Headlines

Business insolvencies jumped by more than 41 per cent in 2023, according to data released on Friday by Canada's top financial regulator, CBC.ca reported. The report from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy showed that the total number of insolvencies — meaning those filed by both businesses and consumers — was up by 23.6 per cent last year.

A U.S. unit of Indian education technology startup Byju's has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. court of Delaware, listing liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, Reuters reported. Byju's Alpha unit listed its assets in the range of $500 million to $1 billion, according to a court filing, which showed estimated creditors in the range of 100 to 199. The ed-tech company, founded by Byju Raveendran, was one of India's hottest startups, valued at $22 billion in 2022, but has more recently seen lenders initiating bankruptcy proceedings against it.

China aims to ramp up financing for home projects in the coming days as part of its support measures, but banks' reluctance to lend to the crisis-hit sector will remain a major obstacle for the distressed developers who need fresh funding the most, Reuters reported. Under the "project whitelist" mechanism, governments of 35 cities across the country are gearing up to recommend to banks residential projects that need financial support. Distressed developers are hoping the new mechanism will bring succor with some of their projects getting included in the whitelist.

Close Brothers Group Plc extended a share price rout that has wiped out a third of its value this year, amid ongoing reviews by the Financial Conduct Authority of two markets in which the 145-year-old British bank operates in, Bloomberg News reported. The stock fell as much as 5% on Friday, as RBC Capital downgraded its rating due to the regulator’s separate reviews of both motor financing and insurance taken out on credit, known as premium finance.

Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill said the first interest rate reduction is still “some way off” despite signals that borrowing costs have probably peaked, Bloomberg News reported. Addressing the central bank’s regional agents after the deeply split vote to maintain the key rate at 5.25%, Pill said policy needed to remain “restrictive until the consistent component of inflation has been squeezed out of the system.” The remarks tempered expectations on a rapid series of rate cuts this year.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said that heightened demand for bonds is a cause of ongoing liquidity issues in the country’s funding markets, Bloomberg News reported. The Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average, or Corra, has been stuck above the Bank of Canada’s overnight-rate target for weeks, spurring the central bank to intervene with a series of repo operations. On Wednesday, that spread widened to 7 basis points.

Tunisia's central bank has kept the key interest rate unchanged at 8%, it said on Friday, adding it was watching for any potential repercussions that may result from a government request for direct funding from the bank, Reuters reported. The government requested exceptional direct funding from the central bank worth 7 billion dinars ($2.25 billion) to fill a deficit in this year's budget, given the scarcity of external finance, three lawmakers told Reuters on Tuesday. Economists warned that the move could lead to rising inflation and weigh on the value of Tunisia's currency.

James and Nicki Malcolm moved to El Salvador from New Zealand to be part of a bitcoin dream sold by President Nayib Bukele in 2021 when he made the Central American nation the first in the world to accept the cryptocurrency as legal tender, Reuters reported. Months later Bukele sketched his plans for Bitcoin City, a tax-free crypto haven powered by geothermal energy from a volcano, to a sea of enthusiasts at a beach club presentation that included an avatar of himself on a spaceship.

Europe on Friday moved a step closer to adopting rules governing the use of artificial intelligence and AI models such as Microsoft-backed ChatGPT after EU countries endorsed a political deal reached in December, Reuters reported. The rules, proposed by the European Commission three years ago, aim to set a global standard for a technology used in a vast swathe of industries from the banking and retail to car and airline sectors. They also set parameters for the use of AI for military, crime and security purposes.