Headlines

A.Y.K. International Inc., the maker of Secret and Silk pantyhose, has struck a deal to purchase insolvent Sheertex parent SRTX Inc., The Globe and Mail reported. SRTX and three affiliates last week filed a notice of intention to make a proposal under the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, with PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. acting as trustee. The deal, which requires court approval, would be structured as a “reverse vesting” deal, meaning that assets and liabilities that Montreal-based A.Y.K. doesn’t want would be transferred to a separate entity. A.Y.K.

A few weeks ago, analysts at UBS Group AG laid out a worst-case scenario for defaults in the private credit sector. Their outlook is even more grim now, Bloomberg News reported. Strategists including Matthew Mish now say private credit could see default rates surge as high as 15 per cent, two percentage points more than a forecast the firm published less than a month ago.

Thailand’s central bank surprised markets with a rate cut at its first meeting of the year, delivering a second consecutive round of easing to bolster tentative signs of recovery, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee voted 4-2 on Wednesday to lower its policy rate to 1.00% from 1.25%. Two members voted to hold.

China said on Wednesday it had already met obligations linked to Washington's Section 301 unfair trade practices statute, after the U.S. Trade Representative signalled he would continue investigations that could lead to more tariffs, Reuters reported. Beijing made an agreement with the United States linked to that statute in 2020, a spokesperson from China's Commerce Ministry said. China hoped the U.S. would not "shift responsibility" or "provoke trouble" but will instead see that the agreement had been implemented, the spokesperson added in a statement. U.S.

Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, has said he is confident Britain’s trade deal with the US still stands after Donald Trump’s 10pc global tariffs took effect, The Telegraph reported. “I can say with some confidence... that the [deal] that we have negotiated,” Mr Kyle told a parliamentary committee.

Factory activity in Canada hit the brakes last month, with an early estimate pointing to a sharp retreat in sales, the Wall Street Journal reported. Manufacturing shipments fell by about 3.3% in January from a month prior, an early tally by Statistics Canada showed. That would mark a third decline in the last four months. The largest declines to start the year were in transportation equipment and machinery, the data agency said Tuesday.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has opened a preliminary inquiry into Binance following reports that the cryptocurrency exchange allowed $1.7 billion in transactions tied to Iranian entities and Russia’s sanctions-evading oil trade, Decrypt.com reported. The probe follows reporting by The Wall Street Journal alleging that internal Binance investigators uncovered transfers from accounts on the platform to intermediaries connected to Iran, including entities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Yemen’s Houthi militants.

China banned the export of critical minerals and other goods with potential military uses to several major Japanese companies, further escalating its pressure campaign against Tokyo over remarks Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made about Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new measures, announced by China’s Commerce Ministry Tuesday, show Beijing isn’t backing down in its dispute with Japan, even after Takaichi won a resounding victory in a recent parliamentary election.

Private home prices in Hong Kong rose 0.5% in January, the eighth consecutive month of increase, strengthening signs of a housing recovery as analysts forecast prices to jump at least 10% this year, Reuters reported. Home prices edged higher in January from December on improved economic sentiment, Rating and Valuation Department data showed on Wednesday, following a revised 0.4% increase in December. Residential prices in Hong Kong, among the world's least affordable cities, climbed 3.7% in 2025, the first increase since they peaked in 2021.