Headlines

Societe Generale is paring back credit-default swap trading as part of the overhaul of its investment bank, a move that is sending ripples through the credit derivatives industry where the French lender played an important role until recently, Reuters reported. SG announced 1,600 job cuts earlier this year and pledged to restructure its fixed-income unit after poor results, with senior management indicating it would focus less on “flow” trading of standardised products. The bank’s credit-trading desk is one area where it is scaling back.

Lebanon may need support from loyal local banks or even friendly Gulf states to buy a new Eurobond as foreign investors look set to shun the sale, citing the country’s long list of troubles, Reuters reported. A Eurobond of around $2 billion is being prepared for sale this month, with cash raised earmarked for refinancing maturing debts and shoring up Lebanon’s shaky public finances. But international appetite appears muted, with fund managers wary of putting money into one of the world’s most indebted countries as it grapples with a multitude of national and geopolitical concerns.

A group of former senior European central bankers has published a memo attacking the loose monetary policy of the European Central Bank, which they argued was “based on the wrong diagnosis” and risks eroding its independence, the Financial Times reported. Their criticism comes in response to a package of easing measures announced by the ECB last month that triggered unprecedented opposition within the top echelons of the central bank.

PizzaExpress Ltd. hired financial adviser Houlihan Lokey Inc. to prepare for debt talks with its creditors amid tough trading conditions for U.K. restaurant chains, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. Separately, a group of secured bondholders started working with Perella Weinberg Partners after appointing law firm Latham & Watkins in July, said the people, who asked not to be named because it’s private. Representatives for Houlihan Lokey, Perella Weinberg and PizzaExpress declined to comment. The U.K.

Ashish Shah is caught in the middle of India’s latest financial crisis. As chief operating officer of Radius Developers, he’s struggling to fund construction of apartment complexes because of a liquidity crunch in the nation’s bloated shadow-banking sector, Bloomberg News reported. “Real estate is a sitting duck,” said Shah. “The timing is very crucial as the slowdown has hit the real estate market quite hard.

Airline bankruptcies have increased this year at the fastest ever rate, led by the collapse of India’s Jet Airways, British travel group Thomas Cook and Avianca of Brazil, according to industry data published on Friday, Reuters reported. “2019 has seen the fastest growth in airline failure in history,” said airline consulting firm IBA, which has tracked plane fleets returned to lessors or administrators by 17 carriers that have gone bust so far this year.

Creditors of Brazilian oil platforms and rigs maker Sete Brasil have approved the sale of four oil exploration rigs to British company Magni Partners, two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters on Friday, Reuters reported. The rigs sold are named Urca, Frade, Arpoador and Guarapari. The four rigs have a 10-year leasing contract with Petrobras , which will pay $299,000 per day for each rig when operational, one of the sources said. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had no information regarding total value of the deal.

Thomas Cook was forced to pay fees worth tens of millions of pounds to more than 30 advisers in its dying days as it struggled to secure a rescue deal, with the vast payouts adding to an already severe cash burn at the collapsed travel group, the Financial Times reported. Dozens of City advisers — working on behalf of the company, bondholders, shareholders, industry insurance schemes such as Atol and the pension fund — were involved in talks to restructure the debt-laden business in the run-up to its demise.

Shares in Ted Baker shed more than a third of their value on Thursday, after the British fashion retailer’s second profit warning in four months on the back of what new boss Lindsay Page called the worst business conditions in decades, Reuters reported. The warning underlines the challenges facing Page, who became chief executive officer in April, after misconduct allegations against Ted Baker founder and top shareholder Ray Kelvin. The company also tapped a new finance chief last week.

South Africa’s public debt could rise as high as 95% of gross domestic product by 2024 if the government doesn’t restructure the state-run utility Eskom and implement a workable growth plan, the Institute of International Finance said in report, Reuters reported. The report, released late on Wednesday, echoes a warning on Tuesday by the central bank about ballooning government debt, which has doubled from less than 30% of GDP before the 2008 global financial crisis to nearly 60%. The 95% estimate is the worst of four outlooks the IIF report laid out.