Headlines

The UK financial regulator is planning to crack down on peer-to-peer lenders and crowdfunding platforms, following concerns that investors could be taking on more risk than they realise, the Finacnial Times reported. In a long-awaited review of the sector published on Friday, the Financial Conduct Authority proposed tougher rules for the peer-to-peer industry, which has grown dramatically in the last decade as banks have retreated from high-risk lending and interest rates have fallen.

Imran Khan is a newcomer to power in Pakistan, but his first challenge is a familiar one for the country: a crushing financial crunch that will likely require an international bailout and spending cutbacks, The Wall Street Journal reported. After decades on Pakistan’s political fringe, nearly complete results show that Mr. Khan’s party took more than twice as many seats in parliament as its main competitor, whose highest profile leader is the now-jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Mr.

Reliance Communications has requested the Supreme Court to quash the insolvency process against it and prevent any challenge to its asset sale to Jio and Brookfield, The Economic Times reported. The Anil Ambani-owned telco told the top court that the value of its assets is getting eroded if these clauses are not removed since buyers are unwilling to go ahead otherwise.

Rolta India Ltd.’s attempt to reorganize about $500 million of defaulted bonds faces fresh opposition from a group of noteholders demanding an upfront payment before consenting to the restructuring, Bloomberg News reported. The group, which owns almost 20 percent of 2018 bonds issued by the technology company, has approached an investment bank and law firms to devise an alternative to the proposal by a rival set of creditors, according to Eric Kraus, a money manager at Moscow-based Nikitsky Capital.

Lenders in Ivory Coast are lobbying the government to help turn around the liquidation of one of the country’s biggest cocoa exporters that has left banks exposed to more than $260 million in unpaid debt, according to three people familiar with the matter. An application for the liquidation of Saf-Cacao was granted last week in a court in the western town of Sassandra, said the people, who asked not to be named because they’re not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, Bloomberg News reported.

Commodity trader Noble Group has reported another lossmaking quarter blaming interest and restructuring costs. Singapore-listed Noble, which is scrambling to complete a debt-for-equity swap, said it would report a loss of $115m to $140m for the three months to June after incurring $95m of restructuring expenses and $70m-$80m of finance and tax costs, the Financial Times reported. Noble has agreed to pay the legal costs and expenses of several lenders and shareholders, including Goldilocks Investment Co, which came in support of the debt restructuring last month.

Mario Draghi said on Thursday that uncertainty over the eurozone’s inflation outlook is “receding” following years of tepid price growth even while global protectionism poses a “prominent” risk, the Financial Times reported. The European Central Bank president’s remarks come after policymakers on Thursday held interest rates at historic lows and confirmed plans to end the bank’s vast bond-buying programme in December. Mr Draghi said the ECB noted that the “direct effects” of tariffs that have so for been implemented by the US on EU exports have been “limited”.

Johnston Press is exploring options to restructure or refinance its debt, the British regional newspaper publisher said on Thursday in a statement issued after its shares more than doubled, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Top investor activist Custos Group is not in discussions with the company, however, after offering to help refinance it on Tuesday, CEO Christen Ager-Hanssen told Reuters. "I'm not in discussions with them -- not for the moment," Ager-Hanssen said.

Intu Properties' chief executive officer is stepping down as the British shopping centre operator swung to a loss and warned of lower rental income growth for the full year, sending its shares down 9 percent to a record low. Intu's update follows a failed 3.4 billion-pound takeover bid by rival Hammerson in April and a string of bankruptcies of retailers that has hit the company hard, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Having just two final bidders in the mix for €2.2 billion of non-performing loans (NPL) was probably not what Permanent TSB (PTSB) chief executive Jeremy Masding would have wanted. While any corporate financier would tell you that it’s best to have three parties in the final shake-out to keep everyone honest, PTSB has to make do with US private equity firm Lone Star and hedge fund Elliott Management submitting binding final bids by a deadline on Wednesday evening, The Irish Times reported.