Headlines

OneWeb to $ 49.3 million to bankers, lawyers and other advisors acting on behalf of former shareholders as part of a $ 1 billion transaction between the U.K, government and India’s Bharti Global rescued a satellite internet company from bankruptcy last year, CaliforniaNewsTimes.com reported. The disclosure was made on an audited account published on Tuesday. The sale agreement “required the company to bear the cost of selling the former shareholder of One Web Communications,” the account said.
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Europe's third largest harbour, the German Port of Hamburg, reported a 2.9% hike in sea cargo in the first nine months of 2021 on Tuesday but warned that global transport chains would remain volatile for the rest of the year, Reuters reported. Global trade has been marred by logjams in container ports caused by disruptions from unexpected demand spurts, labour shortages and traffic snarl-ups amid the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis has weighed particularly heavily on Germany, which is Europe's largest economy and a keystone of international trade where one in four jobs depend on exports.
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Hong Kong banks have to renegotiate HK$1.6 trillion ($205 billion) in contracts linked to the London interbank offered rate before the benchmark ceases as corporate customers have been slow in transitioning to alternatives, the city’s de-facto central bank said, Bloomberg News reported. At the end of September, Hong Kong lenders had HK$4.3 trillion of assets, HK$1.2 trillion of liabilities and HK$34.9 trillion in derivative contracts tied to Libor, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
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As developer China Evergrande Group scrambles to meet its debt obligations, its founder is freeing up funds from luxury assets including art, calligraphy and three high-end homes, Reuters reported. Chinese authorities have told Evergrande chairman Hui Ka Yan to use some of his personal wealth to help pay bondholders. Evergrande's troubles in meeting bond repayments have rattled markets and left many of its investors, creditors and suppliers in financial chaos.
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Kenya’s debt service costs, which are expected to surge by 22% this fiscal year, are set to rise even further as the East African economy’s currency sinks to all-time lows against the dollar, Bloomberg News reported. Kenya’s Treasury expects to spend a record 1.17 trillion shillings ($10.4 billion) in the year through June on loan repayments, equivalent to about two-thirds of its revenue, according to the parliament’s budget office. This will be compounded by a 2.6% depreciation by the Kenyan shilling so far this year, after the currency fell to 112.06 per dollar.
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Surging construction costs are sending delinquency rates skyrocketing among Brazilian developers, persuading a growing number of lenders to dump their loans and creating a feast for distressed-asset funds, Bloomberg News reported. “I’m dealing with explosive demand from banks trying desperately to sell loans they made to construction firms,” said Eduardo Martins, a partner at MGC Holding, one of Latin America’s biggest distressed-asset managers.
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Britain continues to face severe labor market shortages despite the end of the furlough program because 465,000 people have disappeared from the workforce since the start of the pandemic, according to Bank of America, Bloomberg News reported. Ending the benefit on Sept. 30 for those out of work during lockdowns was expected to bring people who had given up on job hunting back into employment. “That has not happened yet,” Bank of America economist Rob Wood said in a note on Tuesday. U.K.
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A Mumbai court has ordered the liquidation of Nakshatra Brands owned by fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi, who is charged with duping banks of thousands of crores of rupees, the Economic Times of India reported. This would be another case where recoveries are likely to be less than 5% of the total exposure, estimated at about Rs 1,500 crore. The Mumbai Bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) ordered the winding up of the entity, one of the group companies promoted by Choksi.
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At least some of Chinese developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd.’s creditors haven’t received bond interest that was due last week, according to people with knowledge of the matter, starting the clock on a 30-day grace period before a default, Bloomberg News reported. As of 6 a.m. in New York on Nov. 15, investors in Kaisa’s dollar bonds had yet to receive their payments, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a private matter. The developer had coupon payments totaling $88.4 million due on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12.
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Germany's inflation rate will drop noticeably at the start of next year when the effects of one-off factors peter out, the economy ministry said on Monday, Reuters reported. A base effect resulting from last year's cut in value-added tax, part of the government's COVID-19 relief measures, has contributed to the current inflation rate of 4.5% - the highest since 1993. Its impact has been compounded by a sharp rise in prices for raw materials and a rise in energy prices.
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