Headlines

Local creditors of Malaysian insolvent companies with assets within the Asean region may be able to recover their debts soon, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman, The Star reported. The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said that this is one of the measures proposed under the Cross-Border Insolvency Bill to be presented in Parliament this June. "With the Asean Law Forum to be held this August, I have also visited several Asean nations and met with their law and judicial ministers.

China’s state-owned AVIC Trust Co. has requested operational support from two fellow trust firms after delaying payments on its investment products, Mitrade.com reported. The call for help comes at a time when the nation’s $3.7 trillion trust industry is struggling. AVIC Trust will become the first state-owned trust firm placed in custody since China’s Trust Law was enacted in 2001. According to a Bloomberg exclusive on Monday, the Beijing-based firm announced that it had entered into a service agreement with CCB Trust Co. and SDIC Taikang Trust Co.

China’s benchmark lending rates remained unchanged again this month, with policymakers likely watching to see how the trade war with the U.S. unfolds before taking further steps to stimulate the economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The one-year loan prime rate was left at 3.1% while the five-year rate remained at 3.6%, said the People’s Bank of China on Monday. Though the pressure posed by tariffs and continued low inflation in China back the case for policy easing, Monday’s hold was widely expected as the central bank hasn’t changed its policy rates.

China has warned countries against making trade deals with the U.S. that could hurt Beijing’s interests, the Wall Street Journal reported. “China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China’s interests,” the Ministry of Commerce said Monday, adding that it would respond “resolutely” with reciprocal countermeasures should such a situation arise. The ministry also said China is willing to strengthen solidarity and coordination with all parties, work together to respond to challenges, and oppose unilateral bullying.

China's state-backed funds are pulling back from investing in the funds of U.S.-headquartered private capital firms amid an escalating trade war between the world's two biggest economies, the Financial Times reported. Some of the Chinese funds are also seeking to be excluded from investments in U.S. companies made by private equity firms based elsewhere, the report, which cited seven private equity executives with knowledge of the matter, said.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is holding talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday as the South Asian nation looks to strike an early trade deal with Washington that spares it from President Donald Trump’s additional tariff hikes, Bloomberg News reported. Vance arrived at Modi’s private residence in the capital just before 7 p.m. local time for bilateral talks with the prime minister, followed by another discussion that will include members of their respective delegations. Modi is then expected to host Vance, his wife Usha and their three children for dinner.

The Bank of Japan is expected to signal next week that risks from higher U.S. tariffs won't derail a cycle of rising wages and inflation seen as crucial to keep raising interest rates, Reuters reported. The assessment, to be included in its quarterly outlook report due on May 1, will underscore the BOJ's desire to keep alive market expectations of further interest rate hikes - even though the timing of its next move could be months away. "It's hard to predict the exact damage to the economy from (President Donald) Trump's tariffs at this stage," said one of the sources.

The Russian central bank will keep its benchmark rate on hold at 21% at a board meeting on April 25, all 25 analysts who took part in a Reuters poll predicted on Monday, as global economic turbulence adds to concerns about the state of the Russian economy. The government maintained its growth estimate for 2025 at 2.5%, a new set of forecasts showed on Monday. The government said it does not see a big risk of a global recession, but cut its estimate for the price of oil, Russia's main export, by 17%.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said there’s no agreement yet with her US counterpart Donald Trump after the two spoke last week about lifting US tariffs, Bloomberg News reported. The Mexican head of state said on Monday that they had discussed an existing 25% tariff on imported vehicles and an equivalent one on steel and aluminum. “We didn’t reach an agreement but we did establish our arguments. In the case of steel and aluminum, we established that we have a deficit.

The effects of President Trump’s new tariffs are starting to be felt across the world, preliminary South Korean trade data suggest, as Seoul prepares to begin negotiations with Washington, D.C., the Wall Street Journal reported. Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy fell 5.2% from a year earlier in the first 20 days of April, according to data from South Korea’s customs office released Monday ahead of full monthly trade figures due next week. Imports plunged 12%, leading to a trade deficit, the preliminary numbers showed.