The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has introduced fresh guidelines for empanelment of insolvency professionals to streamline and speed up appointments in corporate insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings, PTI reported. The revised framework lays down procedures for preparing a panel of insolvency professionals (IPs) who can serve as Interim Resolution Professionals (IRPs), Resolution Professionals (RPs), liquidators and Bankruptcy Trustees (BTs).

Indonesia’s central bank snapped a long-running pause to deliver its first rate hike in over two years, making a pre-emptive strike against the inflation threat posed by the conflict in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported. Wednesday’s move marks Bank Indonesia’s first rate hike since April 2024, and the first time since November 2022 that it has tightened by 50 basis points. The size of the move surprised markets, and underscores how seriously policymakers are responding to the fallout from the war, which has pushed the rupiah to a series of record lows.

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama indicated her resolve to intervene in a foreign exchange market to prop up the yen as needed as her Group of Seven counterparts understand the nation’s stance, the Japan Times reported. “We have understanding” from the G7 counterparts, Katayama told reporters in Paris on Tuesday after meeting with them. “We will take bold action as needed.” This was the first G7 meeting after Japan is suspected of conducting a series of interventions to support the yen from the end of last month.

Australia's planned tax overhaul is set to reshape the market's investment ​landscape, with high-dividend blue chips poised to benefit at the expense of growth-oriented stocks, fund managers say, Reuters reported. Under reforms unveiled in last week's ‌Budget, the centre-left Labor government will scrap the 50% discount on capital gains for assets held over a year and instead tax inflation-adjusted gains. A 30% minimum tax on net capital gains will be introduced from July 2027. The upshot is a structural shift in how Australians invest.

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.