Headlines

Brazilian budget carrier Azul SA, now backed by United Airlines Holdings Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc., expects a bankruptcy-triggered reduction of debt and a slew of renegotiated aircraft leases to help it generate a profit the next two years, Bloomberg News reported. The airline will refocus growth plans on the domestic market, though it will increase flights to the US to handle strong demand for World Cup soccer matches next summer, Chief Executive Officer John Rodgerson said in an interview. Azul will still accept deliveries of new aircraft from Airbus SE and Embraer SA.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the operating licences of Aso Savings and Loans Plc and Union Homes Savings and Loans Plc, citing persistent regulatory infractions and deepening financial distress, Guardian.ng reported. The revocation, which took effect on December 15, 2025, was carried out under Section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and Section 7.3 of the Revised Guidelines for Mortgage Banks in Nigeria, the CBN stated in a press release yesterday.

German prosecutors charged two former board members of Greensill Bank AG for their roles in the 2021 demise of the lender, Bloomberg News reported. The men are charged with bankruptcy crimes and false accounting, a spokesman for Bremen prosecutors said in an emailed statement. A member of the unit’s supervisory board was also indicted. The statement didn’t identify any of the accused. (Subscription required.) Read more.

Thames Water has blocked a £2.5m bonus payout for nearly two dozen executives after a political backlash, The Telegraph reported. The utility, which is struggling under £21bn of debt, has decided to defer the payment scheme until further notice after MPs labelled the plan an “outrage”. Under the proposal, Thames would have paid 21 senior executives an average of £117,000 each this month as part of a scheme to retain managers who may have quit because of the financial turmoil.

Despite a sharp rise in food prices, inflationary pressures in Canada appear contained, Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said Tuesday, adding that policymakers remain focused on keeping inflation at or near 2% to preserve households’ purchasing power. In a year-end speech in Montreal, Macklem said he expects the upheaval in global trade, fueled by President Trump’s tariffs, and the restructuring of Canada’s economy to dominate again in 2026.

The U.S. Trade Representative on Wednesday announced the implementation of tariff-related ​elements in a trade agreement framework reached ‌with Switzerland and Liechtenstein in November, Reuters reported. The tariff rates announced on ‌November 14 will be retroactive to that date, according to a post in the Federal Register. The notice amends the U.S. tariff schedule to apply either ⁠the most-favored-nation tariff ‌rate or a 15% rate, whichever is higher, to goods from the two ‍countries.

A new report from the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime has issued a warning about the Central African Republic’s experiment with cryptocurrency, concluding that initiatives have been poorly designed, opaque and vulnerable to abuse, while offering little tangible benefit to the population, Decrypt.com reported. “These initiatives, launched under President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, were presented by the government as tools for economic growth, modernization and national development,” said Global Initiative on its website.

The decade-plus American bankruptcy of property developer Sean Dunne took a major step toward final resolution on Tuesday, after a U.S. judge allowed payments to his two ex-wives, the Irish Times reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Julie A. Manning approved, pending the filing of revised paperwork, more than $2.8 million in payments to Mr Dunne’s two ex-wives. She added she would also rule by Friday on distribution of the remainder of the more than $16 million in the estate.

Chris Johnson Associates Ltd, a long-standing local recovery and insolvency firm, has filed a legal action challenging a decision by the Work Permit Board to impose the conditions of an employee’s permit and a ruling by the Immigration Appeals Tribunal to uphold the decision, CaymanNewsService.com reported. In the writ, CJA claims the board and tribunal were erroneous in law, unreasonable and breached natural justice when they decided the permit would be granted for just six months but could not be renewed, and the firm must train a Caymanian for the position.

China Vanke’s shares fell after proposals to extend a bond payment were rejected, fueling fears that authorities aren’t keen to step in and keep the developer and its beleaguered peers afloat, the Wall Street Journal reported. The property developer said early Monday that it failed to secure bondholder support for a one-year extension of a bond payment due Monday. Vanke, one of China’s largest real-estate companies, said its three proposals to extend bond payments were rejected. The proposal to extend principal and interest payments was rejected, with 76.7% of holders rejecting it.