Headlines

Kaisa Group, the troubled Chinese property developer, needs another lifeline, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. On Thursday, the only serious offer for the company evaporated, as Sunac China Holdings abandoned its proposed $1.2 billion takeover of Kaisa. Sunac agreed in February to pay about $580 million for a 49.3 percent stake in Kaisa, with plans to pay far more for a controlling stake. The caveat was that Kaisa had to restructure its finances with creditors and bondholders, something it has struggled to complete.

The latest episode in Greece’s long-running economic drama is coming to a head. Since the victory of the radical-left Syriza party in the election of late January, Greece’s creditors and the new government headed by Alexis Tsipras have been exchanging threats. A resolution of some kind must occur in June, and sooner rather than later in the month, The Economist reported. It could still be a disastrous falling-out that leads to Greece defaulting on official loans, imposing capital controls, freezing deposits and tumbling out of the euro.

Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah, says Malaysian Airline System Berhad (MAS) was placed into receivership on May 25 with Dato’ Mohammad Faiz Azmi appointed the firm's Administrator, ch-aviation.com reported. The move is part of Khazanah's 12-point strategy to revitalize ailing Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur Int'l) through its successor holding firm, Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), which will henceforth take on select MAS assets and liabilities.

The corporate regulator sounded a warning on Thursday about stockbroking firms moving into higher-risk operations in the wake of the failure of Sydney-based BBY, noting it would have more to say next week on its inquiries into the collapse, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has been delving into what went wrong at BBY, particularly after the stockbroking and advisory firm was placed into voluntary administration on May 18.

Two weeks after announcing it will shut down its money-losing oilsands project, insolvent Southern Pacific Resource Corp. said its first-lien creditors have filed to throw it into receivership, The Calgary Herald reported. “The effect of a receivership will make any recovery for unsecured creditors or shareholders very unlikely,” the Calgary-based junior producer warned in a brief news release issued Thursday afternoon.

Failed unsecured lender African Bank (Abil) has offered R1.65bn to junior creditors in a restructuring plan agreed on Thursday that may please some investors who had not expected to get anything back, Business Day reported. Abil collapsed under a mountain of bad debt in August last year, forcing the government to appoint external administrators to oversee a restructuring that includes carving out a "good bank" using its healthy assets worth R26bn. Junior creditors, which rank behind other creditors when a company or bank fails, had claims on Abil totalling R4.4bn, the bank said.

Greek banks have seen deposit outflows accelerate over the past week as fears rise that the euro zone country will default on debt, two banking sources said on Wednesday. The spike follows a steady outflow of money from Greek lenders this year as Athens and its creditors struggle to agree an aid-for-reforms deal before Greece runs out of money. “The past week in May was more challenging compared to the previous ones in the month, with daily outflows of €200 to €300 million in the last few days,” a senior Greek banker said.

Ukraine’s decision last week to grant its government the power to stop foreign debt payments marks a distinct shift in tone for the wartorn and recession-battered country. As negotiations between Kiev and its creditors stall and full-blown bankruptcy nears, the rhetoric of government communiques is shifting from conciliation to accusation. Spot the difference in sentiment. In March a presentation to investors noted that “a collaborative process is paramount . . . Ukraine is committed to undertake consultations with its creditors”. By May the government declared it “has the right . . .

The Japanese government will miss out on Y201.8bn ($1.6bn) in Bank of Japan profits this year as the central bank piles up capital against future losses, the Financial Times reported. According to its annual accounts, the BoJ is keeping 25 per cent of last year’s profit as capital, instead of the legally required 5 per cent. Last year it withheld 20 per cent. The move highlights both the size of BoJ profits from its massive monetary easing and the anxiety it feels about losses when the time comes to raise interest rates.

The liquidators of a pair of failed Cayman Islands-based hedge funds run by a former Harvard quarterback are suing Barclays PLC to claw back some $80 million they say was illegally funneled to the bank to cover margin calls, The Wall Street Journal reported. The offshore funds--ICP Strategic Credit Income Fund Ltd. and ICP Strategic Credit Income Master Fund Ltd. -- were so-called feeder funds managed by ICP Asset Management LLC, a money-management firm founded by Thomas C. Priore. Lawyers for the liquidators said in a suit filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York that Mr.