Headlines

Japan’s financial regulator is closely watching global credit markets for renewed signs of stress because there’s no guarantee that support measures will keep borrowers afloat during the pandemic, officials said, Bloomberg News reported. Efforts in the U.S. and elsewhere have so far staved off a potential implosion of securities like collateralized loan obligations, which are favored by yield-starved Japanese banks.

Argentina published a new debt offer that shortens its payment moratorium to two years and delays principal payments for half a decade. Under the revised proposal, the South American nation wouldn’t pay coupons until 2022, Bloomberg News reported. Its initial offer called for a three-year delay. Principal repayments would begin in May 2025, according to a statement from the Economy Ministry. President Alberto Fernandez’s administration entered talks with its largest creditors on Saturday after formally defaulting for the ninth time in the nation’s history.

To some short sellers, GSX Techedu Inc. is an “almost completely empty box,” with numbers that are too good to be true, Bloomberg News reported. To many analysts -- including those at Credit Suisse Group AG, which led the company’s initial public offering -- the Chinese online education firm remains a buy, and detractors just don’t understand the business model.

Kenya urgently needs to establish a credit-guarantee program to reduce the risk of lending to small- and mid-sized companies battered by the coronavirus pandemic, according to central bank Governor Patrick Njoroge, Bloomberg News reported. Three in four small businesses in the East African economy only have cash to cover two months of requirements, Njoroge said, citing an April survey.

Economic sentiment in the euro area rose from a record low after companies started to reopen across the continent following the easing of pandemic restrictions, Bloomberg News reported. A small pickup in the European Commission gauge is consistent with similar reports in recent weeks that suggest the 19-nation region is slowly working its way out of the worst crisis in living memory.

EasyJet will not fly to Italy if Rome prolongs social distancing rules on planes beyond June 15, the budget airline’s chief executive said in a newspaper interview, Reuters reported. “It would be impossible for companies to operate with only a third of the seats sold,” Lundgren was quoted as saying by Corriere della Sera on Thursday.

LATAM Airlines Group’s U.S. bankruptcy filing this week will delay its potential bailout in Brazil to at least July and also push back aid to its rivals at least through the end of June, two sources said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The delays will add further strain to Brazil’s airlines, which were already in weak shape before the pandemic. Rivals Azul SA and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA are also negotiating bailouts. “The bailout will happen; what could happen is that it may be staggered due to LATAM’s situation,” said one source.

Joint administrators for Dubai-based NMC Health said on Thursday that the most likely exit option for the company was either dissolution or liquidation, Reuters reported. However, administrators from consulting firm Alvarez and Marsal Europe said it would not be possible to conclude the ultimate outcome of the process until all investigations into the company have progressed and the liability position is ascertained. NMC Health is the largest private healthcare provider in the UAE but came under scrutiny late last year when U.S.-based short-seller Muddy Waters criticised its finan

India may need to inject up to 1.5 trillion rupees ($19.81 billion) into its state-owned lenders as their pile of soured assets is expected to double during the coronavirus pandemic, three government and banking sources told Reuters, Reuters reported. The government initially considered a budget of around 250 billion rupees for bank recapitalisations but that has risen significantly, a senior government source with direct knowledge of the matter said, with loan defaults likely to rise as businesses take a severe hit from nationwide lockdowns to tackle the coronavirus.

Struggling companies across Europe including Matalan, Travelodge and Heathrow airport have tapped their banks for €32bn of funds to help stay afloat through turbulence caused by coronavirus lockdowns, the Financial Times reported.  Over the past four months, at least 104 companies that rank below investment grade have drawn down roughly €32.2bn from their loan facilities from global banks, according to data from 9Fin, a fintech data provider that has scraped the filings of European bond issuers. The true figure is likely to be much higher, given that public