Headlines

Newfoundland and Labrador's consumer insolvency rate saw slowed growth in the latest updates published by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy on Tuesday, but still far outpaced the national average, CBC.ca reported. The province saw a 5.9 per cent increase in bankruptcies and proposals for the 12-month period ending on Oct. 31. That's down from 8.9 per cent the month before, but a far cry from the national average of 0.7 per cent in the latest update. Sean Stack, a licensed insolvency trustee in St.

Ukraine has reached an agreement with a key creditor group to restructure some $3.2 billion of debt obligations that had fallen into default, the nation’s finance ministry said yesterday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The group of investors holding Ukraine’s gross domestic product-linked warrants said recent negotiations have resulted in “significant improvements” to the terms of new bonds they are now willing to accept as part of the restructuring, according to a statement.

Austrian ex-property tycoon Rene Benko went on trial for insolvency fraud on Wednesday after a first conviction in October, this time accused of hiding hundreds of thousands of euros' worth of cash and valuables including luxury watches, Reuters reported. The case stems from a sweeping investigation into crimes that prosecutors suspect were committed in connection with the collapse of Benko's property group Signa from 2023 onward. It was Austria's biggest postwar bankruptcy and burnt investors including blue-chip companies in Germany and Switzerland.

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday urged China to speed up structural reform, as global pressure mounts on the ​world's second-largest economy to shift to a consumption-led growth model and rein ‌in debt-driven investment and exports, Reuters reported. The manufacturing juggernaut has posted a $1 trillion trade surplus for the first time ‌and is set to drive up to 40% of global growth in 2025. This has sparked criticism that China's slowing economy relies on dominating a larger share of global trade and flooding emerging markets with cheap goods diverted from the U.S.

Homeowners have taken on the largest amount of risky mortgages since 2008 as new buyers stretch the budget to get on the housing ladder, The Telegraph reported. The proportion of home loans made with deposits of less than 10pc has jumped to 7.4pc of all mortgage advances, according to Bank of England figures on Tuesday – the highest level since the second quarter of 2008. This was 0.8 percentage points higher than a year ago and echoes mortgage debt levels not seen since the run-up to the catastrophic 2007-08 financial crash.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a change in approach to monetary policy at the European Central Bank to boost the single market and protect it from the risks of financial crisis, Bloomberg News reported. In an unusual move by a euro-zone leader to comment on the region’s central bank, Macron said in an interview with Les Echos the ECB needs to think differently if the European Union wants to capitalize on its strengths such as its domestic market and high savings rate. Read more.

President Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 5% tariff on imports from Mexico if the country did not release water that his administration says must be allowed to flow under a treaty, escalating a fight with a major trading partner, Bloomberg News reported. “I have authorized documentation to impose a 5% Tariff on Mexico if this water isn’t released, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted Monday on social media. “The longer Mexico takes to release the water, the more our Farmers are hurt.

A U.S. trade agreement reached with Indonesia in July is at risk of collapsing because Jakarta has backtracked on several commitments it made as part of the deal, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "They're reneging on what we agreed to in July," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, giving no details about which specific commitments Indonesia was now questioning. Asked about the comments, Indonesian officials said on Wednesday that the talks between two sides are still ongoing, with no specific issues arising during negotiations.

A major £13.8m redevelopment is set to begin in the new year - despite the council facing bankruptcy, BBC.com reported. Gloucester City Council's cabinet members will vote later on releasing £4m to start phase one of the Greyfriars Quarter, which will see Eastgate Market relocated to Bell Walk. Under the wider scheme, a new market and food hall will also be created, as well as a park and gardens, all set within the grounds of the 13th Century Greyfriars monastery.

The head of the South Korean unit of the e-commerce company Coupang resigned on Wednesday, as the fallout from a data breach affecting nearly 34 million users of the online shopping site intensifies, the New York Times reported. Park Dae-jun, who became the sole chief executive of Coupang’s business in South Korea earlier this year, said in a statement released by the company that he was resigning to accept “grave responsibility” over the data leak, which was announced last month.