that filed for insolvency in June after revealing a multiyear frau

On 3 December 2020 the Cyprus Parliament voted for the extension of relevant tax provisions of the Cyprus tax legislation with respect to the debt restructurings, Mondaq reported. The debt restructuring provisions allow for certain tax relief incentives for transactions which involve the transfer of Cyprus immovable property by a borrower (the definition of "borrower" has been extended recently to include any related person to the primary borrower) and/or debtor and/or guarantor to a qualified lender.

Indian stocks fell, taking a sudden plunge about one hour ahead of the close as investors assessed the latest coronavirus outbreaks as well as a new lockdown in the U.K, Bloomberg News reported. The S&P BSE Sensex closed down 3% to 45,553.96, the biggest decline since May, with all stocks in the red. Reliance Industries and utilities were the biggest contributor to the losses with the oil refiner down 2.6%. Meanwhile, a broader gauge of about 200 stocks that includes mid caps tumbled 3.4%, the most since May.

Debt-laden Sarawak Cable Bhd (SCable) has struck deals with financial institutions to restructure the loans of its affected subsidiaries, The Star Online reported. SCable said the affected companies (subsidiaries) have entered into the relevant agreements (RAs), including the restructuring agreements, with their respective lenders, with all the agreements having been signed by Dec 11,2020. The parties have agreed to vary the terms and restructure the existing facilities in accordance with the affected companies’ restructuring scheme (RS), the company told Bursa Malaysia on Dec 11.

Lebanon’s parliament passed a law on Monday to lift banking secrecy for one year in a move that could clear the way for a forensic audit of the central bank, a key condition for foreign aid that has hit a roadblock, Reuters reported. Such an audit is on a list of reforms that donors have demanded before helping Lebanon climb out of a financial crisis without precedent. These include steps to tackle corruption, a root cause of the meltdown that has crashed the currency and triggered a sovereign default.

South Africa’s biggest pot of available cash — R1.91trn ($128bn) of civil-servant pensions and unemployment funds managed by the Public Investment Corp. — is emerging as the key to rescuing the debt-stricken national power monopoly, BizNews reported. The money manager has approached its parent agency, the National Treasury, with a proposal to ease the R464bn load of obligations crushing Eskom, signaling officials are gearing up for the complex financial and political operation to convert about R95bn of Eskom debt held by the PIC into equity.

Sentiments on the UAE stock markets have turned completely negative – as a mix of global events and local concerns fuel investor fears, Gulf News reported. Within the first two hours of Monday. The index shed more than 100 points, with 28 stocks in the red. (Al Salam Group Holding is the only one as of 11.30am to break the down trend.) By 12pm, the drop was brought down below 4 points. But it still looks like being a long day for UAE investors. The real estate stocks, which had been showing signs of strong recovery through the first two months, are particularly hit.

The High Court has made formal orders winding up four companies employing 487 people here that are part of the UK fashion group Arcadia, The Irish Times reported. The companies will continue to trade under the liquidators into the new year pending any disposal of the Arcadia group. Mr Justice Brian O’Moore, when making the winding-up orders on Monday and appointing joint liquidators, said this was “another sad milestone in the decline of bricks and mortar retailing in Ireland”.

Germany has been accused of providing unfair state aid to Europe’s largest railway company Deutsche Bahn in a complaint to the EU Commission, the Financial Times reported. Transport provider FlixMobility has filed the complaint, saying Berlin has delayed a request to Brussels to allow a €5bn capital increase to Deutsche Bahn because of fears it will be rejected for breaking state aid rules.

OneWeb, the satellite internet group recently rescued from bankruptcy, is expecting to clinch a $400m fundraising next month, its executive chairman said as the company marked a return to business with the launch of 36 satellites, the Financial Times reported. Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Indian telecoms tycoon who with the British government has taken control of OneWeb for $1bn, said two satellite operators and a financial group were in late stage discussions about investing. “We are very close . . . maybe a couple of weeks,” Mr Mittal said.