Headlines

The U.S. public company accounting regulator will not accept any restrictions on its access to the audit papers of Chinese companies listed in New York, including where firms have been delisted, two people with knowledge of the U.S. agency's thinking told Reuters. Washington and Beijing are in talks to settle a long-running dispute over the auditing compliance of U.S.-listed Chinese firms which, if unresolved, could see more than 270 Chinese firms kicked off New York bourses.

Laurentian University's plan of arrangement is missing some key demands from the Sudbury, Ont., school's faculty association, said its vice-president, CBC.ca reported. The university on Thursday filed its plan of arrangement, which is the final step needed to exit insolvency proceedings that started in February 2021. The plan sets out the terms between Laurentian and its creditors, and outlines the steps it will need to take to rebuild. In April 2021, the university ended 69 programs and cut nearly 200 staff and faculty positions.

Irish developer Michael O’Flynn has been blocked by the High Court from raising any objections to the personal insolvency agreement of a neighbour John O’Driscoll over a guarantee on a €2.2 million loan, the Irish Times reported. The developer who contended that Mr. O’Driscoll from Ovens, County Cork, was allegedly not insolvent, failed in his bid to overturn a Circuit Court ruling that he had no right to be heard on the matter. In the High Court, Mr. Justice Alexander Owens upheld the Circuit Court ruling that because Mr. O’Flynn who had been invited by Mr.

Deutsche Lufthansa said that it was canceling more than 1,000 flights ahead of a one-day walkout by ground staff scheduled for Wednesday, just as families across Germany head off on their summer holidays, Reuters reported. Strikes and staff shortages have already forced airlines including Lufthansa to cancel thousands of flights and caused hours-long queues at major airports, frustrating holidaymakers keen to travel after COVID-19 related lockdowns.

U.K. satellite operator OneWeb plans to join forces with European rival Eutelsat in a deal the two companies hope will help them take on Elon Musk’s SpaceX, CNBC.com reported. The all-stock merger will see Eutelsat issue 230 million new shares and exchange them for all remaining shares of OneWeb, according to a press release Tuesday. Shareholders of OneWeb and Eutelsat will own 50% of the combined firm, respectively. The deal values OneWeb at $3.4 billion.

The Bank of Japan won't make any quick or drastic changes to its monetary policy framework and is likely to keep interest rates low, even as this week's board reshuffle brought in less dovish members, former BOJ policy board member Sayuri Shirai said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "Japan's neutral rate is very low... Together with inflation expectation, Japan's nominal interest rate will be low," Shirai told the Reuters Global Markets Forum (GMF).

China will launch a real estate fund to help property developers resolve a crippling debt crisis, aiming for a warchest of up to 300 billion yuan ($44 billion) in a bid to restore confidence in the industry, Reuters reported. The move would mark the first major step by the state to rescue the beleaguered property sector since the debt troubles became public last year.

Italy is preparing a new stimulus decree worth up to 13 billion euros ($13.3 billion) to help families and firms deal with a surge in electricity, gas and petrol costs, deputy Economy Minister Laura Castelli said on Monday, Reuters reported. The new scheme, which comes on top of some 33 billion euros already budgeted since January, is expected to be one of the last major acts by Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who last week resigned paving the way for a snap national election on Sept. 25.

Zipmex, the Asia-focused crypto exchange that froze some withdrawals last week, said it’s seeking to raise at least $50 million to repair its balance sheet. The company confirmed the targeted fundraising amount in an emailed response to questions from Bloomberg. Zipmex is in discussions to sell all or part of itself after lending money to troubled crypto firms Babel Finance and Celsius Network Ltd., a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be named discussing private deliberations.

U.S. investors participating in credit-default-swap auctions are allowed to buy Russian sovereign debt, according to new guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department, potentially reducing losses for some investors who sold protection against a Russian default in the years leading up to the war in Ukraine, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported.