China's commerce ministry has initiated two counter-probes into U.S. ‌practices that hamper the flow of Chinese products into the United States, it said on Friday, refraining from immediate retaliation to U.S. measures announced earlier this month, Reuters reported. A trade truce between China and ​the U.S. has held since U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President ​Xi Jinping in October last year. Trump said earlier this week ⁠that he will visit Beijing in mid-May, as part of Washington's broader effort to ​reset relations in the Asia-Pacific region.

China is considering easing shareholding restrictions for some major investors, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a move aimed at broadening capital-raising options for commercial banks reeling ​from an economic slowdown, Reuters reported. The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), the country's banking sector regulator, in January held a meeting with some bank representatives to discuss ‌the potential relaxation, said the people.

Australia's Federal Court has ordered Oztures Trading Pty Ltd, trading as Binance Australia Derivatives, to pay an AUD $10 million (about $6.9 million USD) penalty after the exchange admitted to exposing 524 retail investors to high-risk crypto derivative products without required consumer protections, Decrypt.com reported.

A key gauge of Japan's service-sector inflation rose 2.7% in February from a ​year earlier, data showed on Thursday, reinforcing the ‌central bank's view that a tight labour market is pushing firms to pass rising costs on to consumers, Reuters reported. The ​Bank of Japan has stressed the need ​to see inflation durably hit its 2% ⁠target driven by rising wages and services ​prices, rather than higher raw material costs, to proceed ​with further interest rate hikes.

The Kingdom of Bhutan transferred another 519.707 BTC worth $36.75 million to external addresses on Wednesday, accelerating a sovereign Bitcoin liquidation that has seen its BTC holdings plummet 66% from late 2024 peaks, Decrypt.com reported. The Royal Government of Bhutan now holds 4,453 BTC worth approximately $315 million, down from nearly 13,000 BTC in late 2024, according to on-chain data. The latest transfer continues a drawdown that began after October 2024, with total year-to-date outflows exceeding $150 million.

The Supreme Court on 15.01.2026, clarified the scope of admission of insolvency proceedings under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), holding that once the existence of financial debt and default is established, the Adjudicating Authority must admit the application and cannot refuse admission on considerations such as project viability, stage of completion, or the possible impact on homebuyers, The Times of India reported. A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R.

China said on Wednesday that Mexico's trade measures against it, including tariff increases, ​constitute trade and investment barriers and that it had ‌the right to take countermeasures, Reuters reported. The import duty hikes affect more than $30 billion worth of Chinese exports to Mexico, and could lead to estimated losses ​of about $9.4 billion to China's mechanical and electrical sectors, ​the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in its conclusion ⁠of an investigation into the measures.

Many Japanese banks in the countryside are struggling due to a shrinking population, but at a tiny credit union in the northernmost tip of the country, the situation is extreme, the Japan Times reported. Wakkanai Shinkin Bank serves customers in the city of the same name in northern Hokkaido. Once a bustling fishing hub, it has seen the number of residents roughly halve from its peak in 1964.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's latest Financial Stability Review indicates that total company insolvencies as a share of operating companies have stabilised over the past year, returning to their long-run averages, AccountingTimes.com.au reported. The RBA report said that easing cash flow pressures and recovering domestic demand have supported company viability. It noted that insolvencies saw a sharp increase in the years following the pandemic due to a catch-up effect from the exceptionally low number of insolvencies during the COVID-19 period, when temporary support measures were in place.