The president of Britain’s Supreme Court said Wednesday that he and a colleague were stepping down from their roles on Hong Kong’s highest court because the administration of the Chinese territory had “departed from values of political freedom and freedom of expression,” the New York Times reported. Their resignations will heighten scrutiny of Hong Kong’s British-style legal system, which the former British colony kept even after it returned to Chinese control in 1997.
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Hong Kong
The sale of Genting Hong Kong's unfinished mega-liner Global Dream has already lured plenty of potential buyers, including billionaire ex-Genting boss Lim Kook Thay, traveller.com reported. The vessel is set to become the world's biggest cruise ship by capacity once completed, but it currently sits unfinished in a German shipyard. Troubled cruise company Genting HK – which also owns Dream Cruises, Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises – filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 19, days after the Hong Kong government paused "cruises to nowhere" (short round-trip sailings that stop at no additional ports).
As the government in Hong Kong struggles to contain the city’s worst Covid outbreak ever, some residents have panicked, the New York Times reported. Tens of thousands of new Omicron cases are being reported each day, and deaths have surged. The anxiety gripping Hong Kong is not just about the explosion of infections, but also about what the government will do next. Under pressure from Beijing to eliminate infections, Hong Kong officials have vowed to test all 7.4 million residents.
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Hong Kong's market regulator has fined a Citigroup subsidiary HK$348.25 million ($45 million) for misconduct in its cash equities business and is launching disciplinary proceedings against some former senior managers at the bank, Reuters reported. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said on Friday that some of Citigroup Global Markets Asia Limited's (CGMAL) trading desks had issued inaccurate "indications of interest" in stocks to generate client inquiries and had also made misrepresentations to customers when executing some trades.
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Perry Lam felt confident that his business had weathered the worst of the pandemic. Several rounds of bar closures in Hong Kong had dimmed the city’s vibrant nightlife, threatening to destroy his brewery. But things seemed better late last year. After the government’s relentless effort to stamp out the virus, there were no local infections, bars began ordering kegs of his lager again and money was coming in. “You saw the silver lining,” said Mr. Lam.
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Troubled cruise operator Genting Hong Kong Ltd. warned it may seek court assistance to safeguard its assets, after failing to secure funding to help it stay afloat following the insolvency of its German shipbuilding subsidiary, Bloomberg News reported. The cruise operator plans to file for provisional liquidation with courts in Bermuda, where its registered office is, unless it receives “credible proposals for a solvent, consensual and inter-conditional restructuring solution,” it said in an exchange filing.
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Troubled cruise operator Genting Hong Kong Ltd. plunged by a record Thursday after shares resumed trading, following warnings from the company in recent days of more defaults due to the insolvency of its German shipbuilding subsidiary, Bloomberg News reported. Part of Malaysian tycoon Lim Kok Thay’s sprawling casino-to-hospitality Genting empire, the Hong Kong cruise firm’s shares slid 56% in the city. They had been suspended since last week.
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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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Byton, which burst onto the scene with big promises and a lot of hype in 2018, appears headed toward bankruptcy, according to a report last week from Nikkei, CNET.com reported. Byton missed payroll and halted all production processes, according to the report, and a local court began initial bankruptcy proceedings. Byton did not immediately return a request for comment on the news, but a source close to the startup told Nikkei it will likely be incredibly difficult for the company to bounce back.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission sees no broader systemic risk from the troubles at China Evergrande Group after keeping a close eye on the exposure of brokers and banks, its chief executive officer said, Bloomberg News reported. The financial watchdog has conducted frequent stress tests on its regulated financial institutions to assess their risks and balance sheet exposures “way before Evergrande,” Ashley Alder told reporters on Friday. “We have looked very very carefully at the institutional level, in particular exposures and expectations, in Hong Kong,” he said.
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