Headlines

Cryptocurrency exchange Nuri GmbH has filed for insolvency in Berlin, according to a court filing, CoinDesk.com reported. The platform, previously called Bitwala, was founded in 2015. Nuri said the sell-off in the crypto market coupled with the collapse of Celsius Network ultimately led to the decision. The price of bitcoin (BTC) has fallen from $69,000 to as low as $17,000 over the past nine months, with several key companies in the industry struggling to keep afloat. Bitcoin was recently trading around $23,000.

Crypto futures exchange CoinFLEX has filed for restructuring in Seychelles as part of its plan to improve its financial situation, CoinDesk.com reported. It applied to the Seychelles Supreme Court for reorganization and restructuring. CoinFLEX will now seek approval from creditors for its restructuring plans. On Tuesday, CoinFLEX sent an email to its creditors stating the exchange is looking to implement the proposals outlined last month, which include issuing depositors with recovery tokens, equity and locked FLEX coins.

Endo International PLC, a pharmaceutical manufacturer facing thousands of lawsuits alleging it fueled the opioid addiction crisis, said Tuesday that it is likely to file for bankruptcy imminently, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company said that it is in negotiations with a group of senior lenders that it expects will result in an agreement for a chapter 11 filing. Endo also said that it is in discussions with opioid litigants as well as other creditors but didn’t say that it has reached a proposed deal with them.

The economic situation is deteriorating and the outlook is fragile in Germany, Europe's largest economy, its finance minister said on Wednesday, defending his plans to raise income tax thresholds in response to soaring inflation, Reuters reported. The German economy stagnated in the second quarter, with the war in Ukraine, soaring energy prices, the pandemic and supply disruptions bringing it to the edge of a downturn. Inflation is running at 8.5%.

Brussels is unlikely to back down on its demand that Poland respect the rule of law to receive post-pandemic recovery funds, officials said, despite threats from Warsaw that it could block decision-making within the European Union, Reuters reported. Poland would be eligible for 24 billion euros in grants and 11.5 billion in very cheap loans from the fund, designed to help member states become greener and more digitalised as their economies recover.

The UK is planning for several days over the winter when cold weather may combine with gas shortages, leading to organized blackouts for industry and even households, Bloomberg News reported. Under the government’s latest “reasonable worst-case scenario,” Britain could face an electricity capacity shortfall totaling about a sixth of peak demand, even after emergency coal plants have been fired up, according to people familiar with the government’s planning.

Thai Airways International Pcl will receive key financial support from the government for its 80 billion baht (US$2.3 billion) capital raising and debt-to-equity swap plan aimed at helping the state-controlled carrier come out of its pandemic-induced bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. State-owned banks will lead in funding new loans, converting debt and injecting equity capital into Thai Air as part of a revised revamp plan the airline gave the court for approval last month, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday.

Mexican leasing firm Unifin will miss capital and interest payments on its debt because of limited sources of financing, the company said in a filing to Mexico's main stock exchange, Reuters reported. The decision is effective immediately "and through the period necessary to negotiate definitive agreements with (Unifin's) shareholders in relation to a strategic restructuring," it said in the filing late on Monday. Unifin shares plummeted in early trading on Tuesday, falling more than 65% to an historic low.

Ukraine has formally requested new assistance from the International Monetary Fund, seeking funds to help weather a severe wartime recession and a large cash shortfall, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The government submitted a proposal for an IMF program on Friday, it said. Ukraine added that it expects to receive help by November or December but didn’t say how much it is requesting.

China's top auditor is conducting a review of the U.S. $3 trillion trust industry, paving the way for a potential overhaul of a key shadow banking sector where losses on property loans are mounting, Bloomberg News reported. In an unscheduled move, the National Audit Office - which previously led an examination of bank exposures to Mr. Jack Ma's Ant Group - has for the past month been inspecting the books of at least 20 trust firms, including the top five, to gauge the risks they pose to financial stability.