Headlines

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on Thursday granted relief to Sporta Technologies, the parent company of Dream11, freeing it from the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) rejecting a petition by Reward Solutions, the Economic Times of India reported. NCLAT concluded that the default date for the debt squarely fell within the timeline of Section 10A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Section 10 A prohibits the initiation of CIRP for default occurring between March 25, 2020 and March 25 2021 as the legislature intended to protect the firms hit by Covid.

European Union leaders on Thursday agreed to align "relevant aspects" of their countries' insolvency laws for companies, as part of broader efforts to integrate capital markets and make the bloc more competitive, DPA International reported. EU leaders’ agreed to a declaration that commits to “harmonizing relevant aspects of national corporate insolvency frameworks,” among other measures to further integrate capital markets. The EU is struggling to compete with the United States and China, and commissioned former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta to come up with a plan.

Indonesia said fiscal and monetary policies are in sync to cushion the economy from the rising dollar, demonstrating an all-hands-on-deck approach, with the central bank signaling they’re intervening more actively to aid the rupiah, Bloomberg News reported. “We work very closely with Governor Perry in order for us to be able to adjust the macro stance to adapt with this new level of pressure,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Thursday, referring to Bank Indonesia’s top policymaker.

Azul SA’s pursuit of a merger with Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA has gained momentum, with talks underway for a deal with the controlling shareholder of the rival Brazilian airline, Bloomberg News reported. In one scenario under consideration, holding company Abra Group Ltd. would contribute its Gol shares to Azul in exchange for a stake in the combined airline, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because discussions are still private. That type of transaction could appeal to Azul because it wouldn’t have to commit much cash, if any.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has sought stakeholders’ comments to revamp various rules under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), including those relating to personal guarantors, financial services providers and the pre-packaged scheme, the Economic Times of India reported. In a notice, the ministry also said it’s seeking to tweak the rules on the application to the adjudicating authority, the annual statement of accounts and the annual report rules, as stipulated by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). The notice has been uploaded on the IBBI website.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated monetary policy will stay accommodative for a while as policymakers continue to buy government bonds, Bloomberg News reported. The BOJ would eventually reduce its bond buying at an unspecified timing in the future, he told an audience at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington on Friday. But it judged it was “dangerous” to completely remove its bond market intervention in March, when it raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years and ended its yield curve program, he added.

Mexico’s leading presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum said she expects Petroleos Mexicanos, the world’s most indebted oil producer, to refinance its bonds ahead of upcoming maturities in 2025, Bloomberg News reported. “By necessity it has to be in 2025, because there is a maturity of part of the debt coming up in the next year, and we have to work on that,” she said in an interview on the sidelines of Mexico’s annual banking convention in Acapulco.

The European Central Bank mustn’t rush into further interest rate cuts after a likely first step in June, Governing Council member Madis Muller said, Bloomberg News reported. “We should be careful not to move too quickly with the loosening of monetary policy and wait until the data gives us the necessary confidence that inflation is getting sustainably back to the target,” the Estonian central bank chief said in an interview.

Ghana and creditors expect to reach an agreement in principle to restructure overseas bonds as soon as the end of May, Bloomberg News reported. A committee of bondholders and representatives for the government are waiting for the International Monetary Fund to approve an updated economic review, which is likely to allow a deal to move forward, said the people, who requested anonymity because the talks are private. The two sides are trying to rework about $13 billion of Eurobonds, one of the final steps in the nation’s restructuring process.

Shareholders of the International Monetary Fund agreed this week on the importance of addressing challenges faced by low-income countries, many of which are facing unsustainable debt burdens, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday, Reuters reported. Multiple reports from the IMF and the World Bank this week sounded the alarm about economic developments and prospects in low-income developing countries, which are still grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and other shocks.