The Bank of Japan heads into its two-day policy meeting next week with the prospects for a rate increase dimming as economic uncertainties remain high due in part to the conflict in the Middle East, the Japan Times reported. “We expect that the BOJ will keep the policy rate steady,” UBS Securities economists Go Kurihara and Masamichi Adachi wrote in a report on Wednesday.

Japan will set up a task force to address cybersecurity risks in its financial ​system following concerns about potential vulnerabilities linked to ‌Anthropic's Mythos AI model, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday, Reuters reported. The decision was agreed at a meeting involving the Financial ​Services Agency, the Bank of Japan, the National ​Cybersecurity Office, the country's top three banks and ⁠Japan Exchange Group, Katayama told reporters.

The Philippine central bank raised rates in a preemptive move against rising inflation risks driven by the Middle East conflict, the Wall Street Journal reported. The decision reflect a dilemma facing many central banks: tighten policy now to curb energy-driven inflation at the cost of economic growth, or wait and risk falling behind. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raised its benchmark overnight reverse repurchase rate to 4.50% from 4.25%, breaking from most peers in Asia. It also raised its benchmark lending rate to 5.00% from 4.75%.

When you’re getting a 20.75% yield on a bond, you mustn’t expect all smooth sailing. Shapoorji Pallonji Group, India’s biggest private credit borrower and issuer of one of its largest-ever junk bonds, has just reinforced that point. Holders of a high-yield note issued by a unit of the infrastructure conglomerate unanimously agreed to let the company delay paying principal and interest to June 30. Bondholders of the note issued by Goswami Infratech Pvt. received a 25 basis points consent fee for agreeing to push back the maturity from the April 30 deadline.

PwC, one of the world's biggest accounting firms, is paying HK$1.3 billion ($166 million) in fines and compensation in Hong Kong over its audit work for the failed Chinese property developer Evergrande, which was said to have overstated revenues, the Associated Press reported. Hong Kong's accounting regulator on Thursday also announced a six-month ban on PwC from working for new clients and said it had issued a public reprimand to two of its former partners for misconduct, fining each of them a separate HK$5 million.

Goldman Sachs has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing ​the Wall Street bank of defrauding shareholders about its work ‌for 1MDB, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund that became embroiled in a corruption scandal, Reuters reported. In a letter filed on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, Goldman and the ​shareholders said they reached an agreement-in-principle to settle, and plan ​to submit a settlement for preliminary approval by May ⁠20.

The State Bank of India has moved a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a review of its February 13 judgment, which held that spectrum, a finite public resource, cannot be used as “assets” owned by telecom service providers (TSPs) during Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code proceedings, TheHindu.com reported. The bank (SBI), acting on behalf of creditors to the bankrupt Aircel group, said the judgment had a far-reaching impact on lenders in insolvency and liquidation proceedings. It argued that the verdict may potentially affect bank financing and risk assessment.

South Korean and Vietnamese companies signed 73 business deals on tech, energy and infrastructure on Thursday as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung visited Hanoi, a ‌list seen by Reuters showed. The agreements, which were mostly non-binding with no value mentioned, followed the signing a day ‌earlier of 12 cooperation pacts at a meeting between Lee and Vietnam's top leader To Lam, including on Korean possible investment in a new nuclear ​plant in southern Vietnam.

Indonesia’s central bank held interest rates steady again, as the war in the Middle East casts a shadow over the Southeast Asian country’s economic outlook, the Wall Street Journal reported. Like its peers, Bank Indonesia is grappling with the economic fallout from the war, which has roiled energy markets, raised inflation risks and pressured the oil-sensitive rupiah. On Wednesday, the Indonesian central bank opted to leave its benchmark seven-day reverse repo rate at 4.75%, extending a pause stretching back to its last cut September.

The Middle East crisis and prolonged U.S. interest rate hikes are squeezing Korea's construction sector, triggering massive job cuts at major companies and a surge in bankruptcies among smaller contractors, The Korea Times reported. Cost pressures have deepened due to the conflict in the Middle East, which has caused severe supply disruptions of naphtha, a key petrochemical feedstock, heightening the financial strain on builders. The broader economic downturn is driving the industry to downsize rapidly.