Headlines

The Biden administration’s rollback of sanctions against Venezuela is offering a helping hand to bondholders owed $63 billion from the government in Caracas, many of whom haven’t been paid a dime in nearly six years, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Since the Biden administration loosened sanctions on President Nicolás Maduro’s government last week and allowed U.S. investors to once again buy and sell Venezuelan debt, trading in the South American country’s sovereign bonds has intensified and prices are rallying.

Argentina urged a U.S. judge not to enforce a $16.1 billion judgment arising from the government's 2012 seizure of a majority control in state-controlled oil company YPF, while the cash-strapped country appeals the judgment, Reuters reported. In a Thursday night filing with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Argentina said enforcing the "truly overwhelming" judgment or requiring that it post bond would "cripple a nation already suffering from severe inflation and drought." Two investors, Petersen Energia and Eton Park Capital Management, sued, and last month U.S.

Petroleos Mexicanos’ losses deepened and production dropped, complicating the oil explorer’s efforts to whittle down its hefty debt burden, Bloomberg News reported. Pemex’s net loss widened to 79.13 billion pesos ($4.4 billion) from 25.44 billion pesos in the prior period, the company reported Friday, the worst result since the end of 2022. Crude and condensate production fell to 1.85 million barrels a day from 1.88 million in the second quarter. Light crude production fell by 83,000 barrels a day from a year ago, while condensate rose by 192,000 barrels a day.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed the withdrawal of the insolvency plea against Bajaj Hindusthan by the State Bank of India, as the outstanding amount has been paid by the sugar manufacturer, Zee Business reported. SBI had moved an application before the Allahabad bench of the NCLT informing that the outstanding amount has been paid by the Corporate Debtor.

The Catholic church insurer wants to establish a scheme that would stave off its own insolvency by paying church bodies only a fraction of the money owed to abuse survivors at rates to be determined by the scandal-plagued consultancy PwC, documents show, the Guardian reported. Catholic Church Insurance is facing significant financial turmoil due to the rising volume of abuse claims, estimating it has $381m in liabilities relating to professional standards payouts to various church entities, including dioceses and church-aligned charities.

A British fintech company that was forced into insolvency just over six months ago has secured a multimillion-pound funding boost as it sets its sights on a more measured growth path. Sky News understands that Railsr, the trading name of Embedded Finance, will announce in the coming days that it has struck a deal with investors to raise $24m (£19.8m). The funding is predominantly from existing investors, including D Squared Capital and Moneta Venture Capital, which people close to Railsr said reflected their confidence in the company's growth potential and strategy.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde just visited the scene of one of the bleakest moments in the euro’s history, and managed to avoid creating another one for now, Bloomberg News reported. Speaking in Athens after one of the ECB’s occasional gatherings away from its Frankfurt home, she unveiled the first pause in interest-rate hikes since June 2022, and insisted any faster wind-down in bond holdings — a prospect that could heap pressure on highly indebted Italy — wasn’t even discussed.

Sugar mills in top supplier Brazil are set to boost production next year as companies emerging from bankruptcy begin resuming output while others invest in operations, according to a forecast by BP Bunge Bioenergia SA, Bloomberg News reported. The company, a sugar ethanol joint venture between oil major BP Plc and crop trader Bunge Ltd., expects mills in the Center-South region to produce 41.6 million tons of sugar in 2024, commercial director Ricardo Carvalho said in an interview. That is a 1.7% increase from the current harvest year, which itself is expected to be a record.

Core consumer inflation in Japan's capital Tokyo, considered a leading indicator of nationwide trends, unexpectedly accelerated in October, a sign of broadening price pressures that may keep alive expectations of near-term end to ultra-low interest rates, Reuters reported. The data reinforces expectations the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will revise up its inflation forecasts when it produces fresh quarterly projections at next week's policy meeting.

With China’s property bust threatening to sink the country’s economic recovery, Xi Jinping is looking for someone to blame, the Wall Street Journal reported. After putting the billionaire founder of Evergrande, a heavily indebted property firm, under investigation for possible crimes, Beijing is expanding its probes to include bankers and financial institutions that facilitated developers’ risky behavior. Among those under scrutiny: a former head of Bank of China, one of the country’s biggest lenders.