Evergrande shares suspended in Hong Kong amid takeover rumours October 4, 2021 Turmoil in Hong Kong this morning, as trading in shares from property giant Evergrande Group and its real estate management unit Evergrande Property Services have been suspended. The companies’ filings did not specify why the shares were stopped from trading. Cailian, a Chinese online news service affiliated with the state-run newspaper Securities Times, said another [...]
Markets remain: US averting a shutdown does not resolve debt ceiling issue October 1, 2021 The US government won’t be shut today, as Joe Biden signed a funding bill that should keep the US government agencies running until 3 December. But that doesn’t resolve the whole debt ceiling issue, nor avert the risk of an eventual US default, commented Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote this morning. Treasury Secretary Janet [...]
Shortages and spiralling costs deal blow to Chinese economy September 30, 2021 The steam engine of China’s economy unexpectedly shrank last month, indicating the global recovery from the Covd-19 crisis is losing momentum. China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, a closely watched indicator of the health of the country’s economy, notched a reading of 49.6 in September, lower than the 50.1 predicted by analysts. China, like much of [...]
Build, build, build, stop! September 30, 2021 Ernst Hemingway once wrote that bankruptcies happen gradually, and then suddenly. Such words seem appropriate to describe the fate of Evergrande, one of China’s largest real-estate developers, that appears set to default on debt interest repayments. It had been known for months that the giant Asian firm was experiencing severe difficulties caused by a slowdown [...]
British banks in Hong Kong have traded away their principles September 30, 2021 Hong Kong has been a crucial economic gateway between East and West for decades. As one of the biggest markets in the world, the city has punched well above its weight on the international business stage. With recent political and social upheaval and repression, however, that reputation is changing. Despite a shift in the global [...]
Evergrande rushes to sell assets to pay off debts September 29, 2021 Embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande is rushing to sell assets in a bid to raise cash to pay off its debts. The property giant has sold a £1.1bn stake it owns in Chinese commercial bank, Shengjing Bank, to a state-owned company. The money raised will be used to pay off debts Evergrande owes to Shengjing. [...]
Ministers near deal to oust China’s CGN from £20bn nuclear plant by selling stake September 29, 2021 Ministers are closing in on a deal that could oust China’s CGN from a new £20bn nuclear power station on the UK’s east cost, by selling its minority stake to institutional investors or floating it on the stock market. Under the proposed plans, China’s state-owned CGN would be removed from the project after relieving its [...]
Beijing orders state-owned companies to hoover up Evergrande assets to avoid social unrest September 28, 2021 Beijing has ordered state-owned companies to buy heavily indebted Chinese property developer Evergrande’s assets. The asset purchases are intended to dampen the impact of a messy Evergrande collapse sparking mass social unrest, according to reports in Reuters. Evergrande is estimated to have $305bn of liabilities on its books, caused by it borrowing heavily to fuel [...]
Cryptocurrency sentiment remains bullish in wake of Beijing’s Bitcoin ban September 27, 2021 Bitcoin’s price fell from $45,064 to $40,759 in the wake of Friday’s news from China. Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies followed Bitcoin’s lead.
Labour to launch taskforce into ‘dirty money’ in the City : CityAM September 27, 2021 Labour will set up a taskforce into “dirty money and ill-gotten gains” that have been laundered in the City of London, Lisa Nandy has announced. The shadow foreign secretary told the Labour party conference this morning that the Taskforce on Illicit Finance will aim to make the UK “the most inhospitable place in the world” [...]