Headlines

Bankers said that Turkey's central bank used $7 billion of reserves in the last two weeks to help steady the lira in the aftermath of devastating earthquakes, and reserves could remain under pressure in the weeks ahead, Reuters reported. The worst disaster in Turkey's modern history killed tens of thousands and levelled areas of the south, temporarily closing the stock exchange. But in foreign exchange (FX) markets, the lira has shed only 0.2% versus the U.S. dollar since the initial quake on Feb. 6.

The Japanese subsidiary of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX said it started allowing customers to withdraw their assets on Tuesday, a relatively quick reboot that Tokyo regulators see as the fruit of their strict crypto laws, the Wall Street Journal reported. The situation in Japan contrasts with the U.S. and other countries, where most FTX customers are a long way from getting access to their assets more than three months after the exchange’s U.S. bankruptcy filing. Japan, which was burned by the collapse of the early cryptocurrency exchange Mt.

Hong Kong outlined a plan to let retail investors trade digital tokens like Bitcoin and Ether, taking a major step toward its goal of becoming a crypto hub in a policy shift that contrasts with a crackdown in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported. Individual investors would be allowed to trade larger coins on exchanges licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission, providing safeguards such as knowledge tests, risk profiles and reasonable limits on exposure are put in place, the regulator said in a consultation paper on Monday.

A downturn in South Korea's home prices is causing pain in the country's unusual rent-free rental system that benefited landlords and tenants alike during a long surge in residential property prices, Reuters reported. In the "jeonse" scheme, tenants put up a deposit typically worth as much as 70% of the home's value, then live without paying rent for two years until the landlord returns the full amount.

Adani Transmission will announce debt refinancing plans in a few weeks, executives said on Tuesday in an investor call, Reuters reported. The company, a unit of embattled Indian conglomerate Adani Group, has no plans to raise additional debt for capital expenditure, which it plans to cover with operating cash inflows, the executives said.

Bankruptcies across the EU have soared to record levels, inflicting further misery upon Europeans at a time when soaring inflation and high energy costs have already left many of the continent's citizens on the brink of financial despair, the Brussels Times reported. According to a new report published on Friday by Eurostat, the EU's official statistics office, bankruptcies in the final quarter of 2022 rose 26.8% relative to the previous quarter.

The overall recovery rate in Indian insolvency cases till Q3FY23 was 30.4 per cent implying a haircut of approximately 70 per cent, the Economic Times of India reported. The cumulative recovery rate has been on a downtrend, decreasing from 43 per cent in Q1FY20 and 32.9 per cent in Q4FY22 as larger resolutions have already been executed and a significant number of liquidated cases were either BIFR cases and/or defunct with high resolution time, coupled with lower recoverable values, Care Edge said in a report.

Tough capital rules for banks holding cryptoassets must be fast-tracked in the European Union's pending banking law if Europe wants to avoid missing a globally-agreed deadline, the bloc's executive has said, Reuters reported. The global Basel Committee of banking regulators from the world's main financial centres has set a January 2025 deadline for implementing capital requirements for banks' exposures to cryptoassets such as stablecoins and bitcoin.

Japan's manufacturing activity contracted at the fastest pace in 30 months in February, a business survey showed on Tuesday, in a worrying sign for the world's third-largest economy, which is facing weakening demand and struggling to tame cost pressures, Reuters reported. The au Jibun Bank flash Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to a seasonally adjusted 47.4 in February, from a final 48.9 in the previous month.

China said it is launching a pilot program for real estate private equity investment funds as part of efforts to promote the property industry, Bloomberg News reported. The investment scope of the funds would include residential housing, commercial property and infrastructure projects, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement Monday. Investors in the pilot products have to put in no less than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) and would mainly be institutional investors, according to the statement. It was unclear when and where the pilot would start.