Headlines

Israel-based fintech Vesttoo is seeking chapter 11 protection in a U.S. court which will enable it to pursue legal action against those responsible for a fake collateral scandal, it said in a statement yesterday, Reuters reported. Vesttoo - partly backed by Banco Santander's fintech venture capital arm Mouro Capital - has laid off staff, closed offices and appointed an interim chief executive following the discovery of fraudulent letters of credit used on its platform. Vesttoo provides insurers with access to so-called insurance-linked securities - an alternative form of reinsurance.

Perth builder Western Luxury Homes Pty Ltd was placed into liquidation on Friday, according to a notice published by ASIC, The Australian reported. The failing business has now been handed over to RSM liquidators Travis Kukura and Jerome Hall Mohen who will take charge of finding a solution to the company’s financial woes. It is understood 12 homes were left incomplete when the building company folded, with signed contracts dating back to mid-2020. Clients are being urged to contact their home indemnity insurance provider, QBE Insurance, following the shock collapse.

Chinese officials said they would stop reporting the country’s youth unemployment rate after months of spiraling increases, depriving investors, economists and businesses of another key data point on the declining health of the world’s second-largest economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The surprise move extends China’s efforts to restrict access to a variety of data on its economy and corporate landscape to outside scrutiny.

Canada's annual inflation rate surged more than expected to 3.3% in July as core measures eyed by the central bank remained stubbornly high, data showed on Tuesday, increasing the likelihood of another interest rate increase, Reuters reported. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast inflation would rise to 3.0% from the 27-month low of 2.8% recorded in June. The consumer price index was up 0.6% on a month-over-month basis, Statistics Canada said, also higher than a forecast of a 0.3% gain.

Basic wages in Britain hit a new record growth rate, figures showed on Tuesday, adding to worries for the Bank of England (BoE) about long-term inflation pressures even after 14 back-to-back increases in interest rates, Reuters reported. Official data showed some fresh signs of cooling in the jobs market with the unemployment rate unexpectedly rising to 4.2% from 4.0%, the highest since the three months to October 2021 and climbing more quickly than the BoE has forecast.

Japan’s economy recorded impressive growth in the second quarter of 2023, government data showed on Tuesday, evidence that the country is finally recovering from the Covid doldrums, even as signs of significant challenges remain, the New York Times reported. Economic output in Japan grew by an annualized rate of 6 percent in the second three months of the year, the country’s Cabinet Office said. It was the third consecutive quarter of expansion, following a revised reading of 3.7 percent growth in the January-to-March period and a slight bump of 0.2 percent the quarter before that.

A Burnaby-based company that designs and builds electric bikes and scooters has added Veemo’s covered electric tricycle to its catalogue, the Vancouver Sun reported. According to Envo Drive Systems CEO Ali Kazemkhani, his company is taking over the 122 orders for the electric trike that Veemo had in place before the business folded in January. Kazemkhani said all Veemo customers had been refunded their $250 deposits and would soon be asked whether they want to continue their order under the Envo banner.

Russia's central bank hiked its key interest rate by 350 basis points to 12% on Tuesday, an emergency move to try and halt the rouble's recent slide after a public call from the Kremlin for tighter monetary policy, Reuters reported. The extraordinary rate meeting came after the rouble plummeted past the 100 threshold against the dollar on Monday, dragged down by the impact of Western sanctions on Russia's balance of trade and as military spending soars.

Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said the government was surprised by the central bank's delay in cutting interest rates, noting that there were already reasons for a reduction before the easing cycle began earlier this month, Reuters reported. In a podcast interview with journalist Reinaldo Azevedo, recorded on Friday and aired on Monday, he stressed that the strong economic performance of the first quarter was boosted by the farm sector, and said that he had been indicating a significant slowdown ahead.

China's largest private real estate developer Country Garden is seeking to delay payment on a private onshore bond for the first time, the latest sign of a stifling cash crunch in the property sector, piling pressure on Beijing to step in, Reuters reported. Adding to worries about contagion risk, a major Chinese trust company that traditionally had sizable exposure to real estate, Zhongrong International Trust Co, has missed its repayment obligations on some investment products.