Headlines

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) not to terminate the concession agreement of an IL&FS group entity -- Baleshwar Kharagpur Expressway Ltd, and take appropriate measures for its insolvency resolution, the Economic Times of India reported. The appellate tribunal said the resolution of Baleshwar Kharagpur Expressway Ltd (BKEL), a SPV set up by IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited (ITNL), "is in final stages" and any termination at this stage would "further complicate" the process.
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The number of insolvent Romanian companies increased by 13.5% year-on-year to 1,120 in the first two months of 2024, the country's trade registry office, ONRC said, SeeNews.com reported. Despite falling by 8.8% on the year to 207 in January-February, the highest number of insolvent companies and legal entities was registered in Bucharest, ONRC said in a data release on Wednesday.
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Dealing with the extensive loan guarantees Italy provided to help businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic and energy crisis is proving complex, hampering efforts to fix some companies' debt problems, restructuring experts said, Reuters reported. Under successive emergency measures since 2020, Italy has extended guarantees on 189 billion euros ($205 billion) of bank loans.
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The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has admitted Union Bank of India’s application to initiate insolvency resolution proceedings against Kapil Wadhawan, the erstwhile promoter of Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL), for a Rs 3,958-crore default by the mortgage financier. Wadhwan was a co-guarantor against these loans, the Economic Times of India reported. The tribunal has also appointed Devendra Mehta as the resolution professional (RP) to ascertain the claims of lenders and compute the personal assets of Wadhawan.
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Switzerland is accelerating efforts to reform its banking regulations a year after the collapse of Credit Suisse — and handing more power to those who will enforce them, Bloomberg News reported. The government is due to unveil long-awaited proposals for legislation in the coming days that are likely to touch on all of the main pillars of bank oversight, from capital and liquidity rules to controls on governance. UBS Group AG — the country's sole remaining globally-systemic bank that’s now over twice the size of the domestic economy — is in for heightened scrutiny.
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LATAM Airlines, opens new tab said on Wednesday its board gave approval to begin the process of re-listing American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. In a filing to Chile's stock exchange, the company said the process involves meeting various requirements from the NYSE and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and could take up to six months. The Santiago-based carrier traded ADRs, which foreign companies use to list their shares on U.S. stock exchanges, on the NYSE before declaring bankruptcy in 2020.
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China’s largest property developer, Country Garden, on Tuesday said it had opted to suspend trading of its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange after delaying publication of its 2023 results as it continues to grapple with the slump in the Chinese real estate market, MarketWatch.com reported. The heavily-indebted property developer said it had decided to suspend trading of its shares in order to comply with Hong Kong stock market’s listing rules, which require it to either publish its unaudited financial statements in their current form or halt trading of its shares instead.
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Nigerian authorities asked in court Thursday for cryptocurrency exchange Binance and two of its executives to be tried for alleged money laundering and tax evasion, the first legal step following weeks of a criminal investigation into the trading platform, the Associated Press reported. Only Tigran Gambaryan, an American citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, attended the court hearing as Nadeem Anjarwalla, the company’s regional manager remains at large after fleeing custody in late March.
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Chilean port workers staged protests on Thursday, disrupting the loading and unloading of ships in one of the biggest exporters of raw materials from copper and lithium to pulp and fruit, Bloomberg News reported. A planned 24-hour strike by members of the UPC and FTPC umbrella unions began around 8 a.m. local time. The Ventanas port confirmed activities undertaken by union members are suspended. Television images showed workers blocking roads near the biggest port of Valparaiso. Local media reported protests by stevedores in the town of Talcahuano.
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The severe drought which has forced the Panama Canal, one of the world's busiest trade passages, to limit daily crossings could impact global supply chains during a period of high demand, S&P Global said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The canal has imposed several restrictions since 2023, though last month the Panama Canal Authority bumped up daily crossings to 27, from 24, as water levels rose at the man-made Gatun Lake which feeds into the canal.
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