Headlines

Yuzhou Group Holdings Co. filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy Thursday in New York, a move by the defaulted property developer to seek US court recognition for its offshore debt restructuring and ward off litigation, Bloomberg News reported. The Chinese builder, which failed to pay $2.9 billion of dollar notes with interest as of the end of 2023, is undergoing restructuring in Hong Kong and Cayman Islands. Read more.

German chipmaker Infineon has settled a more than decade-long legal dispute over insolvent former unit Qimonda, agreeing to pay a higher than initially planned 753.5 million euros ($837 million), both companies said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The settlement with Qimonda insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe will not affect Infineon's operating profitability, a company spokesperson said, adding that it had already taken provisions amounting to 221 million euros over the case.

A union filed a strike notice against Canadian National Railway Co. just hours after trains began rolling again on Friday, creating a new obstacle in a labor dispute that has upended North American supply chains, Bloomberg News reported. The Teamsters union told the Montreal-based railway that it plans to withdraw the services of its roughly 6,500 members at 10 a.m. Toronto time on Monday if there’s no agreement on a new contract. Thousands of workers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd.

Canada's retail sales dropped in June, data showed on Friday, as consumers continued to feel the impact of high interest rates and cut back on discretionary purchases, Reuters reported. Retail sales, which comprise local sales of vehicles, clothing, furniture, food and beverages among other items, dropped 0.3% on a monthly basis, less than last month's 0.8% decline. The sales were pulled down primarily as fewer customers bought vehicles and automotive parts, but also by lower purchases of personal care products and sporting goods, Statistics Canada said.

Energy Absolute Pcl obtained approval to extend the maturity of 4 billion baht ($116.5 million) of green bonds, providing some relief for the Thai renewable energy company that’s under a fraud investigation, Bloomberg News reported. The shares surged the most in more than a decade. Holders of the debt papers on Friday agreed to push back the maturity period by nine months to June 30, 2025, the company said in an exchange filing on Friday. Along with the extension, Energy Absolute also obtained their approval to pay 1.8% additional interest on the notes, payable every six months.

Brazil is sketching out a plan to provide mid-sized companies with better access to the country’s capital markets, part of an effort by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to bolster growth, Bloomberg News reported. The goal is to make it easier for companies to tap debt or equity markets, according to Marcos Pinto, secretary for economic reforms. The ideas, which are still being hashed out, include lowering fees associated with issuances and simplifying audit requirements, he said in an interview.

Bangladesh’s new central bank governor said the country is seeking an additional $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund as it looks to recover from recent political turmoil, and is buying dollars from local banks to meet unpaid debt, Bloomberg News reported. The South Asian country has begun talks with the Washington-based IMF for the additional loan, central bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur said in an interview in the capital Dhaka. Bangladesh secured $4.7 billion in funding from the IMF last year.

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda reaffirmed that he is open to more interest-rate increases, clearing up doubts about the central bank’s intention to continue on its path of policy normalization, the Wall Street Journal reported. “There is no change to our basic stance of adjusting the level of monetary easing going forward if we can confirm that the outlook for the economy and prices is more likely to realize as we expect,” Ueda said in a parliamentary session Friday. The BOJ governor’s comment fueled rate-hike expectations, causing the yen to strengthen against the dollar.

The German government on Friday announced plans to provide about 3.3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) in funding for projects to make industry more climate-friendly, including by storing carbon dioxide underground at offshore sites, the Associated Press reported. Germany, which has Europe's biggest economy and is home to many energy-intensive industries, aims to cut its emissions to “net zero” by 2045. The new program is aimed largely at medium-sized companies. The Economy Ministry plans to launch the program, which also covers projects to shift to more climate-friendly production, next month.

China is cranking up its massive export machine again, and this time there’s nowhere for competitors to hide, the Wall Street Journal reported. A Massachusetts startup called CubicPV bet on silicon wafers, a high-tech component in solar panels. Buoyed by President Biden’s climate legislation enacted two years ago, with billions of dollars in tax credits and government loans, CubicPV announced plans in late 2022 for a $1.4 billion wafer plant in Texas. Since then, China has nearly doubled its output of silicon wafers, way more than it needs.