Headlines

China's securities regulator issued draft rules on Friday to strengthen the supervision of company listings, delistings and computer-driven programme trading, in a move to improve the stock market and protect investors' interests, Reuters reported. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) will raise the bar for initial public offerings (IPOs), force unqualified companies to delist, and strengthen the oversight of high-frequency trading, according to draft rules put out for public opinion.

Singapore’s central bank kept its monetary policy unchanged as it cautioned that inflation is set to stay high for at least a few quarters, the Wall Street Journal reported. The decision came as advance estimates for the city-state’s economic growth in the first quarter missed expectations, but not enough to cause much concern among analysts. After standing pat for a fourth straight time, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said Friday that the current settings are needed “to keep a restraining effect” on imported inflation and domestic price pressures.

Argentina’s central bank cut its main interest rate for the third time since President Javier Milei took office as investors bet on a fresh inflation slowdown in the South American nation, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers lowered rates to 70% from 80% on Thursday, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The drop was later confirmed by a central bank statement and communicated to traders on the local Siopel system. Borrowing costs have fallen from 133% in December, when the reference instrument was the Leliq note.

Colombia is trying to cut interest rates at a pace that won’t surprise markets, trigger destabilizing capital outflows or jeopardize the aim of hitting the inflation target range by mid-2025, the head of the central bank said, Bloomberg News reported. The fastest consumer price rises among peers, and above-target inflation expectations are “elements of concern” that call for prudence from policymakers, Governor Leonardo Villar said. But if the inflation outlook brightens the bank might accelerate the pace of monetary easing.

El Salvador returned to global debt markets with an offering that will pay investors a higher interest rate if the government fails to win credit upgrades or a deal with the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The Central American nation priced $1 billion in debt due in 2030 at 89.923 cents on the dollar to yield 12%, according to people familiar with the matter. The coupon is 9.25%, they said, and the note amortizes starting in 2028. The deal includes an additional interest-only security tied to nation’s credit score or an IMF deal.

South Korea’s central bank held its base rate steady for a 10th consecutive time, as widely expected, keeping its guard up against still-stubborn inflation, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Bank of Korea’s decision signals that it is in no rush to ease policy, especially at a time when expectations for the U.S. possible rate cut in June are receding after hotter-than-expected consumer inflation earlier this week. The BOK on Friday kept its benchmark seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at 3.50%, a 15-year high set in January 2023.

Seventeen months after exiting bankruptcy proceedings, Santiago-based Latam Airlines Group SA is feeling confident enough with its finances to seek new transactions and declare itself “open to opportunities,” according to its top executive, Bloomberg News reported. “The pandemic and the Chapter 11 process was very hard for Latam and for its shareholders that lost everything, but they allowed us to resurface as a group that is financially much stronger than before the pandemic,” Chief Executive Officer Roberto Alvo told Bloomberg News in Santiago.

Levels of stress at German companies hit the highest level in almost four years, as Europe’s biggest economy faces a sustained period of slower growth, Bloomberg News reported. German corporate distress was the highest since 2020 at the start of this year, according to research published on Thursday. The study, by law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, aggregates data from more than 3,750 listed European firms. “German corporates continued to experience the highest levels of distress,” when compared to the UK, France, Spain and Italy, the Weil report said.

The Swedish construction industry is facing a severe downturn, with an increase in bankruptcy filings signaling a broader economic turmoil within the sector, according to PressKraft.se. Credit reference agencies have observed a significant uptick in the number of companies seeking bankruptcy protection. Data from January indicated a 47% increase compared to the same period a year prior, with 622 companies filing for insolvency. This surge in bankruptcies is symptomatic of a deeper crisis affecting builders and has notable repercussions for the Swedish economy at large.

Switzerland called on Wednesday for changes to global measures to prevent liquidity crunches which were introduced after the global financial crisis, to make bank runs less calamitous, Reuters reported. A year after the collapse of Credit Suisse, which was bought by UBS in an emergency rescue, Swiss officials and regulators are examining how to change liquidity rules to make banking deposits more stable and avoid bank runs. The Swiss government said in a report on how to regulate banks deemed "too big to fail" (TBTF) that liquidity requirements should be addressed internationally.