Headlines

Two Irish building companies involved in the construction of rural housing have been given the protection of the courts from their creditors, the Irish Times reported. Trinity Homes Ltd (THL), and a related company, Yeronga Ltd, are involved in the construction of new housing units primarily in rural parts of the State, including Wexford, Tipperary, Kerry and Meath. Many of the units have been built for local authorities. The companies have also constructed units for the housing charity Cluid.

Srei Infrastructure Finance on Wednesday said there may be a delay by the company and its subsidiary Srei Equipment Finance Ltd (SEFL) in submitting financial results for September quarter due to initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process against them, the Business Standard reported. Through an order on October 8, 2021, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Kolkata bench initiated corporate insolvency resolution process against Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd (SIFL) and SEFL under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Brazil’s lower house of congress passed a controversial proposal that bends the country’s fiscal rules to finance a new social program President Jair Bolsonaro is launching ahead of his 2022 re-election campaign, Bloomberg News reported. The so-called precatorios bill was approved late on Tuesday by 323-172 votes, a wider margin of support than it had received just a week ago. It now needs the backing of three-fifths of senators, also in two rounds of voting.

Existing systems for tracking the sovereign debts of the poorest countries are inadequate and mask hidden debts, and they are likely to owe far more than the record levels currently estimated, World Bank chief economist Carmen Reinhart said, Reuters reported. The multilateral development bank on Wednesday released the first comprehensive assessment of global and national debt surveillance systems, saying it found "massive gaps" in the ability to track how much each country owes - and to whom.

As the airline industry struggles to recover from a deep, pandemic-induced slump, another crisis is looming in the crucial business travel market, according to a new report, Bloomberg News reported. Companies are expected to keep a tight rein on trips in the coming years, leading to a “structural” decline of between 15% and 25% through 2025 from before the Covid-19 pandemic, consultancy AlixPartners said Wednesday. The loss could trigger a broad strategy overhaul for full-service carriers because corporat demand makes up as much as three quarters of their profits, and nearly a third of sales.

The Bank of England and the Treasury are to launch a formal consultation on a UK central bank digital currency, BBC.com reported. This evaluation of the design and possible benefits of a new kind of digital money is a further step towards its possible creation. The currency, for use by households and businesses, would sit alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them. No decision has been taken on whether to have such a currency in the UK.

The crippling debt crisis that has plagued the Trinidad and Tobago FA (TTFA) took another turn yesterday with the TTFA seeking protection from outstanding litigation via the islands’ bankruptcy and insolvency laws, Inside World Football reported. A number of claims against the TTFA had now progressed through the courts to the point where the TTFA was getting dangerously close to being wound up. The court filing on November 8 automatically stops further progression of those cases.

A growing number of cities in China have tightened supervision over the use of presold property proceeds, a move likely to deepen the cash crunch at many of the country’s real estate developers that have relied on the inflows as a key source of funding, Bloomberg News reported. Major cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang as well as smaller municipalities like Suzhou and Nantong in the eastern province of Jiangsu, and Luohe in central Henan province have issued rules tightening oversight of the proceeds, according to a China Business News report and government statements.

Chinese property developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. plans to speed up asset disposals to meet investor obligations, after the indebted company missed a payment on a wealth-management product last week, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Shenzhen-based company has sufficient “high-quality assets” it can tap to make the payments, Kaisa said in a statement on its website late Monday, adding that it would seek to sell assets in Shenzhen, Shanghai and other places.

The number of the Irish citizens receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has fallen by over half million or 87 per cent since the peak of the crisis, the Irish Times reported. Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show there were 77,806 workers in receipt of the payment at the end of last month, down from 605,671 in the first week of May last year. This corresponds to a fall of 527,865 or 87 per cent when compared to peak.