Headlines

Money managers on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley are learning once again that investing in China can be fraught, Bloomberg News reported. The Biden administration is close to completing an executive order that would curb U.S. investment in China’s tech industry, foreshadowing a further slowdown in bets on the world’s second-largest economy. Uncertainty over policy related to China has already contributed to a decrease of capital flowing into the Asian country.

The proposed amendments to the Malaysian Insolvency Act 1967, as announced in the revised 2023 Budget, will be tabled in Parliament next month, the New Straits Times reported. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the amendments to the Act would improve the administration and management of the country's bankruptcy system.

Railsbank Technology Ltd., a onetime darling of the UK payments scene that says it’s raised more than $100 million from investors, may be sold off through an insolvency process as it faces mounting financial and regulatory problems, Bloomberg News reported. Directors are close to selling Railsbank through a pre-pack administration, a form of bankruptcy that involves lining up a buyer beforehand, according to people familiar with the matter. The London-based company has appointed restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal to advise on the process. A sale hasn’t been finalized and may not occur.

As China tries to turn the page on one of its worst stretches of growth since the 1970s, its economy is being weighed down by the colossal debts of its local governments, which swelled during the pandemic and are starting to come to a head, the Wall Street Journal reported. Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid campaign saddled cities with billions of dollars in unplanned expenditures for mass testing and lockdowns. The Chinese leader’s crackdown on excessive property-market leverage led to a sharp drop in land sales, depriving cities of one of their biggest revenue sources.

Pakistan will be required to give an assurance that its balance of payments deficit is fully financed for the fiscal year ending in June to unlock the next tranche of IMF funding, the fund's resident representative said on Monday, Reuters reported. The funding is critical for the South Asian economy, which is facing a balance of payments crisis, with its central bank foreign exchange reserves dropping to levels barely able to cover four weeks of imports.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with his job as a delivery driver bringing plenty of overtime and the cost to borrow at record lows, James Kebe went on a spending spree. He leased a boat and an all-terrain vehicle, and when his bank offered him a bigger line of credit, he maxed it out. Then interest rates started rising at their fastest pace in generations. And because Kebe’s line of credit had a floating rate, his monthly payments soared, too.

Battle lines are forming for the European Central Bank decision next week, with one official calling for a whole campaign of new tightening and some colleagues favoring caution, Bloomberg News reported. Toward the dovish end of the spectrum, Chief Economist Philip Lane on Monday acknowledged the need for more increases after a half-point move penciled in for March 16, but warned against policy on “autopilot.” Portuguese central-bank chief Mario Centeno highlighted that inflation is even undershooting ECB forecasts.

Roads blocked, oil refineries disrupted, planes grounded and trains halted — unions are threatening to shut down France’s economy this week in what they hope is their toughest riposte yet to President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age, the Associated Press reported. The first actions started Monday, as truckers sporadically blocked major highway arteries and interchanges in go-slow actions dubbed escargot — the French word for snail — across several French regions. Unions plan an open-ended strike on the national rail service starting Monday evening.

China's foreign exchange regulator said on Monday that there is no change in China's policy on cross-border remittance of funds, and it will continue to promote a high-level opening-up to the world, Reuters reported. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) made the comments in response to Reuters questions regarding billionaire investor Mark Mobius' claims that he cannot take his money out of China due to its capital controls.

The leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party Jeffrey Donaldson said on Monday he had set up a group to consult on views on the Windsor Framework deal agreed between Britain and the European Union last month, Reuters reported. "The group will comprise both members of our party as well as independent thinkers who have standing within the broader community," he said in a statement. "The group will work independently and will provide me with a report by the end of March." Read more.