Several South Korean prepaid funeral service companies are facing insolvency after misappropriating customer funds to invest in cryptocurrency-linked assets, Phemex.com reported. Investigations reveal that 32 out of 75 sangjo companies have assets below their prepaid customer funds, with Parental Love, a leading firm, suffering significant losses. The company invested 59.5 billion KRW in a leveraged Ethereum-themed ETF, Bitmine, which plummeted in value to 10.2 billion KRW, resulting in a $330 million unrealized loss.

The Japanese economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.1% in the January-March quarter, the government said Tuesday, showing its resilience despite rising energy prices because of the war in Iran, the Associated Press reported. Japan’s real gross domestic product, or GDP, the sum value of a nation’s goods and services, grew at a seasonally adjusted 0.5% from the previous quarter. It was the second straight quarter of growth. The annualized number shows what the growth, or contraction, would have been if the quarterly rate continued for a year.

Liquidators for Evergrande Group, the failed Chinese property giant, are ‌seeking 57 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) in damages from PwC, accusing it of being negligent in its auditing work, a Hong Kong court was told on Monday, Reuters reported. Potential damages would come on top of hefty fines imposed on the global auditing group by mainland ​Chinese and Hong Kong authorities after Evergrande collapsed with more than $300 billion of liabilities, becoming one of ​the biggest casualties of China's property sector crisis.

Appellate tribunal NCLAT has upheld separate insolvency proceedings for two Videocon group entities -- Videocon Industries Ltd (VIL) and Videocon Oil Ventures Ltd (VOVL) -- while setting aside an earlier NCLT order that had directed clubbing of the two cases, the Economic Times of India reported. Passing a final order, the NCLAT said creditors of VIL and VOVL had intended the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Processes (CIRPs) of the two companies to run independently, considering the distinct nature of their businesses and the need for a specialised resolution.

China's growth lost momentum in April, with industrial output cooling and retail sales sinking to over three-year lows as the world's second-biggest economy wrestled with higher energy costs from the Iran war and persistently weak domestic demand, Reuters reported. Better-than-expected exports and China's domestic fuel-pricing controls have helped weather the energy shock, but ‌higher input costs threaten to squeeze already weak factory margins and further dampen consumer spending if the conflict drags on.

The U.S. Justice Department is close to dropping criminal fraud charges against Gautam Adani, an Indian billionaire who has promised to invest $10 billion in the U.S. economy, Reuters reported. Adani on Thursday also resolved a related civil fraud lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over an alleged scheme to bribe Indian government officials, subject to court approval. The possible dismissal of the criminal charges comes after Adani's lawyer, Robert Giuffra, who is also a personal attorney of U.S.

Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) has queried beauty and wellness firm Mary Chia Holdings on whether it can continue operating as a going concern after legal proceedings were launched against the company and its related parties by a creditor in April, The Straits Times reported. Its shares sank after the news, with the stock down 4.4 per cent to 2.2 cents on May 15.

India raised fuel prices by 3 rupees ($0.03) per liter Friday as the government moved to offset losses due to higher global oil prices, Reuters reported. In New Delhi, gasoline prices rose to 97.77 rupees ($1.17) a liter, while diesel climbed to 90.67 rupees ($1.09) a liter. India imports about 90% of its oil and has been hit hard by rising energy prices and supply disruptions linked to the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The National Company Law Tribunal has allowed the withdrawal of corporate insolvency resolution proceedings against ATS Group’s Nobility Estates Private Limited, the developer of the premium residential project Le Grandiose in Sector 150, Noida, bringing relief to more than 600 homebuyers, the Economic Times of India reported. The withdrawal application was filed by resolution professional Hitesh Goel on behalf of ASK Trusteeship Services Private Limited under Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

By any measure, Tom Hu should be in default on a $730,000 bank loan for his plastics business in China. He barely brings in enough revenue to pay expenses and can’t cover the debt costs. Yet rather than calling in the loan, his bank lets him defer payments — keeping him afloat, while avoiding another past-due loan on its books. Stories like Hu’s are playing out across China as banks grapple with a growing pile of bad debt. It’s impossible to quantify the true extent of the problem, though most economists say the ratio of bad loans is significantly higher than the 1.5% official rate.