Headlines

Italian banks became more cautious about lending in the last quarter of 2018, tightening credit standards as well as terms and conditions on their loans, according to the European Central Bank’s latest bank lending survey. This is the second successive quarter of tightening in the Italian banking sector, “partly because they are charging higher interest margins on riskier loans”, said Jack Allen, an economist at Capital Economics, the Financial Times reported.

A report by Moody's Investors Service that downgraded the country's long-term investment ratings reflects the urgent need for quickly forming a new government, implementing reforms and reducing budget deficit, Lebanon's finance minister and experts said Tuesday.

Banco Bradesco SA analysts can’t wait for the upcoming earnings. The second-biggest bank in Latin America by market value after Itau Unibanco Holding SA is expected to benefit from a pick-up in lending in Brazil, standing out from Itau and other rivals such Banco do Brasil SA, analysts say, Bloomberg News reported. "Bradesco will likely lead the class, with a solid 4Q18 and upbeat 2019 guidance," Itau BBA analysts led by Thiago Bovolenta Batista wrote in a Jan. 20 report.

In the latest sign of turmoil in China’s once booming peer-to-peer lending sector, around 80 investors in failed lender Xinhehui protested outside the Hangzhou headquarters of a related company on Tuesday, demanding a $330 million bailout, Bloomberg News reported. The investors voiced their fury and scuffled with police at the entrance to the headquarters of Meidu Energy Corp., which owns about a third of the failed lender.

To have one airline limping forward on the brink of bankruptcy may be regarded as a misfortune. To have two looks like carelessness. That’s the fundamental problem for India’s aviation industry, home to the critically ill Jet Airways India Ltd. and its state-owned rival Air India Ltd., which more or less died in 2012 but has been kept on life support thanks to ongoing infusions of taxpayer cash, a Bloomberg View reported. Facing collapse, Jet has been trying to restructure its debt and seeking bailout money from founder Naresh Goyal and leading shareholder Etihad Airways PJSC.

Avianca Brasil, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December, is looking for a cash injection and has hired Brazilian consulting firm Galeazzi & Associados to help in talks with investors and creditors, the airline said. Galeazzi’s executives are already visiting the carrier’s creditors to discuss options, a source said, asking for anonymity to disclose private talks, Reuters reported. Reuters first reported the news of the Galeazzi hire, citing sources.

British cafe chain owner Patisserie Holdings Plc on Tuesday appointed audit firm KPMG as administrators after it was unable to renew its bank facilities in the aftermath of an accounting scandal, Reuters reported. The troubled company said it did not have sufficient funding and that its Chairman Luke Johnson extended an unsecured, interest-free loan to ensure that the staff was paid wages for January. Patisserie, which floated four years ago, plunged into turmoil last October after discovering accounting irregularities that led to the suspension of its top management.

Nyrstar, the debt-laden metals and mining group, has announced management changes, appointing an executive chairman and an interim chief financial officer. The Belgian-listed company, which is working on a deal to restructure its debts, said Martyn Konig had agreed to take up the role of executive chairman, while Roman Matej had been appointed CFO, replacing Michel Abaza who has left the group, the Financial Times reported.

A growing risk of debt distress in low-income nations has made it crucial that countries agree how any bailout burden should be shared, a senior IMF official warned on Friday, the Financial Times reported. The comments, in a blog by Martin Muehleisen, director of the IMF’s strategy, policy and review department, reflect deepening concern over a build-up of opaque Chinese lending to developing countries.

Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra lashed out at the European Commission’s truce with Italy over Rome’s spending plans, in comments highlighting continuing discomfort within the euro area about Rome’s budget, Bloomberg News reported. “It’s a missed opportunity to do the right thing for the long run,” Hoekstra said in an interview from Brussels on Monday. He made the comments after a meeting with his counterparts from the currency bloc in which he asked the commission to explain “in writing” how numbers add up in the compromise which was reached last month.