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A global resurgence in protectionism, political turbulence within the single currency area and turmoil in some emerging markets have made the eurozone’s financial system more vulnerable to shocks, the European Central Bank has acknowledged, the Financial Times reported. The ECB said in the latest edition of its twice-yearly Financial Stability Review the risks to the region’s financial system had risen since May, and identified four threats to the eurozone that is yet to fully recover from the financial crisis ten years on.
Emoov is considering a pre-pack administration after a four-week search for a buyer has so far failed to seal a rescue deal for the cash-strapped digital estate agency, the Financial Times reported. Russell Quirk, chief executive, this week told the FT: “A pre-pack is not being ruled out” and that “time is of the essence . . . we are eagerly searching for someone to support the business”. Sky News reported on Thursday that Emoov was on the verge of appointing James Cowper Kreston, an accountancy firm, as administrator.
India’s foreign ministry is investigating claims by expatriates in Ethiopia who say they are being held hostage by local staff that haven’t been paid after the shadow lender Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd. began defaulting on $12.6 billion in debt, Bloomberg News reported. Seven Indian workers from infrastructure financing firm IL&FS, which rocked financial markets after it began missing debt payments in late August, have been detained since Nov.
China is preparing to end its $176 billion experiment with peer-to-peer lending. Alarmed by a surge in defaults, fraud and investor anger, Chinese authorities are planning to wind down small- and medium-sized P2P lending platforms nationwide, people with knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg News reported. Regulators may also order the largest platforms to cap outstanding loans at current levels and encourage them to reduce lending over time, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Shares of P2P platform operators sank in New York.
The liquidator of Saf-Cacao, formerly one of Ivory Coast’s biggest cocoa exporters, accepted a new bid for the shipper from a company headed by the mayor of the second-largest city, according to two people familiar with the matter. Liquidator Alain Guillemain approved Saf-Cacao’s sale to Societe Agricole du Cafe-Cacao in a 145 billion CFA francs ($250 million) deal, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, Bloomberg News reported.
One of Saudi Arabia’s major contractors defaulted on almost $2 billion after a falling out among its owners and delays in payments from the government, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The Saudi unit of Cyprus-based Joannou & Paraskevaides Group defaulted on about 7 billion riyals ($1.9 billion) in bank loans about two months ago, said the people, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The defaults are largely the result of problems getting paid by the Ministry of Interior, the people said.
China’s record year for bond defaults might feature one more superlative before the calendar turns: the first delinquency on an offshore security sold directly by a Chinese company, Bloomberg News reported. While Chinese dollar bonds have typically been issued via overseas units, some companies began direct sales three years ago. Among such issuers is Huachen Energy Co., which failed to make a coupon payment last week on its $500 million dollar bond due in 2020 governed by New York law -- though it has said it will make good on the amount by Dec. 18, within the grace period.
The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has admitted and initiated insolvency proceedings against Mumbai-based Ariisto Developers and has appointed an interim resolution professional (IRP) to manage the company, The Economic Times reported. NCLT has asked other lenders to file their claims against Ariisto Developers by the first week of December.
An inquiry that has exposed rampant greed and wrongdoing in Australia’s major banks and wealth managers wraps up this week ahead of a final report which could trigger sweeping reform of the financial sector of the world’s 12-largest economy, Reuters reported. Dismissed initially as a “populist whinge” by the ruling conservative party, the quasi-judicial inquiry known as a Royal Commission has revealed branch-to-boardroom misconduct which will almost certainly trigger tougher regulation.