Headlines

Greece’s international creditors late on Monday were preparing the final text of a bailout deal to present to the Athens government, in a sign that lenders are running out of patience after months of stalled talks, The Wall Street Journal reported. Officials from European institutions and the International Monetary Fund sent a draft text on the economic overhauls that Greece needs to implement to unlock bailout financing to a meeting in Berlin of key European leaders, according to people familiar with the matter.

Stashing cash in secret vaults is the sort of activity usually associated with criminals. Now Swiss pension funds are considering getting in on the act. The reason is that they are fed up with having to pay banks simply to park their money in regular accounts and are considering making mass withdrawals, according to ASIP, a trade body.

A profitable Chinese duck processing company has defaulted on its debts after banks refused to roll over its loans — in a sign of lenders’ wariness over refinancings as China’s economy slows, the Financial Times reported. Until recently, Chinese banks have been reluctant to write off big debts, preferring to keep businesses alive by rolling over their loans. But privately owned Zhongao has cited banks’ tighter lending policies as a reason why it lacked the funds to repay Rmb282m ($45m) in principal and interest despite turning a profit last year.

HSBC is poised to unveil plans to cut thousands more jobs in its international empire as the scandal-hit lender struggles to knock its business back into shape, ThisisMONEY.co.uk reported. The global giant, which is reeling from allegations it helped clients dodge tax in Swiss bank accounts, is expected to make the announcement at its investor day on June 9. The number of job cuts has yet to be finalised, including how many staff will be affected in the UK. But according to a report on Sky News, between 10,000 and 20,000 around the world could face the axe.

Greece’s chances of striking a deal to access a much-needed €7.2bn in rescue aid looked even bleaker on Sunday after Alexis Tsipras, prime minister, accused bailout monitors of making “absurd” demands and seeking to impose “harsh punishment” on Athens, the Financial Times reported. Mr Tsipras’s accusations, made in Le Monde newspaper, came only days after his government claimed an agreement was imminent. They have increased the sense of chaos around negotiations in the week many believe a deal is needed to avoid a Greek default.

Corporate insolvency is expected to rise this year in the mainland and Hong Kong, with an increasing number of companies struggling to protect margins from late payments by customers, the South China Morning Post reported. Even as the economy continues to grow at a relatively good pace, mainland firms are grappling with a state-driven shift in economic structure. This would inevitably lead to shrinking business opportunities in sectors such as construction, cement and steel, pushing up defaults in these areas, said Dutch trade credit insurer Atradius.

Ukraine has rejected a debt restructuring deal put forward by international creditors as the two sides struggle to break through a negotiation stalemate, the Financial Times reported. A group of investors representing just under $9bn of Ukrainian bonds, including Franklin Templeton, Ukraine’s largest creditor, this month suggested a plan to reduce the country’s debt burden by $15.8bn over the next four years — a figure that exceeds the $15.3bn targeted by the government.

At 9:30 a.m. on a sunny weekday, the phones at Candelia, a purveyor of sleek office furniture in Lille, France, rang steadily with orders from customers across the country and from Switzerland and Germany. A photocopier clacked rhythmically while more than a dozen workers processed sales, dealt with suppliers and arranged for desks and chairs to be shipped, the International New York Times reported. Sabine de Buyzer, working in the accounting department, leaned into her computer and scanned a row of numbers. Candelia was doing well.

The rising number of tips from the Chinese public alleging official malfeasance highlights the popularity of the country’s anticorruption campaign, even as the leadership may be shifting gears on the crackdown, The Wall Street Journal reported. Almost daily, the Communist Party’s antigraft body publishes data that show the number of officials investigated and punished is rising, including the detention of 19 top executives from state-run companies between March and April.

The International Monetary Fund has called for an overhaul of Europe’s fiscal rules, saying the system which was reinforced at the height of the debt crisis hampers effective monitoring and public communication, the Irish Times reported. Officials in the Washington-based fund said in a 20-page paper that EU leaders should introduce a simpler framework, bolster enforcement and bring in a single fiscal anchor with a single operational rule.