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.

Australia and the European Union signed a free trade agreement on Tuesday after eight years of negotiations, removing tariffs on almost all goods and potentially easing EU access to Australian critical minerals, Reuters reported. However, some Australian agricultural exports, including beef and ‌sheep meat, will face quotas. Australian farmers criticised the pact for offering what they called "subpar" access to the bloc, while French farmers argued the ‌quotas were too generous. The deal follows intensified talks amid sharply higher U.S.

Japan's core consumer inflation slowed below the central bank's ​2% target in February for the first time in nearly four years, data showed, as government fuel subsidies offset rising import costs ‌from a weak yen and surging oil prices from the Iran war, Reuters reported. While the reading is unlikely to upend the Bank of Japan's monetary tightening plan, the downward price pressure from government intervention will make the bank's communication more difficult as it seeks to raise still-low borrowing costs.

A unit of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison said on Tuesday it had widened its claims in ‌an international arbitration case against Panama, saying damages had now risen to more ‌than $2 billion, Reuters reported. Panama Ports Company, which for nearly three decades operated the Balboa and Cristobal terminals near the ​Panama Canal, said it had supplemented its claims in proceedings under the International Chamber of Commerce's arbitration rules, a month after what it described as the state's illegal takeover of two port terminals and company property.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), New Delhi Bench, has permitted the withdrawal of corporate insolvency resolution proceedings (CIRP) initiated against ATS Heights Private Limited, the developer of the ATS Knightsbridge project, in exercise of its powers under Section 12A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the Hindustan Times reported. The tribunal, through its order dated March 13, allowed an application seeking withdrawal of the insolvency proceedings and dismissed the company's petition as withdrawn.

While there is currently no countrywide legal route to a financial fresh start in China, some provinces and cities have begun piloting local equivalents of a bankruptcy law, The Straits Times reported. That gap has drawn growing attention in China, where scholars, judges and policymakers – including during the country’s national parliamentary meetings in March – have renewed calls for a nationwide personal bankruptcy system to give failed entrepreneurs a legal way to start again. China adopted an enterprise bankruptcy law in 2006, but it applies only to companies, not individuals.