Headlines

The president of the Industry and Commerce Federation of Macau Central and Southern District, Lei Cheok Kuan, suggested that the government distribute MOP15,000 to residents across three months in a bid to help sustain local businesses, the Macau Daily Times reported. According to the official, the first two MOP15,000 can be given in cash, while the remaining stimulus could be handed out in a form of e-vouchers as a way to support the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) due to near-bankruptcy of these firms.

The Zipmex cryptocurrency exchange on Wednesday blocked users from taking direct custody of their coins, citing volatile market conditions, Coin Desk reported. "Due to a combination of circumstances beyond our control, including volatile market conditions, and the resulting financial difficulties of our key business partners, to maintain the integrity of our platform, we would be pausing withdrawals until further notice," the exchange announced on Twitter.

Debt-laden Italy finds itself in markets' crosshairs again, as the prospect of a collapse in its national unity government coincides with the European Central Bank preparing to deliver its first interest rate rise in 11 years, Reuters reported. Like other indebted eurozone countries, Italy has spent the past few years when cash was cheap and plentiful trying to reduce its vulnerability to rising rates and market panic. But it is more exposed to increasing borrowing costs than it might appear, according to a Reuters review of its debt profile.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s offer to resign has sent unsettling ripples through financial markets, bringing back bad memories of Europe’s debt crisis a decade ago and complicating the European Central Bank’s job as it raises interest rates for the first time in 11 years to combat record inflation, the Associated Press reported. Draghi, a former ECB president, has pushed policies meant to keep Italy’s high levels of debt manageable and boost growth in Europe’s third-largest economy.

Europe must drastically cut its use of natural gas immediately, and by a total of 15 percent between now and the springtime, to prevent a major crisis as Russia slashes gas exports, the European Union’s executive branch said on Wednesday, calling for hard sacrifices by the people of the world’s richest group of nations, the New York Times reported. “Russia is blackmailing us,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said as she introduced the E.U.’s plan to reduce gas consumption.

The Bank of Japan is set to raise its inflation forecast on Thursday but maintain ultra-low interest rates and warn of risks to a fragile economy, reinforcing its position as an outlier in a wave of global increases to borrowing costs, Reuters reported. The decision will come hours before that of the European Central Bank, which will consider a bigger-than-expected 50-basis-point rate increase to tame soaring inflation.

Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA on Tuesday announced a partnership with BAE Systems PLC to expand its footprint in the global defense market, including a joint venture to develop a defense variant of an electric aircraft, Reuters reported. Embraer, at the Farnborough Airshow in the U.K., said that it has signed two memorandums of understanding with BAE Systems to go forward with projects involving its C-390 series and the electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle to be produced by Eve Holding Inc.

The energy crisis unfolding in Europe is starting to weigh on a growing number of the continent’s oil, gas and utility companies, The Epoch Times reported. Uniper, Germany’s struggling natural gas utility giant, recently filed a bailout application to the government after facing significant financial challenges, according to Finnish majority owner Fortum.

The EU is set to add Russia's top lender Sberbank and the head of giant zinc and copper firm UMMC to its list of individuals and companies banned for supporting Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, according to draft documents, Reuters reported. The 48 individuals and nine entities to be added to the sanctions list, prepared by the EU foreign affairs service, also include a motorcycle club, actors, politicians and family members of previously sanctioned businesspeople.

Trustees in bankruptcy are granted protection from civil claims for acts and omissions under the  Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), as the statute requires that a plaintiff obtain leave of the court to pursue some types of claims, Mondaq reported. In Flight (Re), 2022 ONCA 526 (CanLII), the Ontario Court of Appeal determined that a motion judge erred in allowing a civil action for damages to be pursued against an individual representative of a trustee in bankruptcy without first obtaining leave to do so.