Headlines

Administrators for collapsed UK brokerage Beaufort Securities have defended their plans to use customer funds to cover the cost of the insolvency proceedings, in the face of an angry backlash, the Financial Times reported. Beaufort was shut by UK regulators in March, just hours before the US Department of Justice brought criminal charges against the company for its alleged involvement in securities fraud and money laundering.

The eurozone economy has been a puzzle lately. Some indicators are pointing up, some down and some sideways. It’s hard to know whether growth is losing momentum or just pausing for breath, the International New York Times reported. Some clarity could come Thursday from the eurozone’s most influential economist: Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank. Mr. Draghi’s view of the economy — and what that means for monetary policy — will be one of the main themes when he holds a news conference after a meeting of the bank’s Governing Council. If Mr.

Businessman Seán Dunne “misled” his Irish bankruptcy official and was “as obstructive as he could possibly be” in response to questions about dealings with a Dublin 4 property, the High Court has been told. Mark Sanfey SC, for official assignee Chris Lehane, who is administering his bankruptcy here, said Mr Dunne gave certain answers to questions during a June 2016 interview with Mr Lehane which amounted to “clear” non-co-operation, the Irish Times reported.

India’s revamped bankruptcy process is in full swing and investors from Blackstone Group LP to Oaktree Capital Group LLC are salivating over an estimated $210 billion of stressed assets that are up for grabs, Bloomberg News reported. But the courtrooms handling the thousands of bankruptcies are lacking a key component: Judges. Ten benches with a combined 26 judges and technical staff are hearing more than 2,500 insolvency cases, the latest official data show. Based on the workload a year ago, researchers estimated India needs about 80 benches over five years.

How bad would liquidity have to get for one of China’s largest companies to dump about $13 billion in assets in less than four months? Investors may find out and get a sense of whether the disposals are enough when debt-laden HNA Group Co., the once-high-flying conglomerate, releases its results as soon as this week, Bloomberg News reported. The 2017 annual report will provide the most extensive details yet of HNA’s financial distress before it began offloading property from Hong Kong to New York, and selling shares in companies from Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. to Deutsche Bank AG in 2018.

Dogus, one of Turkey’s biggest companies, has neither denied nor confirmed widespread reports that it is restructuring its debt, the Financial Times reported. But economists and analysts fear the company could be a canary in the coal mine for Turkey’s corporate debt problems. For years, economic growth has been fuelled by cheap international credit. Corporates took out large loans in dollars or euros. But with the currency sliding, the cost of servicing that debt is rocketing.

The cash-strapped construction unit of Odebrecht, the Brazilian group at the centre of Latin America’s largest corruption scandal, said it would miss a Wednesday deadline for a R$500m debt payment, the Financial Times reported. But Odebrecht Engenharia e Construção said in a notice to investors that the group was in “advanced negotiations” on the payment and indicated it would be completed within a 30-day grace period, which would avoid a formal default.

Trade disputes and a stronger currency are threatening a hard-fought economic recovery in the 19-nation eurozone, potentially delaying a move by the European Central Bank to follow the Federal Reserve in increasing short-term interest rates, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trade conflicts are a particular concern for the ECB because the region escaped the lingering effects of its debt crisis in part due to the strength of its export sector. But the bloc’s economy appears to have slowed early this year, coinciding with mounting tensions over possible U.S.

The wife of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean Fitzpatrick is claiming some € 40 million investments he had were mostly funded from loan accounts in their joint names before he was declared bankrupt in 2010, the High Court heard. Catriona Fitzpatrick, Whitshed Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow, says that under family law she has a beneficial interest in these investments regardless of the bankruptcy, the Irish Times reported. The court heard some € 45million was realised from the sale of those assets.

The European Commission confirmed on Monday that Greece beat its bailout targets again last year, strengthening the government’s case against demands to bring forward additional tax measures originally scheduled to kick in starting 2020, Bloomberg News reported. Europe’s most indebted state achieved a budget surplus before interest and other one-time payments equal to 4.2 percent of its gross domestic product in 2017, more than twice the target set by its bailout auditors for a 1.75 percent of GDP surplus, the European Union’s executive arm said.