Headlines

The euro zone's rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, agreed on Monday to allow Greece to pay back earlier some of its debt to the International Monetary Fund, the ESM said in a statement, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The move, which concerns loans worth around 2.7 billion euros (2.3 billion pounds), allows Athens to reduce its debt-servicing costs, because IMF loans carry higher interest than Greece would now pay on the market.

Alberto Fernández already has a full in-tray of economic woes to solve when he takes office in December. The country is grappling with recession, the peso is being caged by currency controls and a pile of debt repayments looms ominously on the horizon, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The center-left Peronist, who beat conservative incumbent Mauricio Macri on Sunday, will take on the top job from Dec. 10, with a juggling act to solve thorny issues like poverty while keeping the economy on track and fending off angry creditors.

For the past year, business leaders and policymakers in central Europe have been wondering how long they can defy gravity, the Financial Times reported. The region’s economies spent the last few years in the grip of a sustained boom, powered by a friendly mix of low interest rates, surging consumer spending and a recovery in the eurozone. But since last autumn Germany — the biggest trading partner for much of central Europe — has been sliding towards recession, and many fear a knock-on effect.

Brazil’s top banking executives were unanimous in cheering the approval of a long-delayed pension overhaul -- and quick to line up what they think should be the government’s next priority, Bloomberg News reported. With the top item on their wish list now crossed off after years of debates, bankers from Itau Unibanco Holding SA to Banco BTG Pactual SA are now championing reforms to the rules governing civil servants’ costly benefits, including changes to compensation, productivity metrics and dismissal policies.

The Nordic business of Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel firm which collapsed five weeks ago, expects to have a buyer by Christmas after attracting several bids and interest from over 10 parties, a spokeswoman said on Monday. The Nordic business, also known as Thomas Cook Northern Europe, said in September it would continue to operate as usual as it is a separate legal entity and that it was looking for new owners, Reuters reported.

The NCLAT has dismissed a plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against smartphone and mobile accessories maker Intex Technologies India Ltd by one of its creditors, Business Standard reported. A three-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya upheld the order of the NCLT Delhi, which had dismissed the plea of the operational creditor after observing a pre-existence of dispute over the claims.

In the bond world, a plain-vanilla default isn’t the scariest thing. What can be worse is a back-room deal to avoid or obscure one, a Bloomberg View reported. China needs to be on guard. No doubt, China’s economy is slowing. In September, industrial profits fell 5.3% from a year ago, the deepest slump since 2015. Yet China Inc.’s credit profile seems to be improving. So far, only $8.6 billion in bonds outstanding have negated on their obligations, versus $15.3 billion in 2018, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The team advising Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaido skipped a payment Monday on the nation’s only bonds not in default, setting up a legal showdown with creditors, Bloomberg News reported. Rather than pay the $913 million due on Petroleos de Venezuela’s 2020 notes, Guaido’s advisers say they will take legal action against investors to fight any efforts to seize the collateral on the bonds -- 50.1% of Citgo Holding Inc.’s shares. Their argument is that the debt is illegal because the opposition-led National Assembly never approved its issuance.

The number of insolvency cases admitted by the bankruptcy court continued to stay elevated, with 369 companies alone admitted in the September quarter, Business Standard reported. The March quarter of FY19 had seen the highest number (374) taken by the Benches of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), revealed data by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). The number of firms to go for liquidation in Q2FY20 stood at 96.

Samarco, a joint venture between Vale SA and BHP Group, on Friday won permission to resume operations at their Germano iron ore mine, the environmental regulator of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais said, roughly four years after a fatal dam collapse there, Reuters reported. Vale said in a separate release that it expected production at the joint venture, which is trying to restructure $3.8 billion in debt it defaulted on about a year after the accident, to resume toward the end of 2020.