BBC (January 28)
“Debt-ridden Chinese property giant Evergrande has been ordered to liquidate by a court in Hong Kong.” Evergrande initially “sent shockwaves through global financial markets” when it defaulted in 2021. Since then, it has remained “the poster child of China’s real estate crisis with over $325bn (£256bn) of liabilities.” The most recent court decision does not necessarily mean “Evergrande will go bust and collapse,” but it is expected “to send ripples through China’s financial markets at a time when authorities are trying to curb a stock market sell-off.”
Tags: 2021, China, Collapse, Court, Crisis, Debt-ridden, Defaulted, Evergrande, Financial markets, Hong Kong, Liabilities, Liquidate, Real estate, Ripples, Shockwaves
Boston Globe (January 4)
“Trump’s crazy train reaches the end of the line.” So far, “not a single state or federal court has accepted the preposterous conspiracy theories floated by Trump and his supporters to explain his loss, ranging from zany stories of North Koreans smuggling ballots into Maine to supposed Sharpie malfunctions in Arizona. No election has been as thoroughly scrutinized as the 2020 vote, and even Trump’s own Justice Department acknowledges it couldn’t find any serious fraud, much less the vast plots of Trump’s imagination.”
Tags: Ballots, Conspiracy theories, Court, Crazy train, Fraud, Loss, Maine, North Korea, Preposterous, Scrutinized, Trump
New York Times (January 9)
“Given that the Japanese justice system is also on trial, it may be better for this saga to play out in the court of public opinion…. Japan needs to take a close look to see whether its justice system is due for a fundamental rethinking.”
Tags: Court, Japan, Justice system, Public opinion, Rethinking, Saga, Trial
The Economist (September 28)
“This was the worst week in Mr Johnson’s extraordinarily bad two months in office. The unelected prime minister has lost every vote he has faced, squandered his majority and fired a score of MPs from his Conservative Party. Following the court’s ruling, he was dragged back from a UN summit in New York to face the music in Westminster, where MPs now have ample time to grill him”
Tags: Bad, Conservative Party, Court, Johnson, Majority, MPs, PM, Squandered, UN summit, Unelected, Vote, Westminster, Worst
The Economist (November 5)
“It is rare for a court judgment to cause turmoil in the foreign-currency markets. Yet the pound soared on the morning of November 3rd after the High Court in London ruled that only Parliament has the authority to trigger Article 50 of the European Union treaty, the legal route for Britain to leave the EU.” The decision ignited market hopes “that Parliament might choose to block Brexit altogether or, perhaps more plausibly, that it will attach conditions,” increasing the likelihood of a “soft” Brexit.
Tags: Article 50, Brexit, Court, EU, Foreign currency, Judgment, Markets, Parliament, Pound
Financial Times (November 5)
“In a landmark case that could pave the way for legal action in Europe,” an Australian judged ruled that “Standard & Poor’s misled investors by awarding its highest rating to a complex derivative product that collapsed in value less than two years after it was created by ABN Amro’s wholesale banking division.” The “damning verdict” marked “the first time a rating agency has stood a full trial over a structured finance product.” The court concluded that any “reasonably competent” rating agency would “not have given a triple A rating to the securities,” which were “grotesquely complicated.”“In a landmark case that could pave the way for legal action in Europe,” an Australian judged ruled that “Standard & Poor’s misled investors by awarding its highest rating to a complex derivative product that collapsed in value less than two years after it was created by ABN Amro’s wholesale banking division.” The “damning verdict” marked “the first time a rating agency has stood a full trial over a structured finance product.” The court concluded that any “reasonably competent” rating agency would “not have given a triple A rating to the securities,” which were “grotesquely complicated.”
Tags: ABN Amro, Australia, Court, Derivatives, Rating agency, S&P, Structured finance, Verdict
