Headlines

Three weeks into the sudden collapse of Swiber Holdings - the first major casualty of a protracted slump in oil prices - concerns are emerging over possible spillover into the local economy as one-fifth of manufacturing employment is linked to the beleaguered offshore and marine (O&M) industry, The Straits Times reported. Economists warn that insolvencies of offshore service companies can potentially affect the country's gross domestic product (GDP) as the sector accounts for up to 11 per cent of manufacturing's contribution to GDP, and 20 per cent of manufacturing employment.

Big investment banks with their European headquarters in London will start the process of moving jobs from the UK within weeks of the government triggering Brexit, sources said. That is a faster timeline than their public messages of patience would imply, said sources briefed on the plans being drawn up by four of the biggest firms, the Irish Times reported. Dismayed by the lack of a clear plan to protect the UK’s status as a global financial hub, executives are planning for the worst – that they will lose the right to sell services freely around the European Union from the City.

British inflation rose to a higher-than-expected 0.6 per cent last month as the increasing cost of motor fuels and second-hand cars drove up transport prices, the Irish Times reported. Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation in July was up from 0.5 per cent in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Economists were expecting the figure to be unchanged.

BHP Billiton reported a record $6.4 billion annual loss on Tuesday, hammered by a bad bet on shale, a dam disaster in Brazil and a commodities slump, but said it expects its free cash flow to more than double this year. “While commodity prices are expected to remain low and volatile in the short to medium term, we are confident in the long-term outlook for our commodities, particularly oil and copper,” chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement.

Sete Brasil Participações SA presented a draft reorganization plan on Friday that includes seeking up to $5 billion in funding and downsizing business, three months after the Brazilian rig leaser sought court protection against 18 billion reais ($5.7 billion) in looming debt payments. Rio de Janeiro-based Sete Brasil is asking creditors, which include some of the world's leading shipbuilders and Brazil's largest lenders, to endorse a plan to help build between eight and 12 rigs, down from an original target of 28, Chief Executive Officer Luiz Eduardo Carneiro said in an interview.

Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro’s decision to reopen the border with Colombia grants his countrymen a lifeline of crossing into frontier towns to buy what they need. Five border crossings opened Saturday under a plan announced by the presidents of both countries to gradually normalize movement. Cars will be allowed to cross in a month. But for now, traffic is limited to pedestrians, meaning for many of 54,000 Venezuelans who crossed over, how much they take home depends not only on what they can afford, but also how much they can carry.

The Australian Tax Office and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission have conducted raids on 13 businesses and residences across the country in a bid to crack down on “pre-insolvency” firms that advise clients on how to avoid tax, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Some 120 ATO officers teamed up with their ASIC counterparts on Thursday to collect documents and records from the Melbourne and Gold Coast properties, which are linked to two advice firms that authorities allege are encouraging and facilitating tax avoidance, GST evasion, and “phoenix” activity.

Chinese government bonds are headed for a fourth weekly advance, with the benchmark 10-year yield dropping to a seven-year low, on concern the nation’s economy is slowing and as corporate failures increase. The 20 and 30-year sovereign yields declined to 3.10 per cent and 3.25 per cent, respectively, the lowest for both since Bloomberg started compiling the data in 2006. Chinese sovereign bonds have benefited from overseas inflows, with foreign investors boosting their holdings of onshore debt by the most in two years in June, after the nation eased access to domestic markets.

State development bank BNDES, Brazil's main source of long-term credit for companies, posted a net loss in the second quarter, reflecting the burden of soaring loan-loss provisions as corporate defaults and bankruptcies hit all-time highs. In a Friday statement, Rio de Janeiro-based BNDES said that it had lost a net 2.174 billion reais ($689 million) in the first six months, reversing profit of 3.515 billion reais a year earlier. The number implies a second-quarter shortfall of 3.772 billion reais, according to Thomson Reuters calculations.

China needs to reduce its reliance on credit-fueled investment, and deal with rising corporate debt and other imbalances while those problems are still manageable, the International Monetary Fund urged Friday in its annual review of the world’s second-largest economy, The Wall Street Journal reported.