Headlines

Credito Real filed a prepackaged insolvency agreement in a Mexican federal court on Friday, people familiar with the matter said, in a bid to resolve the collapse of what had been the country’s biggest payroll lender, Bloomberg News reported. The company filed a so-called concurso mercantil with a plan that is backed by more than 50% of holders of its $1.9 billion of dollar bonds, said the people, requesting anonymity since they were not authorized to speak with media.

Air France-KLM's decision to take a stake in Scandinavia's SAS airline offers a taste of its potential approach for the next big airline takeover battle in Europe: the fight to resuscitate Portuguese carrier TAP, Reuters reported. Portugal's government said last Thursday it plans to sell at least a 51% stake in state-owned TAP, after the cabinet approved the legal framework for the privatisation process.

A group of offshore creditors of China Evergrande Group said they were “left in the dark” after the developer scrapped a meeting for its multi-billion dollar restructuring plan, in the latest example of investor frustration with governance issues at some Chinese firms, Bloomberg News reported.

Israel’s central bank has resorted to unprecedented measures to contain the most intense volatility faced by the shekel in two decades but couldn’t prevent its steep slide after an attack by Hamas militants led the government to declare war, Bloomberg News reported. In a statement minutes before trading was set to begin on Monday, policymakers said they’d sell as much as $30 billion of reserves to support the currency and extend up to $15 billion through swap mechanisms.

Investors looking to make big bets on Turkish assets will have to wait longer for the country’s policymakers to meet one of their key demands — the lifting of restrictions on the offshore currency swaps market, Bloomberg News reported. Turkish authorities won’t ease a cap on swaps deals in the near-term amid concerns over a weakening lira, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Removing the cap on overseas lira supply at this point could risk an increase in short-selling activity, which the nation’s economic leadership is concerned about, they said.

Emerging economies are facing headwinds from all sides, with a recent selloff in U.S. Treasuries and China's slowing economy adding layers of uncertainty while the Federal Reserve might not have reached the end of its rate hike cycle, Reuters reported. Restructuring efforts for defaulted countries could reach a breakthrough before year-end as talks continue, while the finances of nations like Pakistan and Egypt will also be under scrutiny when policy makers and asset managers gather for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's annual meetings in Marrakech next week.

Economics says it’s way past time for the International Monetary Fund to pull the plug on Argentina. Geopolitics helps explain why it hasn’t — yet, Bloomberg News reported. Over the past five years, the Fund has lent $43 billion in repeated bailouts for the Latin American nation — multiples more cash than anyone else has gotten — with dismal results. On the eve of a pivotal presidential vote, Argentina has 124% inflation and its economy is in deep recession again. The latest IMF program, like so many predecessors, has essentially collapsed.

Workers at Chevron Corp. liquefied natural gas facilities in Australia plan to resume strikes, sending prices higher on the threat of tighter supplies as the winter heating season approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, Bloomberg News reported. Union members at Chevron’s Gorgon and Wheatstone plants voted for further industrial action after suspending stoppages last month, according to the Offshore Alliance, which represents labor groups. Benchmark gas futures in Europe settled 5.6% higher, the most since Sept. 25.

Brazilian auto exports are set to plunge by double digits in 2023 when compared with the previous year, automaker association Anfavea said on Friday, as a severe economic crisis in neighboring Argentina hits shipments to that country, Reuters reported. The association said in a statement it now projects exports to fall 12.7% in 2023 to 420,000 vehicles, a major cut from its previous estimate of a 2.9% drop in the period. "Exports have been the major warning point for the automotive sector in the first nine months of the year," it said.

India has amended its insolvency law to exclude leased aircraft from assets that can be frozen, a long-awaited move expected to shore up the financing of its fast-growing airline industry by addressing discrepancies between global and local rules, Reuters reported. The rule change, disclosed in a government notice on Wednesday, aims to bring India's bankruptcy laws into line with a treaty protecting the rights of foreign lessors, following a dispute over the bankruptcy of budget airline Go First.