Headlines

B.C.’s financial markets regulator on Wednesday called on Ottawa to make changes to federal laws so that fraudsters hit with steep fines still have to pay up even after declaring bankruptcy, the Vancouver Sun reported. Brenda Leong, chairwoman and CEO of the B.C. Securities Commission, said she would work with other provincial regulators to make the plea to Ottawa after Canada’s high court ruled administrative penalties, or fines, don’t survive bankruptcy while orders to pay back ill-gotten gains do.

A senior member of the Barclay family, which owns The Telegraph, has struck a confidential settlement with a leading private bank to avoid the threat of bankruptcy, The Telegraph reported. According to court filings, Investec has dropped a legal claim against Alistair Barclay after months of wrangling over almost £1m in unpaid debts. The settlement was submitted to the High Court in late July, two days before Mr Barclay was expected to appear before a judge. Details of the agreement have been kept private.

The founders of Byju’s have settled its Rs 158 crore payment arrears with the Indian cricket board, their counsel told the bankruptcy appellate tribunal Wednesday, as they sought to free the edtech firm from insolvency proceedings initiated on the sports body’s petition, the Economic Times of India reported. However, the Chennai bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) did not pass any order on Byju’s chief executive Byju Raveendran’s challenge to the insolvency proceedings, as a group of its U.S.

The Bank of England cut interest rates from a 16-year high on Thursday after a narrow vote in favour from policymakers divided over whether inflation pressures had eased sufficiently, Reuters reported. Governor Andrew Bailey - who led the 5-4 decision to lower rates by a quarter-point to 5% - said the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee would move cautiously going forward. "We need to make sure make sure inflation stays low, and be careful not to cut interest rates too quickly or by too much," he said in a statement alongside the decision.

The Czech Republic’s central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate for the sixth time in a row as inflation falls and the economy recovers more slowly than expected, the Associated Press reported. The cut, which had been predicted by analysts, brought the interest rate down by a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.50%. The bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, the first cut since June 22, 2022. Further cuts of half a percentage point each time followed on Feb. 8, March 20, May 2 and June 27.

Chile’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged, surprising most economists by pausing its yearlong easing cycle as inflation pressures increase, while indicating that the halt was likely to be temporary, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers voted unanimously to hold borrowing costs at 5.75% on Wednesday, as expected by just four of 20 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The other 16 forecast a quarter-point cut. Central bankers led by Rosanna Costa interrupted an easing cycle that has shaved 550 basis points from rates in just over a year.

Bargain site Temu has won over hundreds of millions of customers around the world with its rock-bottom-priced hairpins and pet toys. Some suppliers say consumers’ gains are coming at their expense, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A throng of Chinese merchants who supply Temu stormed a company affiliate’s office on Monday in Guangzhou, southern China, to protest what they consider unfair penalties that left some bankrupt. Video clips provided by protesters showed scores of angry merchants at the office whistling and demanding a resolution, with police maintaining order.

Mohari Hospitality Ltd is in exclusive talks to purchase Venice’s five-star Hotel Bauer, beating other bidders including billionaire Bernard Arnault, Bloomberg News reported. Mohari is offering to buy the property, located on the Grand Canal, for €309 million ($335 million). Established by former PokerStars co-founder Mark Scheinberg, the company focuses on luxury properties and its existing European investments include the five-star Four Seasons hotel in Madrid.

Canadian federal government's target for a bump in its controversial capital gains tax over the next five years will fall short by a tenth, according to an analysis released on Thursday by the parliamentary budget officer, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland revealed a new tax on wealthy individuals in her budget in April which would bring in C$19.4 billion ($13.99 billion) over four years.

A Montenegrin appeals court on Thursday upheld a ruling by a lower court to hand over a South Korean mogul known as “the cryptocurrency king” to his native country, rejecting a bid to extradite him to the United States, the Associated Press reported. The move follows a months-long legal saga in the case of Do Kwon, the Terraform Labs founder who was arrested in Montenegro last year. Both South Korea and the U.S. had requested Do Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro. Various Montenegrin courts in the past months have brought and overturned multiple rulings to extradite Kwon either to U.S.