Headlines

A surge in the number of people who can’t pay their debts is raising eyebrows in Canada, BNN Bloomberg reported. Some 11,935 consumers filed for insolvency in September, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy — a 19-per-cent increase from a year earlier and the biggest annual gain since 2009. So far in 2019, there have been 102,023 consumer insolvencies, the second-most for the first nine months of a year in records dating back to 1987.

Realtor Lingamaneni Ramesh and a strong supporter of former AP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, on Monday filed an Insolvency Petition (IP) before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) after allegedly failing to repay loans taken from creditors, The New Indian Express reported. A strong supporter of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Lingamaneni Ramesh was recently in the news after he received notices for the demolition of the alleged illegal structures built by him in the 'karakatta' of river Krishna in Undavalli of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh.

Italy’s Central Bank’s governor, Ignazio Visco, said on Friday that he favours reforming the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) but without triggering market panic, New Europe reported. The euro zone’s bailout fund has been designed as a lender of last resort for the 19-member Eurozone. However, the Italian government fears that widening the scope of the ESM’s mandate to include debt restructuring could trigger a sudden rise of sovereign rates rise for the southern periphery.

Homebuyers have filed more than 1,800 cases against builders under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) since June 2018, the government told the Lok Sabha on Monday, Business Standard reported. These are the number of cases pending before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as on September 30. Citing the information received from NCLT, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur said that a total 1,821 cases have been filed by homebuyers against builders since June 2018 under the Code.

The Reserve Bank can now seek resolution of non-banking financial companies having assets worth of at least ₹500 crore under the insolvency law, a move that is likely to help in addressing woes in the NBFC sector, Mint reported. After discussions with the central bank, the corporate affairs ministry on Monday issued a notification specifying the categories of financial service providers (FSPs) that can be taken up for resolution under the "generic framework" of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

South Africa’s government has appointed packaging firm chief executive Andre de Ruyter as the new head of Eskom and tasked him with restructuring the heavily indebted state utility whose power plants are struggling to keep the nation’s lights on, Reuters reported. Investor worries about South Africa’s economy have been reignited after repeated power cuts in February and March dragged growth into negative territory in the first quarter. The Ministry of Public Enterprises said de Ruyter, chief executive of Nampak, would start at Eskom on Jan.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday directed the Synergy Group, the sole entity interested in the beleaguered Jet Airways, to appear before it and present a plan by December 3, The Financial Express reported. The direction came after the resolution professional (RP) for Jet Airways, Ashish Chhawchharia, told the bench that Colombia-based Synergy Group sought additional time till February to firm up its plans for Jet Airways. Cash-strapped Jet Airways has been grounded for seven months now and the airline was admitted for insolvency on June 20.

A new insolvency law to help UAE residents clear bad debts will ease the burden of heavy liabilities as the threat of criminal sanctions is removed, according to analysts, The National reported. The federal law, passed by the UAE Cabinet on Sunday, protects Emiratis and residents in debt from legal prosecution and decriminalises their financial obligations, offering them an opportunity to work to resolve their financial dilemma while still supporting their families.

India unveiled rules to help creditors recover loans due from large shadow lenders as a prolonged upheaval in the nation’s credit markets raises the risk of defaults by the financiers, Bloomberg News reported, The amended law provides a generic framework for insolvency and liquidation proceedings of systemically-important financial services providers, other than banks, according to a government statement on Friday. The 15-month-old credit crisis has choked economic growth to its slowest pace in six years, while company defaults on rupee bonds are at a record high.

Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez says he won’t rush the debt agreement process to ensure he gets a good deal for the country, Bloomberg News reported. “We don’t want to sign anything and then regret it,” he said in an interview for Pagina 12 released on Sunday. “We don’t want to run after the timelines for the bondholders, we want to run after the timeline that’s best for Argentines.” He said he listens to Guillermo Nielsen, the debt negotiator for Argentina in 2005, on debt, but that he’s looking to make the final decisions himself.