Headlines

The French fiscal administration has launched an in-depth probe into the wealth of former Renault-Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, French daily Liberation reported on Sunday, citing sources. Ghosn, who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship, is facing financial misconduct charges, which he denies.

Some €875 million – or 7.3 per cent – of all performing loans to small and medium businesses have a “high vulnerability” suggesting their ability to repay in the event of a downturn would be threatened, according to Central Bank research, the Irish Times reported. The research, conducted across three banks in the Republic (AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster), found that there is more than €12 billion in outstanding loans to SMEs.

The price of Lebanese government debt is once again in freefall as investors eye political infighting in Beirut and rising tensions across the Gulf, the Financial Times reported. Spreads on 10-year Lebanese dollar bonds over US Treasuries have widened to the highest levels since at least 2011, according to Bloomberg data. The price of five-year Lebanese credit default swaps, bought as a form of insurance against non-payment on the bonds, hit 921 basis points this week, a fifth higher than levels at the turn of the year.

Realty developer Rustomjee Group has emerged as the sole bidder for Ariisto Developers, one of the first Mumbai based builders to be admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for undertaking insolvency proceedings, said persons with direct knowledge of the development, the Economic Times reported. Total claims of lenders and other stakeholders, including lenders and operational creditors, stand at ₹2,500 crore.

Italy risks further infuriating European Union finance chiefs after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he was in favour of a broad reform that would cut taxes, Express.co.uk reported. As the two sides brace to collide yet again, Mr Conte said he agree with deputy prime minister and far-right leader Matteo Salvini, who is calling for significant tax cuts. Mr Salvini has threatened to bring down the Italian government should his proposals not be met.

The chairman of the largest Irish estate agency has said it is time to “shout stop” about the Central Bank’s mortgage lending restrictions and has called on the regulator to relax its rules to release “the genius of capitalism”, the Irish Times reported. Mark FitzGerald, the chairman of Sherry FitzGerald, said the Central Bank’s macroprudential rules, which cap new mortgages according to loan-to-value and loan-to-income limits, are “too binding”.

In communities across Britain, funding from London was shrinking to nothing — the central equation of national austerity, the Internation

Five more people have been arrested in the investigation into the collapse of British cafe chain Patisserie Valerie after accounting irregularities were discovered last year, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on Sunday, the Irish Times reported. The new arrests bring the total detained to six. Patisserie Holdings’ former finance director Chris Marsh, who had helped grow the company from eight stores to more than 200, was arrested and released on bail over the scandal last year. Police did not name those arrested this month.

Vedanta Resources said it would take urgent steps to protect its Zambian assets and pursue international arbitration if necessary after a Lusaka court on Thursday rejected its request to be included in liquidation proceedings, Reuters reported. A Lusaka judge on Thursday ruled Vedanta Resources could not take part in proceedings to wind up its Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) business in Zambia, but granted Vedanta leave to appeal the ruling. The company said it would consider whether to do so. The case has intensified concerns among international miners about resource nationalism in Africa.

India’s bankruptcy court, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), on Thursday accepted an insolvency petition against Jet Airways Ltd filed by its creditors as they attempt to recover some of their dues, Reuters reported. The insolvency process will allow lenders to sell the company as a whole or in parts, laying out a fixed timeline for a resolution around its future. Jet Airways, once India’s biggest private carrier, stopped flying in April after running out of cash, leaving thousands without jobs and pushing up air fares across the country.