Headlines

Tasked with helping recover unpaid corporate loans, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has helped resolve insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings involving more than ₹80,000 crore in 2018, The Hindu reported. The kitty is expected to swell beyond ₹1 lakh crore in 2019 with several big-ticket default cases pending. Plans are afoot to further strengthen the NCLT by increasing the number of judges and benches, and providing adequate infrastructure to fast-track the process, according to Indian government officials.

Over 300 employees at a technology factory in Livingston, Scotland, lost their jobs on Christmas Eve - and been told they won’t get paid, The Daily Record reported. Workers at the Kaiam manufacturing plant were told the news at a meeting on Monday with 312 of the 338 staff being made redundant. And in a further blow to employees they were told they will not receive their outstanding wages and will have to go through the Insolvency Service to get their money, which could take weeks.

Interserve said it had reached a deal with its lenders to defer a debt payment due early next year and was considering handing them its profitable building materials business RMDK as it works to avert a Carillion-style collapse, Reuters reported. “The key commercial principles on which the Deleveraging Plan is expected to be based have now been conditionally agreed between Interserve and all lenders,” the British construction and services company said in a statement on Friday.

Bank of China plans to sell as much as 40 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) of perpetual bonds in what could be the nation’s first ever issuance of such debt by a lender, Bloomberg News reported. Shareholders approved the proposal at the end of June, the bank’s representatives said today in response to Bloomberg queries. Approvals are awaited from regulators and there’s no deadline for the sale. Chinese authorities met Tuesday to discuss ways to help banks replenish capital and sell perpetual debt as soon as possible, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement today.

Six “rogue directors” have been disqualified for a total of 54 years after misleading more than 300 people to invest millions of pounds in property developments across the north of England, the Yorkshire Post reported. An international investigation began after Liverpool-based Absolute Living Developments collapsed in 2016, owing at least £12m to buy-to-let investors. Among the company’s developments were three former office buildings in Bradford which were being turned into flats.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet approved a record initial budget for the 2019 fiscal year that offers plenty of help for consumers facing a higher sales tax while increasing the nation’s debt load, at least for now, Bloomberg News reported. The budget will top 100 trillion yen ($890 billion) for the first time, highlighting the government’s push to head off a potential economic downturn when the levy rises in October. The broad outline of the plans were revealed earlier in the week in draft documents.

Four of insolvent carrier Hansa Heavy Lift's ships have been arrested. Legal action taken by bunker company World Fuel Services has led to the arrest of the heavy lift shipping company's ships, preliminary administrator Dr. Christoph Morgen tells ShippingWatch. Hansa Heavy Lift filed for bankruptcy protection last week, ShippingWatch reported. "As of today four Hansa Heavy Lift ships have been arrested due to legal action of World Fuel Services. Despite this fact preliminary insolvency administrator Dr.

Plans by Ireland’s banks to issue up to €10 billion in unsecured debt could be dealt a blow by a hard Brexit, the Sunday Times reports, citing concern from regulators, The Irish Times reported. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, access by Irish banks to London’s debt markets could be cut off. AIB and Bank of Ireland must each raise between €3 billion and €5 billion by 2020 from bondholders while Permanent TSB must raise €900 million, the newspaper says.

Aim is supposed to help young, risky high-growth companies access money from investors before they move on to the main market, the Financial Times reported. So why is Renold, a 154-year-old manufacturer, considering a transfer the other way? The maker of industrial chain, gears and couplings said it could switch to Aim within weeks. The uncharitable might say a company with a market capitalisation of about £72m belongs on London’s junior market. Renold has fallen fast in the past few years after being crunched by the manufacturing slowdown after the financial crisis.