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Alberta's volume of insolvency filings continues to surpass the numbers seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago, as people and businesses still suffer the effects of the latest recession, CBC reported. The latest report from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada says there were 15 per cent more consumer insolvencies in Alberta during the 12 months ending in October 2019, compared to a year earlier. The report says 16,315 Albertans filed for insolvency during that time, compared with 14,192 the previous year.
Most countries have a historic villain. For Cuba, it is Uncle Sam. For some in the Middle East, it is Israel. Here in Argentina, many direct their rage at the International Monetary Fund, The Wall Street Journal reported in a commentary. Hating on the multilateral lender, which steps in to bail out indebted governments, is something close to a national sport in this country of 44 million.
Indian initial public offerings tumbled to a 4-year low by value in 2019 as the economy slowed, but some analysts are hoping for better in 2020 on the back of potential government reforms likely to boost stock markets, Reuters reported. Funds raised by Indian IPOs fell to just $2.8 billion this year, the lowest in four years, according to data from Refinitiv. In 2017, the proceeds hit a record $11.7 billion before falling to $5.5 billion in 2018. “2019 has been the worst year from an IPO market perspective,” said Sandip Khetan, a partner at consultancy EY.
A few weeks ago, Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic party put out a tweet that, depending on your viewpoint, was either naively sincere or shamelessly provocative. Above what looked like a pair of bondage items, the CDU said: “We have a small fetish: solid finances without new debts.” Fiscal rectitude, the tweet went on to say, represents justice between older and younger generations and is a precondition of investments in society’s future, the Financial Times reported in a commentary.
In January-November 2019, UAH 7.878 billion was transferred to the accounts of insolvent banks, according to the Deposit Guarantee Fund of Ukraine, Ukrinform reported. “In January-November 2019, UAH 7,877.6 million was transferred to the accounts of banks being under liquidation. Of which the largest sum totaling UAH 6,832.0 million was received from the sale of assets of banks being under liquidation, UAH 928.2 million from repayment of loans, UAH 100.9 million from property rent, and UAH 16.6 million from redemption of securities,” reads the report.
Bad weather and belt-tightening hit the traditional start of Christmas discount sales on Thursday, dealing another blow to a high street retail industry blighted by years of shop closures and insolvencies, the Financial Times reported. Boxing Day has long marked the opening of the busy festive sales season, but its importance has waned as shoppers have moved online and retailers offer other promotions — such as November’s Black Friday — in the run-up to Christmas.
Lebanon’s central bank governor has suggested he’s struggling to contain the divergence of the pound from its peg to the dollar as the country faces its worst financial crisis in decades, Bloomberg News reported. “No one knows,” Riad Salameh said, when asked how much further the pound would depreciate on the black market. “When I spoke in the past, the dollar hadn’t reached 2,000 pounds,” he said, according to the state-run National News Agency. The pound has been pegged at 1,507.5 to the dollar since 1997.
Growing problems of corporate governance are emerging at India’s private banks and all lenders are at risk of rising default rates even though asset quality has improved overall, the Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. In its annual report on Trends and Progress of Banking in India, the central bank highlighted the possibility of defaults rising in the retail lending space after the economy slowed to 4.5% in the July-September quarter, its weakest pace since 2013.
China’s policy makers will unveil a three-year action plan in early 2020 on the reform of state enterprises, with an aim to improve the performance of the sector and create world-class champions, according to state-owned newspapers, Bloomberg News reported. The plan will tighten how the performances of state firms, often referred to as SOEs, are evaluated, and also seek “new breakthroughs” in introducing more strategic private-sector investors, Hao Peng, head of the country’s state assets manager, was cited in the China Securities Journal as saying.