Headlines

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday dismissed a plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against Religare Enterprises Ltd observing that it was a financial service provider and does not come under the ambit of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the Economic Times of India reported.

The retail arm of Reliance Industries RELI.NS is among three companies eligible to submit a plan for the debt-ridden Future Enterprises FURE.NS's bankruptcy proceedings, Future's resolution professional disclosed in an exchange filing on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail Ventures, galvanised steel sheet maker Jindal (India) and Donear Industries-owned textiles maker GBTL DONE.NS have been listed as prospective resolution applicants for the Future Group company, said Avil Menezes.

China’s housing market is weakening again. But as worrying as that is for the nation’s growth, it may be a symptom of a much larger, thornier problem, according to a commentary in the Wall Street Journal. After a rebound at the beginning of the year in the wake of China’s reopening, the country’s property market has resumed its downward trend: Both sales and prices have started to fall again.

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 member nations are set to meet and discuss reforms to multilateral development banks, a framework for crypto assets and debt treatment of some countries, an Indian government official said Wednesday, Reuters reported. India, which holds this year's G20 presidency, will host global finance chiefs and deputies in the western state of Gujarat between July 14-18.

Britain's economy is so far proving resilient to a surge in interest rates over the past year and a half, but it will take time for the full impact to feed through, the Bank of England said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The Bank last month raised rates to 5%, up from 0.1% at the end of 2021, raising concerns about a hit to households, businesses and the broader financial sector that could push the economy into a recession. But in a half-yearly assessment of the health of the financial system, the BoE said there was no reason for alarm.

Three decades ago, London remade a derelict shipping yard at Canary Wharf into a forest of glass-and-concrete skyscrapers in a bid to mimic U.S. financial hubs. Now the 128-acre banking district east of central London is suffering a problem also plaguing U.S. cities: emptying office buildings, the Wall Street Journal reported. Last month, HSBC Holdings, the U.K.’s largest financial firm, said it was leaving its 1.1-million-square-foot headquarters, known as the HSBC Tower, for a smaller building in central London.

Argentina's monthly inflation rate is expected to slow to 7.0% in June, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll, after hitting 7.8% in May, as the government battles to control spiraling prices ahead of elections in October, Reuters reported. The poll of 23 analysts measures inflation by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), with estimates ranging from 6.6% to 7.8%.

The Bank of Canada raised interest rates for a second straight meeting, keeping the door open for more hikes as it pushed back inflation’s return to its 2% target, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem increased the overnight lending rate on Wednesday by 25 basis points to 5%, the highest in 22 years. The move was expected by most economists in a Bloomberg survey, and markets had put the odds at around three quarters. The bank provided little guidance on the future path of borrowing costs in the rate statement.

Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan said negotiators have made progress toward a deal to end a strike by dockworkers at some of Canada’s busiest ports and he’s asked a mediator to get a final agreement done, Bloomberg News reported. The strike, which began July 1, has blocked the flow of goods through major maritime hubs on the Pacific coast, including at the Port of Vancouver and Port of Prince Rupert. The disruption has already hampered the exports of commodities and inbound shipments of manufacturing materials, while fertilizer giant Nutrien Ltd.

Britain’s so-called “zombie” companies are being wiped out by the inflation crisis and rising interest rates, according to the head of bankruptcy specialist Begbies Traynor Group Plc, Bloomberg News reported. “Over the next 18 months, we’ll see virtually all of them finally come to an end,” Ric Traynor, its executive chairman, said in an interview. Economists define zombies as companies barely able to service their debts, but which have been kept afloat by years of cheap borrowing costs. Insolvencies across England and Wales have risen toward levels last seen in 2009.