Headlines

Chinese developer Country Garden said on Wednesday a liquidation petition has been filed against it for non-payment of a $205 million loan, clouding its debt revamp prospects and undermining Beijing's effort to restore confidence in the property sector, Reuters reported. Country Garden said in a regulatory filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it would "resolutely" oppose the petition, which was filed by a creditor, Ever Credit Limited, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Kingboard Holdings. A court hearing had been set for May 17.

Hong Kong has taken a bold step to ease a real-estate slump, scrapping a series of property taxes in an effort to turn around a market that is often seen as a proxy for the city’s beleaguered economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The government has removed longstanding property taxes that were imposed on nonpermanent residents, those buying a second home, or people reselling a property within two years after buying, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in his annual budget speech on Wednesday.

Councils have warned that neighbourhood services will have to be cut despite a Government bailout, with fears that more authorities will go bust over the coming years, PA Media reported. If further funding is not made available in the Budget on March 6, communities will face the consequences of a worsening financial crisis across local government, the Local Government Association (LGA) said. An LGA survey of council chief executives found 85% of local authorities continue to plan reductions in spending on key services after the Government made an extra £600 million available for 2024/25.

Alternative investment managers including Arini, Eicos and Squarepoint have tens of millions of euros at risk with their investments in a unit of the insolvent real estate conglomerate Signa, Bloomberg News reported. Arini, a hedge fund founded by former Credit Suisse trader Hamza Lemssouguer, holds about half of the €300 million ($326 million) of bonds issued by Signa Development, making it one of the biggest creditors of the company, according to a company filing circulated on Monday and seen by Bloomberg News.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday told Byju’s to respond to two separate insolvency petitions filed against the troubled edtech firm by US lenders and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Economic Times of India reported.

Debt-laden MEP Infrastructure Developers (MIDL) is seeking shareholder approval to bring in a new investor into the company, who will infuse ₹225 crore under the pre-packaged insolvency resolution process (PPIRP) that will allow the company to recoup the delays in payments and standardise the account which is currently classified as a non-performing asset, the Economic Times of India reported. The PPIRP was introduced for micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs in 2021.

The Bank of England may sell all the U.K. government bonds bought under quantitative easing to better prepare for a future crisis, a move that would put it at odds with the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bloomberg News reported.

Africa's public debt will stay above pre-pandemic levels in 2024 and 2025, with many countries still at risk of falling into debt distress as they continue to struggle to service international loans, a U.N. official said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Addressing a United Nations Commission for Africa (UNECA) conference in Victoria Falls, the agency's macroeconomics and governance director Adam Elhiraika said eight countries were in debt distress, while 13 were "expected to be at risk of debt distress".

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner favours using the interest accrued from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine in its war against Moscow, he said on Wednesday on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting which was discussing the issue, Reuters reported. Finance ministers from the G20 want to increase the pressure on Russia and strengthen Ukraine, said Lindner in Sao Paulo. "The European Union is working on how the proceeds from Russian assets can be used for Ukraine.

Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley will ask the High Court to block a billionaire from bankrupting her on Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph reported. Staveley has been plunged into a multi-million pound legal battle with Greek shipping tycoon Victor Restis over claims she failed to repay a loan of more than £35 million dating back more than a decade. Lawyers for Staveley applied to the High Court in June to have a statutory demand issued by Restis “set aside” – a move that would prevent him from presenting her with a bankruptcy order if the debt is not paid within 21 days.