Headlines

Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, Dwight Sutherland believes Barbados must have strong insolvency legislation and sound insolvency procedures as it seeks become globally competitive, Loop reported. Addressing a meeting on the country’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, hosted in conjunction with IMPACT Justice and the Government of Canada, he noted that the Mia Mottley-led Government was committed to implementing relevant reforms to improve business on the island.

Sean Dunne, once one of Ireland’s richest men, told an American court last week that he earns just €200 a month and is therefore unable to pay a sanction of $9,330 (€8,500) imposed on him earlier this year, The Irish Times reported. “As I am now bankrupt, I have great difficulty in obtaining work,” said the one-time Irish property tycoon in a sworn affidavit dated October 3rd.

Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido said the Corporacion Andina de Fomento regional development bank is preparing to offer a $400 million line of credit to help “alleviate” Venezuela’s crisis, Bloomberg News reported. Guaido, who is recognized by more than 50 countries as the country’s rightful leader, said the money wouldn’t be handed to Nicolas Maduro’s regime, without providing details. CAF, as the lender is known, handed Venezuela a $500 million loan last year to help Maduro repay existing debt with the lender amid criticism by the opposition that it was illegal and fraudulent.

Renaissance Capital, which has correctly predicted eight out of nine sovereign rating decisions in emerging Europe and the Middle East since May, is calling a downgrade to junk for South Africa next month, Bloomberg News reported. That view is at odds with the majority in the Bloomberg survey, but Renaissance Global Chief Economist Charles Robertson says South Africa’s fundamentals have deteriorated significantly since May, when Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its Baa3 rating. The next review is on Nov. 1.

KCB Group Plc is pursuing defaulters as Kenya’s biggest lender combines recently purchased National Bank of Kenya Ltd. into its operations, Bloomberg News reported. “You’ll see more actions, more demand letters going after our customers” who aren’t repaying loans, KCB Chief Executive Officer Joshua Oigara said on the sidelines of a conference in Nairobi last week. “Next year is the real recovery period for the loans we have for NBK.” The acquisition of state-owned NBK, which has 49% of its loans classified as non-performing, will almost double KCB’s ratio of bad debts to 12%.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the global body is facing its worst cash crisis in about a decade and runs the risk of defaulting on payments to staff and vendors, Bloomberg News reported. Many members are behind on their payments, forcing the UN to cut back on travel, purchases of goods and services and conferences, Guterres said. The cash crunch is “undermining the implementation of mandates decided by inter-governmental bodies,” he added in a statement on Tuesday.

National Bank of Greece, the country’s biggest bank by assets, wants to pick up the pace as its moves on from the crippling legacy of the financial crisis, and its Chief Executive Officer is planning two main initiatives to get there, Bloomberg News reported. On the docket: a possible move to bring forward the securitization of bad loans currently scheduled for 2021 and the sale of the company’s insurance unit as soon as this year, CEO Paul Mylonas said. The moves could both help cut costs as the bank carries out a restructuring plan and seeks to move toward further digitalization.

Analysts on the lookout for China’s next financial shock are training their sights on the least regulated corner of the nation’s sprawling shadow banking system, Bloomberg News reported. Their concern centers on so-called independent wealth managers, which have expanded rapidly in recent years by selling high-yield products to affluent investors. Largely untouched by a government clampdown on nearly every other form of non-bank financing, the industry has grown from obscurity into a major source of funding for cash-strapped Chinese companies.

The United Arab Emirates lifted a ban on its citizens visiting Lebanon on Monday as the Beirut government sought UAE help in steering the heavily indebted economy out of deep crisis, Reuters reported. Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, leading a delegation to Abu Dhabi seeking support, had told Reuters he was hoping the UAE would inject cash into its central bank. Before the lifting of the travel ban was announced, Hariri said he was “optimistic” after visiting the UAE and meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

South Africa’s Tongaat Hulett, which has been battling to restore investors’ confidence after announcing in April it would have to restate prior financial reports, has postponed its results statement for the latest full year, it said on Monday, Reuters reported. Audited financial statements for the year to March 31 will not now be available by the previously anticipated date of Oct. 31, Tongaat said in a statement, adding that it will update shareholders on a new release date on Nov. 18.