Headlines

British subprime lender Amigo said on Monday it expects court proceedings over its new rescue plan to take at least four months once submitted, and laid out plans for an equity raise to support the business, dragging its shares nearly 30% lower, Reuters reported. Amigo had flagged a potential equity raise in August after London's High Court rejected its older rescue plan that would have cut compensation payouts to customers who complained about Amigo mis-selling loans to them.

Two more energy suppliers in the U.K. have failed, taking the total to 23 companies that have collapsed since the start of August in the biggest shake out of the country’s retail power and gas market, Bloomberg News reported. Entice Energy, with 5,400 customers, and Orbit Energy, which served 65,000 households, announced they are ceasing to trade, according to regulator Ofgem. The watchdog will help find a new firm to take over the accounts. The U.K. energy market is in chaos. The government insists that the tools they have are working to manage the disruption caused by so many bankruptcies.

The liquidators of the Irish arm of failed German electronic payments group Wirecard are focusing their investigation into an almost €400 million fraud on four key areas, its creditors have been told, the Irish Times reported. In a report issued last week to creditors of Wirecard UK and Ireland Ltd, the joint liquidators, Ken Fennell and James Anderson of accountancy firm Deloitte, said they have completed two interim reports for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) on the Dublin-based company’s collapse.

Airlines are scrambling to limit the impact of the latest coronavirus variant on their networks, while delays in bookings are threatening an already-fragile recovery for global tourism, Reuters reported. Shares in airlines bounced back with the rest of the market on Monday after a sharp sell-off on Friday when the discovery of a new coronavirus mutation took a heavy toll on stocks. The latest outbreak, first reported in southern Africa, dealt a blow to the industry just as it had recovery in its sights, especially following the easing of U.S.-bound travel.

Britain is open to legislating to stop an explosion in scam adverts online being a significant source of fraud, financial services minister John Glen has told lawmakers, Reuters reported. Victims' groups and campaigners have called for fraudulent adverts to be incorporated in the government's planned Online Safety Bill, which currently only covers user-generated content. "We are very sympathetic to that," Glen told the Treasury Select Committee. "This is a massive problem.

Australian securities regulator said on Tuesday it has filed six civil penalty proceedings against Westpac Banking Corp., the country's third-largest bank, alleging widespread compliance failures across its business over many years, Reuters reported. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), in a statement, alleged multiple Westpac brands were involved in fees-for-no-service, distribution of duplicate insurance policies and sale of credit card and flexi-loan debt with incorrect interest rates, among others.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government moved to repeal controversial farm laws as parliament reconvened Monday, to quell protests from a crucial vote bank that show little sign of abating with key state elections due next year, Bloomberg News reported. Both houses of parliament approved the scrapping of the legislation in rushed voice votes even as the opposition parties demanded a debate. However, the rollback alone does not seem to assuaged the farmers’ anger and they have vowed to keep pushing ahead with their protests to press the government for guaranteed crop prices.

Chile's LATAM Airlines Group SA said on Friday that it has filed a reorganization plan, proposing an $8.19 billion infusion of capital into the group, in a bid to exit its chapter 11 protection, Reuters reported. The financing proposal will include a mix of new equity, convertible notes and debt, the group said in a statement, adding that it intends to launch an $800 million equity rights offering to shareholders, upon confirmation of the plan.

India's National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has granted more time to November 30 for completing the insolvency resolution process for Vasan Healthcare and set aside an NCLT order, saying that the timeline could be extended in view of exceptional circumstances and save the company from liquidation, the Daily Excelsior reported. A two-member Chennai Bench of the appellate tribunal has also excluded the time spent in filing appeals – from August 18 to November 25 – before it.

China’s stressed developers face nearly $1.3 billion of bond payments in December, after a month in which investor sentiment toward the property sector showed signs of stabilizing despite fresh signs of liquidity pressure, Bloomberg News reported. The total was $2 billion in November, and there have been no defaults reported according to Bloomberg-compiled data as of Friday, after multiple instances in October. Still, investor scrutiny persists regarding principal and interest payments as a cash crunch engulfs the real estate industry.