Headlines

Businessman Sean Dunne has asked the High Court for orders giving him access to documents which he says are necessary for the forthcoming hearing of a bid to extend his Irish bankruptcy, the Irish Times reported. Official assignee Chris Lehane, who is administering Mr Dunne’s Irish bankruptcy, is seeking to have the bankruptcy extended for the maximum term of eight years over alleged non co-operation by Mr Dunne, which he denies. Ms Justice Caroline Costello began hearing the discovery application on Monday and will resume the hearing on Wednesday.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has agreed to buy a stake in Dalian Wanda Group Co.’s cinema operator as billionaire Wang Jianlin’s real estate-to-entertainment conglomerate turns to another Chinese tech giant and a government-backed company for investments totaling about 7.8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), Bloomberg News reported. Alibaba is to pay 4.68 billion yuan for a 7.66 percent stake in Wanda Film Holding Co., making the e-commerce giant the second-biggest shareholder, Wanda Film said Monday in a regulatory filing.

Deutsche Bank AG plans to return to a corner of the credit derivatives market that it largely exited about three years ago, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The German lender told clients that it plans to start making markets in some credit-default swaps tied to individual companies, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public, Bloomberg News reported. The bank will buy and sell contracts that settle through a clearing house and plans to start as early as the second quarter, they said.

European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure urged European governments to push ahead with plans to strengthen monetary union to avoid stretching his institution’s mandate in the next crisis, Bloomberg News reported. “Without further reforms, the next crisis may well force the ECB to test the limits of its mandate,” he said in a speech near Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Friday. “To assume that the current economic expansion will heal all wounds is naive.

The former owner of Monarch Airlines will look to buy parts of Carillion after the British construction and outsourcing company collapsed under large debts last month, the Financial Times reported. Greybull Capital will be among the bidders interested in buying parts of Carillion that might be ringfenced following its liquidation as an auction takes shape, people familiar with its plans said.

The euro zone's bailout fund could in the future be at the centre of any restructuring of sovereign debt in the single currency area as part of reforms of the way the zone functions, the head of the fund said on Friday. The main task of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) now is to lend cash to governments that have been cut off from markets in exchange for reforms that put their economies back on track, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. It has helped Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus over the past few years.

China's Alibaba became the biggest shareholder in India's leading online grocer BigBasket after a $300-million funding round, stepping up its rivalry with Amazon in the country, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Alibaba invested $146 million in the grocer, subscribing to compulsorily convertible preference shares, BigBasket said in a filing to Indian regulators.

With much of the world apparently in the grip of Macron-mania, perhaps a note of caution is warranted, The Wall Street Journal reported. Without doubt the young French president is the man of the moment: In just eight months since taking office, Emmanuel Macron has transformed perceptions of his own country and electrified European politics. The French economy grew by 1.9% in 2017, the highest since 2011, while business confidence in December hit a 10-year high. Mr.

In another relief for debt-laden Reliance Communications, Mumbai-based Smartphone has withdrawn a petition seeking insolvency of the company filed before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), The Hindu Business Line reported. The petition, filed under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), was withdrawn on Friday. Smartphone is a wholesale dealer of batteries and had supplied to telcos, including RCom. The Mumbai NCLT bench — comprising MK Shrawat and BP Mohan — disposed of Smartphone petition as ‘withdrawn’.

Moody’s Investors Service isn’t too concerned about a classified U.S. Treasury report about sanctions that’s been hanging over Russian bond markets. The ratings agency said that it would consider raising Russia to investment grade even if the nation is burdened with the kind of penalties that have curbed Venezuela’s ability to finance its debts, Bloomberg News reported. Moody’s put Russia on positive outlook last week, setting it on course for a possible raise out of junk in the next 12-18 months.