Headlines

Hong Kong’s securities regulator and police force set up a task force to assist with the detection of suspicious activity at crypto exchanges, intensifying oversight of the industry after the blowup at the JPEX platform, Bloomberg News reported. The working group comprised of the city’s Securities and Futures Commission and law enforcement officials will “enhance collaboration in monitoring and investigating illegal activities related to virtual-asset trading platforms,” the financial watchdog said in a statement late Wednesday.

Argentina's central bank is set to leave its interest rate unchanged at 118% at the directors meeting scheduled for later Thursday, an official source at the bank said, Reuters reported. Argentina is struggling to tamp down on triple-digit inflation as presidential elections loom just several weeks away. The central bank held the rate at 118% last month after raising it from 97% in the aftermath of a shock primary election which saw radical libertarian Javier Milei become the favorite to win the presidency this month. Annual inflation is running at 124%.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric embarks on his first trip to China with an ambitious agenda that seeks deals to make the country’s economy more efficient and help it develop beyond its traditional commodities exporter role, Bloomberg News reported. “We want to move toward a new stage that includes investments in the country that help us improve productivity,” Chile International Economic Relations Undersecretary Claudia Sanhueza said in an interview ahead of Boric’s first trip to the Asian country next week.

In July this year, Nuremberg’s mayor celebrated the final beam being placed atop the redeveloped Quelle building, a monumental 1950s symbol of postwar Germany’s economic revival. Revamped with offices, shops and homes, a big part of the giant complex was slated to open in 2024, Bloomberg News reported. In recent weeks, however, the site’s developer Gerch Group, which has €4 billion ($4.2 billion) of projects under construction, has filed for insolvency proceedings, along with one of its project companies linked to the development. The opening date’s now in doubt.

Egypt will “bleed” precious reserves unless it devalues its currency again, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund said, as she praised other steps her institution’s second-largest borrower has taken to right its stricken economy, Bloomberg News reported. In a wide-ranging interview, Kristalina Georgieva also said Zambia and Ghana, which have both defaulted on their debt, are making progress under their IMF programs, while Tunisia doesn’t need a restructuring yet but should act soon to shore up its economy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with European leaders to press for continued support against Russia’s invasion, amid concerns about the continued flow of U.S. aid, Bloomberg News reported. Zelenskiy kept fellow-leaders guessing about whether he would attend until the eve of a summit in Granada, Spain, because he sought concrete results from a trip, according to people familiar with his thinking. It was not clear to him whether allies were ready to deliver on concrete pledges, added the people who asked not to be named on a confidential issue.

Zambia’s official creditor committee plans to sign a memorandum of understanding to restructure $6.3 billion of debt by the close of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting next week, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s dollar bonds rallied. The government has made slow progress in talks since June, when it reached a deal-in-principle with the committee co-led by China and France. The agreement would see the interest rates cut to as low as 1% and the loans only repaid in 2043, with a 40% reduction in net-present value of the debt.

Scandinavian airline SAS said on Tuesday that U.S. investment firm Castlelake and Air France-KLM would become new major shareholders in the airline alongside the Danish state following bankruptcy proceedings, Reuters reported. Castlelake will take a stake of about 32%, Air France-KLM's will be around 20% and the Danish state will hold about 26%, SAS said. Scandinavia's biggest carrier filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States in mid-2022 after years of struggling with high costs coupled with low customer demand brought on by the pandemic.

A Swiss court is weighing whether to grant Credit Suisse investors access to more documents on a CHF16 billion ($17.6 billion) writedown of the bank’s bonds, a move the lender has opposed, filings seen by Reuters show. Hundreds of bondholders have sued Swiss regulator FINMA in an effort to recoup their losses from the writedown that helped pave the way for Credit Suisse’s government-orchestrated takeover by UBS in March. In the battle for disclosure, investors scored an early win in May when the St.

Demire Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG and its creditors are gearing up for debt refinancing talks as the Apollo-backed landlord faces a looming bond maturity amid an industry downturn, Bloomberg News. Demire has hired Rothschild & Co. to advise on its refinancing, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the information is private. Bondholders have also been hearing pitches from potential advisors.