Headlines

An Israeli court formally opened insolvency proceedings on Feb. 22 for XTL Biopharmaceuticals’ wholly owned subsidiary The Social Proxy Ltd., concluding that the unit is insolvent and has no reasonable prospect of economic rehabilitation, TipRanks.com reported. The court ordered the liquidation of The Social Proxy and appointed a trustee, marking a decisive step in winding down the web data operation.

Thames Water’s senior creditors are seeking approval from ratings agencies for a crucial rescue plan that would prevent the ailing utility from slipping into insolvency, Bloomberg News reported. A proposal to inject billions of pounds into Thames and take steep writedowns was put forward in October, and has since been revised following months of discussions with regulator Ofwat. Creditors must now bring the agencies on side to finalize a deal, since the utility needs to secure investment-grade ratings to meet its license conditions.

More than £300m has been wiped off the value of Britain’s biggest university accommodation provider as the student loan crisis starts to grip landlords, The Telegraph reported. Shares in student property giant Unite dropped by as much as 10pc after it effectively issued its third profit warning in four months. Unite said that increasing numbers of students in the UK are opting to save money by choosing to live at home rather than rent accommodation.

The United States began collecting a temporary new 10% global import tariff on Tuesday but the Trump administration was working to increase it to 15%, a White House official said, sowing confusion over President Donald Trump's tariff policies in the wake of last week's Supreme Court defeat, Reuters reported. Trump initially signed an order on Friday for a 10% tariff to last 150 days to replace broad duties under an emergency law that were struck down by the Supreme Court, but on Saturday, he said that he would increase the rate to 15%.

Wall Street stocks declined on Monday after the European Union delayed a trade deal with the U.S. after Donald Trump said he would impose new blanket 15pc global tariffs, The Telegraph reported. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both shed 1.2pc, while the Dow Jones industrial Average fell 1.5pc. The European Parliament’s trade committee had been due to vote on Tuesday about whether to adopt a deal that would have lowered duties on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the plan has been thrown into disarray after the Supreme Court struck down swathes of the U.S.

China is closely monitoring U.S. policies and will decide "in due course" whether to adjust countermeasures to U.S. tariffs, a commerce ministry official said on Tuesday after President Donald Trump said he would levy a new temporary tariff of 15% on U.S. imports from all countries, Reuters reported. China is willing to hold frank consultations during an upcoming sixth round of U.S.-China economic and trade talks, the commerce ministry official added. "China has consistently opposed all forms of unilateral tariff measures and urges the U.S.

Lebanon’s economic crisis, now in its seventh year, has brought an unusual potential lifeline into the spotlight: the central bank’s enormous gold reserves, i24news.tv reported. Valued at roughly $45 billion, the reserves have tripled in value since the start of the financial meltdown, fueled by a dramatic rise in global gold prices. The Financial Times is reporting that bankers and politicians are exploring ways to sell or lease portions of this gold to shore up the nation’s failing financial system, though the topic remains politically sensitive.

The German subsidiary of discount retailer Pepco has successfully completed its insolvency proceedings: the chain is resuming operations after a major restructuring. The number of stores has almost halved, RetailDetail.eu reported. The insolvency proceedings under Pepco Germany GmbH’s own management will end on 28 February, the company reports. This marks the end of a turbulent period for the retailer, which officially began on 1 October last year. In the past period, the discounter reduced the number of stores in Germany from 64 to 36 and the workforce from 500 to around 350 employees.

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.

Panama on Monday took over operations of container terminals at the Panama Canal, ending more than three decades of management by China, Freight Waves reported. Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings Limited in a release said that it had been informed that Panamanian authorities made direct physical entry into the terminals at Balboa and Cristobal operated by subsidiary Panama Ports Company, S.A.