Headlines

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in his New Year’s message said a troubled state investment fund he created six years ago had resolved its debt problem, The Wall Street Journal reported. But critics of the fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, have raised doubts about the progress in paying down the massive debt, increasing concerns that the state will have to step in with a bailout. The 1MDB fund, whose advisory board is headed by Mr.

ASX-listed coal seam gas (CSG) drilling contractor, Titan Energy Services Ltd, has become the latest victim of the commodity downturn, being placed into voluntary administration, according to a company statement. In its 2015 annual financial statements, the group said its ability to continue in business depended on several factors, including the ability to win new work and raise additional funds.

The Irish Mortgage Holders’ Organisation (IMHO) has proposed that banks, insolvency practitioners, the Government, regulators, and various other State agencies and debt advisory groups come together to try and formulate a big-ticket solution for long-term mortgage arrears.

China's dry-bulk shipping industry will likely see a surge in bankruptcies this year as freight rates hit record lows and the country's demand for imports wanes, consultancy Shanghai International Shipping Institute (SISI) said. A number of firms have already gone bust over the past year as the industry grapples with the worst downturn on record due to stalling demand for iron ore and coal from China and a global surplus of vessels. With benchmark freight rates now at an all-time low, finances will be further stretched for shippers.

Souring prospects in the world’s largest emerging markets are darkening an already cloudy outlook for the global economy, the World Bank said on Wednesday, as it cut growth forecasts for the third straight year, The Wall Street Journal reported. Deeper contractions than expected in Brazil and Russia and weaker output in most of the world’s biggest economies, including the U.S. and China, led the international development institution to downgrade its forecast for global growth in 2016 by 0.4 percentage point to 2.9%.

The number of registered unemployed workers in Spain has seen the biggest drop for at least a decade while joblessness in Ireland has hit its lowest level since 2008, when the country was about to enter a prolonged financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. The Spanish figures provide a boost to the economic record of acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as he tries to form a government following an inconclusive general election.

China stocks rose on Tuesday as financial regulators and the central bank moved aggressively to restore confidence a day after a plunge roiled global markets, the Irish Times reported. Stocks fell more than 2 per cent in early trade, prompting fears that exchanges were set for a second day of panic selling after a 7 per cent dive on Monday set off a new “circuit breaker” mechanism, suspending trade nation-wide. But stocks soon moved back into positive territory thanks to a mixture of policy intervention and hard cash.

Havila Shipping has announced a restructuring plan which it expects will sustain it through approaching "severe financial challenges" from 2016 to 2018, Lloyd’s List reported. The offshore supply company has been discussing a debt restructuring with its creditor banks for months, according to a company statement. It pointed to oversupply in the offshore market, which has led to widespread lay-ups and left active vessels earning rates below operating costs, as factors affecting its decision.

Greece has a chequered history when it comes to repaying debt. Defaults span the 19th and 20th centuries, peaking with last year’s shock failure to pay back the International Monetary Fund on time, the Financial Times reported. But don’t imagine that the country’s debt market has been lying dormant in the midst of these troubles. Throughout the current crisis, Athens has been doing a brisk trade in short-term Treasury bills and on Tuesday the country held a successful auction that raised €1.63bn. The reasons investors rarely hear about these regular debt sales are twofold.

Lenders to digital education provider Educomp Solutions Ltd are mulling conversion of debt to a majority equity holding under the strategic debt restructuring (SDR) scheme, two bankers in the know confirmed. “Bankers will be conducting a meeting in the second week of January to take a final call on whether SDR needs to be invoked or not. The company is in a delicate state and decisions need to be made quickly,” said one of the two bankers cited above on conditions of anonymity as these discussions are confidential.