Days after welcoming Secretary of State Antony Blinken as part of efforts to reset relations with the US, Saudi Arabia turned its attention to boosting ties with one of Washington’s main competitors: China, Bloomberg News reported. For the past two days, the Saudi capital has played host to the largest ever Chinese-Arab business gathering. Under the chandeliers and vaulted ceilings of Riyadh’s grandest conference hall, Saudi officials spoke of integrating China into the Arab region and Chinese executives said they stood ready to “de-Americanize” the world’s top oil exporter.
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In mid-May, cryptocurrency exchange Binance got some bad news in a far-flung corner of its sprawling universe. Binance’s payments partner in Australia had abruptly cut it off, meaning local customers couldn’t deposit Aussie dollars on the platform via bank transfer. The hit to business was immediate, with Binance halting all Aussie trading pairs about two weeks later, along with bank withdrawals of the local currency, Bloomberg News reported.
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The cancer-treatment specialist GenesisCare has filed for bankruptcy protection, after struggling under a debt load enlarged by a $1.5 billion takeover, the Wall Street Journal reported. Australia-based GenesisCare said today that it would split its U.S. business from operations in Australia, Spain and the U.K. as part of the U.S. chapter 11 reorganization. GenesisCare didn't say how much debt would be affected by the filing. GenesisCare is backed by the U.S. private-equity giant KKR.
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A growing number of Venezuela-related expropriation claims at U.S. courts pursuing Citgo Petroleum's assets surpass $20 billion, making difficult for the Houston-based refiner to compensate them all, but some payments can be negotiated, said on Wednesday the chief of a board supervising the company, Reuters reported.
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Bankrupt rocket company Virgin Orbit is shutting down after selling its facility leases and equipment to a trio of aerospace companies in an auction, the company confirmed on Tuesday, CNBC reported. “As Virgin Orbit embarks on this path, the management and employees would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to all stakeholders,” the company said in a statement. Spun out of Virgin Galactic in 2017 by founder Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Orbit reached rarefied air by flying multiple missions.
If the debt crisis roiling Washington were eventually to send the U.S. crashing into recession, America’s economy would hardly sink alone, the Associated Press reported. The repercussions of a first-ever default on the federal debt would quickly reverberate around the world. Orders for Chinese factories that sell electronics to the U.S. could dry up. Swiss investors who own U.S. Treasurys would suffer losses. Sri Lankan companies could no longer deploy dollars as an alternative to their own dodgy currency. “No corner of the global economy will be spared” if the U.S.
Venator, the Huntsman spinoff that holds the family-owned business’s former titanium dioxide activities, has filed for protection from creditors under U.S. Chapter 11, Chemanager Online reported. The company, which is U.K.-registered but managed from the U.S. state of Texas, said it hopes to exit chapter 11 within approximately two months. CEO Simon Turner said Venator has reached agreement with the “overwhelming majority” of its lenders and noteholders on the terms of a comprehensive recapitalization plan that would equitize nearly all of its funded debt and strengthen its balance sheet.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. will buy U.S. M&A advisory firm Greenhill & Co Inc. for $550 million including debt, the companies said on Monday, as Japan's No. 3 lender eyes a bigger share of the world's largest investment-banking fee pool, Reuters reported. The $15-per-share offer represents a premium of 121% to Greenhill's last closing price. Its shares had dropped nearly 40% over the 12 months till Friday's close as high interest rates weighed on dealmaking activity.
Some Hong Kong-based staff with U.S. consultancy Mintz Group have left the city after the firm's Beijing office was raided by Chinese police in March, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported. Investigations by Chinese authorities into Mintz, as well as U.S. management consultancy Bain & Co and mainland consultancy Capvision Partners, have sent a chill through companies that deal with China, with many unclear where red lines stand as Beijing prepares to introduce stricter anti-espionage laws in July.
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China's securities watchdog on Thursday said that it was willing to work with its counterparts in the United States to promote regulatory cooperation on audits and safeguard the rights and interests of global investors, Reuters reported. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) was commenting a day after a U.S. accounting watchdog said that it found unacceptable deficiencies in audits of U.S.-listed Chinese companies. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) was commenting a day after a U.S.
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