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Merchants’ card payment costs and surcharges are hurting seniors in their wallets and purses, especially as cash transactions dwindle. This could be set to change with two powerful statutory bodies setting inquiries into motion.
Just when you thought it was over, the Evergrande crisis is back
The Chinese property giant is in trouble again, which is no surprise to those who have followed the Evergrande saga. The company was being kept alive by a government rescue operation since it officially defaulted last year, having not paid US$22 billion in bond repayments. This time, Evergrande says it will miss the due date for the preparation of its financial statements. Any delay in the publishing of annual results will constitute non-compliance with Rule 13.49(1) of the Listing Rules on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Shares in the three Evergrande companies were suspended from trading on the Hong Kong exchange on Monday pending the release of an announcement regarding the release of inside information. This means, Evergrande’s audit work will not be complete, and so the property developer will not be able to publish its financial results for last year by the March 31 deadline.
To add to the confusion, Evergrande Property Services said around $A2.8 billion of its bank deposits pledged as security for third-party guarantees had been claimed by third parties. This division of the company had apparently only discovered the missing money when putting together its annual report.
The Australian Financial Review says, “Evergrande also assured investors it was on track to provide creditors with a preliminary restructuring proposal by the end of July and urged patience, after warning it would probably miss deadlines for reporting audited 2021 results due this month.The developer asked investors in a call on Tuesday evening in Hong Kong not to take aggressive action, so it can proceed with its holistic plan for all creditors, according to people on the call.”
It’s a real concern that the lack in transparency, poor communication and inadequate reporting has led to international bondholders and their interests being subordinated by domestic interests. The fact that US$2 billion of missing money was only discovered when Evergrande was preparing its annual report highlights the chaos at the group, and adds to mounting fears that the real estate empire’s days are numbered, and that creditors may never see their money.
