Headlines

South Korea’s competition watchdog is investigating the country’s four largest commercial banks over possible interest rates collusion, adding to a growing list of probes globally into the alleged rigging of various financial prices and benchmarks, the Financial Times reported. The Fair Trade Commission sent inspectors to Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Shinhan and Hana Bank this week to look into data related to setting interest rates, officials at each of the banks said on Wednesday.

In the latest sign of Chinese developers’ desperation to unload inventory into a weak property market, China Vanke Co is offering discounts of up to $325,000 to homebuyers who shop on Alibaba’s Taobao, an e-commerce platform, the Financial Times reported. The country’s biggest developer will give discounts that match shoppers’ spending of up to Rmb2m ($325,000) on the eBay-like service. Homes in real estate developments in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing, among other cities, will qualify, according to an advertisement on Taobao’s website.

Thailand revealed plans Tuesday to provide $312 million in loans to help its financially strapped farmers, many of whom are in debt to loan sharks, in the latest step by the military junta to help boost the economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. Loan sharks, who charge as much as 60% in interest a year, have thrived amid growing household debt, which rose to 82.3% of gross domestic product this year. Economists are concerned Thailand's high household debt will reduce consumption, a major engine driving the country's economic growth.

Small base metals miner Mercator Minerals Ltd said on Tuesday it had filed for protection from its creditors in Canada and the United States, and the Toronto Stock Exchange suspended trading of its shares and began a delisting review, Reuters reported. The Vancouver-based company, which was hurt by a 2013 drop in copper and molybdenum prices and problems at its Mineral Park copper mine in Arizona, warned last week that it could be forced to file for creditor protection.

A judgment that may have significant ramifications for the Revenue Commissioners in future company liquidations has been handed down in the High Court by Mr Justice Dan Herbert, the Irish Times reported. The Revenue had asked the court for an order setting aside decisions of the chairperson at a creditors’ meeting of a Tullamore, Co Offaly laundry, Ladaney Limited, in voluntary liquidation, not to exclude invalid proxies of non-connected creditors.

French wind farm operator Theolia has agreed with its main creditor to restructure its convertible bonds, which it would be unable to cover in full at the next repayment date, it said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Theolia said that investment group Boussard & Gavaudan, which holds 33.35 percent of its of Oceanes 2007 convertible bond, had agreed to extend the conversion schedule in exchange for better conversion terms. In April, Theolia had said that if bondholders were to ask for early repayment by Jan.

Argentina retaliated against Bank of New York Mellon on Monday for refusing to make payments to bondholders in compliance with a US court ruling – a move which has also led a group of hedge funds that includes George Soros’ Quantum Partners to sue the US bank, the Financial Times reported. The move by Buenos Aires, which cancels the banking licences of two local bank officials, follows a proposal sent to congress last week by President Cristina Fernández that aims to replace BNY Mellon as its trustee with a local state-run bank.

PT Bumi Resources’ bonds climbed the most in two weeks after holders of its $375 million of convertible debt approved a restructuring in a near-unanimous vote, Bloomberg News reported. The Indonesian coal mining company will issue 6 percent notes due April 2018 to replace the existing 9.25 percent securities that matured Aug. 5, a plan ratified by bondholders at a meeting in Singapore on Aug. 22. The proposal was supported by investors holding more than 98 percent of the debt, director Dileep Srivastava said in an e-mail after the meeting.

About a quarter of Malaysia Airlines' 20,000 staff are likely to lose their jobs under a restructuring plan for the loss-making airline hit by two separate jet disasters this year, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, Reuters reported. The restructuring plan, due to be unveiled later this week, will include route cuts as well as the loss of up to 5,000-6,000 jobs, according to the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source was not authorised to discuss the plan publicly.

Major reforms of insolvency laws are in the process of being enacted, as Singapore tries to position itself as a regional hub for insolvency work and debt restructuring, said Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah on Monday, Channel NewsAsia reported. Speaking at the Regional Insolvency Conference organised by the Law Society of Singapore, she noted that an increase in global interest rates and a tightening of liquidity in markets are likely to increase the risk of corporate defaults. This could in turn lead to an increase in a number of restructuring and insolvencies.