Headlines

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chennai Bench, has ordered initiation of insolvency proceedings against L&T Halol - Shamlaji Tollway Ltd (L&T Halol) on a petition filed by Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), which alleged that the company had defaulted in repayment of ₹76.68 crore as on December 27, 2018, The Hindu Business Line reported.

Morning, the new prime minister would have us believe, has come to Britain. On the sunlit steps of 10 Downing Street, the home Boris Johnson has dreamt of occupying since he was a child, the incoming premier reeled off a string of promises: more police, shorter waits for doctors, better roads, rail, broadband and education, the Financial Times reported. His was a breezy optimism. “The doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters, they are going to get it wrong again,” he proclaimed.

In a significant move, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has tightened norms governing resolution professionals wherein restrictions will also be in place for their relatives from taking up employment after completion of a resolution process, The Economic Times reported. Insolvency resolution professionals would be barred from having employment when they are in possession of authorisation to take up work under the insolvency law.

Deutsche Bank’s plans to retreat from risky investment banking, fire thousands of people and return to its German roots may eventually create a healthier lender. In the short term, the overhaul will be a major financial drain, the International New York Times reported. That was made clear on Wednesday, after the bank reported a loss of 3.2 billion euros, or $3.6 billion, from April through June, as it subtracted the costs of a restructuring plan announced earlier this month. The plan is seen as a last-ditch attempt to arrest a decade of decline.

Legal combat in Sean Dunne’s US bankruptcy case appears set to resume after more than 10 hours of mediation last week failed to produce a settlement, The Irish Times reported. “We mediated the case over a day and half,” said Thomas Curran, a lawyer for the plaintiff, the trustee in Mr Dunne’s American bankruptcy. “The case did not settle.” Mr Curran said the moratorium on most filings imposed by US district judge Jeffrey Meyer during the mediation is set to expire, and he expects the two sides to resume briefing on various issues.

President Jair Bolsonaro will give Brazilians early access this year to as much as 30 billion reais ($8 billion) in funds normally set aside for the unemployed in an effort to spur the country’s moribund economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. A measure announced Wednesday by Economy Minister Paulo Guedes will allow Brazilian workers, starting in September, to take up to 500 reais of the money currently reserved in accounts set up by law by employers for workers who lose their jobs.

German auto parts maker Weber Automotive GmbH has been put up for sale as part of insolvency proceedings that started this month, according to a company spokesman. Weber filed for insolvency amid deteriorating earnings and a row between its founding family and majority shareholder Ardian SAS over the “form and scope” of a financial restructuring, Bloomberg News reported. Failure to rescue the ailing company leaves its creditors on the hook for what remains outstanding from a 130 million euro ($145 million) loan dating from 2016.

A financial crisis confronting South Africa’s state power utility has become a national debt problem. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni Tuesday unveiled a second multi-billion dollar bailout for Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. within five months, aid that may force the cash-strapped government to increase borrowing and taxes, Bloomberg News reported. That could in turn trigger a credit-rating downgrade and massive outflow of funds, raise the cost of new debt and stymie efforts to revive the moribund economy.

One of the world’s top shipbuilders is bracing for flat new order growth in the industry in 2019, as rising uncertainty stemming from the US-China trade war has caused major customers to hold back orders, the Financial Times reported.

Kenya’s parliament voted on Tuesday to nationalise the country’s main airline Kenya Airways to save it from mounting debts, Reuters reported. The loss-making airline, which is 48.9% government-owned and 7.8% held by Air France-KLM, has been struggling to return to profitability and growth. A failed expansion drive and a slump in air travel forced it to restructure $2 billion of debt in 2017. The airline later proposed taking over the running of Nairobi’s main airport to boost its revenue.