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The Singapore High Court has granted leave for debt-ridden KrisEnergy to convene a meeting of its scheme creditors within three months from Nov 16, the Business Times reported. The mainboard-listed upstream oil and gas firm's debt moratorium has also been extended again, this time to Jan 16, 2021. It was first granted in September last year.
Wirecard's insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe on Monday said the payment system provider's technology platform had been sold to Spain's Banco Santander, Reuters reported. “Banco Santander will acquire the technology platform of the payment service provider in Europe as well as all highly specialized technological assets,” Jaffe said in a statement. In a separate statement, Banco Santander said it had agreed to acquire several highly specialised technological assets from the merchant payments business of Wirecard in Europe, to accelerate its growth plans in Europe.
New rules affecting bank capital reserves could hurt lenders’ ability to “be part of the solution” to the coronavirus crisis and should be delayed or amended, the head of the European Banking Federation (EBF) said on Monday, Reuters reported. EBF head Jean Pierre Mustier, who is CEO of Italian bank UniCredit CRDI.MI, also called for a more unified European banking market. “We need to minimise fragmentation to allow cross-border groups to work on an even more optimised basis in terms of free flows of liquidity and capital,” he told the Euro Finance Week conference, which was held virtually.
Korean Air Lines Co Ltd plans to spend 1.8 trillion won ($1.62 billion) to become the top shareholder of indebted Asiana Airlines Inc, in aviation's first major consolidation since COVID-19 brought the industry to its knees, Reuters reported. It will also be the biggest shake-up in South Korean air travel since Asiana’s founding ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, with the airline eventually integrated into Korean Air to create a national carrier commanding about 60% of international routes.
Nigeria has passed a law that will create a new resolution fund to support failing or distressed lenders and will get commercial banks to help pay for it, Reuters reported. The Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, and is in response to developments in the financial sector over the past 20 years. Under the new law, the central bank will invest 10 billion naira ($26.3 million) while the Nigerian deposit insurer NDIC will contribute 4 billion naira.
The Zambian government’s lack of engagement has made providing near-term debt relief impossible, a large Eurobond creditor group said, adding it may consider other options with the country looking on track for an acrimonious debt restructuring, Reuters reported. Zambia has become Africa’s first sovereign pandemic-era default after it failed to pay a $42.5 million coupon at the expiry of the grace period on Friday.
Suriname’s government has asked creditors for a payment deferral on its two bonds, which total $675 million in size, in what analysts said could be a prelude to a broader debt restructuring, Reuters reported. The government of the South American nation announced the launch of a consent solicitation for its two bonds, due in 2023 and 2026, in a statement on Saturday. The consent solicitation expires on Nov. 23. The move had been expected after Suriname said late last month that it wanted to make use of a 30-day grace period on its dollar-bond coupon payments due on Oct.
Chinese banks and fund managers dumped their holdings of riskier corporate bonds on Friday after a series of defaults by top-rated state-owned enterprises (SOEs) sent shockwaves through the mainland corporate bond market, Reuters reported. As lower-rated bond yields rose, analysts speculated the defaults suggested authorities were going back to cleaning up excessive debt build-up in an economy emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. A Chinese miner that defaulted this week meanwhile canceled Friday’s investor meeting for fear it would turn chaotic after too many creditors showed up.
Germany’s economic recovery continued until October but has slowed since August, the Economy Ministry said on Friday, adding that lockdown measures implemented to slow the spread of the coronavirus hit the economy in November, Reuters reported. The Economy Ministry said in its monthly report that the restrictions imposed from the start of November which have seen restaurants, bars and entertainment venues such as cinemas and theatres close meant consumption was taking a hit.