Headlines

The German economy contracted by a record 9.7% in the second quarter as consumer spending, company investments and exports all collapsed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the statistics office said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The economic slump was much stronger than during the financial crisis more than a decade ago, and it represented the sharpest decline since Germany began to record quarterly GDP calculations in 1970, the office said.

Thailand’s bankruptcy court on Tuesday said it will hand down its decision on Thai Airways International Pcl’s request for restructuring on Sept. 14, Reuters reported. The court held two additional hearings on Aug. 20 and Aug. 25 when minor creditors opposed the carrier’s restructuring request. “The court will allow those who oppose the plan to submit their petitions within seven days from today,” the court said in a statement. Thai Airways submitted its petition for bankruptcy protection in May and received a stay on its debt.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took control of PMC last September after it was accused of fraud and concealing non-performing loans, Reuters reported. PMC’s top officials and the owners of a realty company that received the bulk of the loans were arrested. The withdrawal cap has left many of PMC’s over 900,000 depositors in deep difficulty. Some say they are struggling to clear loans or pay their children’s school fees, while others say they depend on friends for their groceries.

The collapsed payments company Wirecard has let go more than half of its remaining staff in Germany and terminated the contracts of its management board members, its insolvency administrator said, Reuters reported. News of the layoffs came as Wirecard’s demise amid an accounting scandal entered a new phase, with the official opening of insolvency proceedings on Tuesday. Michael Jaffe, the insolvency administrator, said “far-reaching” cuts were needed to keep Wirecard’s core business operational.

European investor and asset manager Arrow Global on Tuesday posted a loss for the first half of the year, mainly due to a non-cash charge of 133.6 million pounds as it revalued its balance sheet in the face of the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. The company, which buys defaulted customer accounts from retail banks and credit card companies, posted an after-tax loss of 110.4 million pounds ($144.51 million) for the six months ended June 30, compared with a profit of 24.3 million pounds a year earlier.

Standard Chartered is suing South Africa’s Land Bank to recover debts, Land Bank said on Tuesday, after the state-owned agricultural lender defaulted on repayments for debt worth 50 billion rand (2.26 billion pounds) in April, Reuters reported. South Africa’s Treasury said in June it would inject 3 billion rand into The Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa, the country’s largest agricultural focused-lender, which had been in talks with creditors on a restructuring plan following the default.

Offshore drilling rig contractor Seadrill’s ongoing attempt to restructure its massive debt could leave current shareholders with minimal or no ownership at all, the Oslo-listed company warned on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Demand for exploration and drilling has fallen further during the COVID-19 pandemic as oil firms seek to preserve cash, idling more rigs and leading to further overcapacity in the industry. Seadrill, controlled by Norwegian-born tycoon John Fredriksen, said it has failed to convince its 43 lenders to adjust the terms of its $5.7 billion bank debt.

German coalition parties have agreed to extend a freeze on insolvency rules put in place to avoid a wave of corporate bankruptcies due to the coronavirus crisis, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Speaking to reporters in Vienna, Scholz said his centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc sealed a compromise deal ahead of a coalition meeting scheduled later on Tuesday.

The BOT (Bank of Thailand) has launched a new programme aimed at helping businesses severely hit by Covid-19 to expedite debt restructuring and facilitate their recovery amid the crisis. Launching the debt restructuring programme for businesses – known as ‘DR BIZ’ – the BOT said it wants to provide a mechanism to support coordination among multiple creditors and enable businesses to lessen their debt burdens, Regulation Asia reported.

UK insolvency and restructuring experts have been bombarded for months, as industries hardest hit in the pandemic have suffered an onslaught of company failures and emergency refinancings, the Financial Times reported. But specialists across accountancy, investment banking and law are now preparing for a fresh wave of corporate distress in the autumn, when government furlough and loan schemes that have kept thousands of businesses afloat and millions employed come to an end.