Category: 3. Business

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The term refers to a 2017 incident in which the preppy clothing chain, under pressure from its creditors, utilized a “trap door” maneuver in which $250 million of its trademarks, including the name “J.Crew,” were moved to an entity in the Cayman Islands and then leased back to the company. That placed the assets out of reach of J.Crew’s creditors in the event of a bankruptcy. The new entity was able to raise a further $300 million in new debt—much to the dismay of the older creditors who wanted the opposite to happen.

JPMorgan and Coherent were both contacted for comment.

The J.Crew blocker in the JPMorgan-Coherent deal was interesting because in Q3 2025, 45% of private credit deals contained a J.Crew blocker, up from 26% the year before, and up from just 15% at the start of 2023, according to data from Noetica, a firm that advises on and analyzes private credit deals. Noetica’s database, which uses AI to sift contract language, covers more than $1 trillion in transactions and the company advises “nearly all” of the top 20 corporate law firms in the U.S. 

That’s not all. Lenders to corporate America—often big banks generating broadly syndicated loans that are sold on public markets—are getting stricter with their borrowers on a range of legal issues inside private credit deals, Noetica’s data indicates. While default rates and covenant breaches are not currently at unusual levels, the fact that banks are behaving as if they need to prepare for future negative consequences is significant, according to Noetica CEO Dan Wertman. 

“What the data supports is that lenders are quietly preparing for some distress on the horizon, and we see that in the data with the increasing structural protections existing in new credit deals,” he told Fortune. 

“Personally, I would interpret that as lenders are anxious about the future of these credit markets, and that’s being reflected in the terms.”

Among those terms is the rise of “anti-Petsmart” language. This refers to a controversy in 2018 when Petsmart, having acquired the online pet store Chewy for $3 billion, transferred a chunk of that stake to an “unrestricted” subsidiary of the company that was not subject to the guarantees required by Petsmart’s lenders. The move put the Chewy stake out of reach of the company’s creditors, making their lawyers very angry.

Back in 2023, only 4% of private credit deals tracked by Noetica contained anti-Petsmart language. In Q3 2025, 28% of contracts have it.

Similarly, a form of protection against a company taking on new debt or moving older creditors to the back of the line without the unanimous consent of existing creditors now occurs in 84% of deals, according to Noetica. The level of this so-called lien subordination protection was just 42% last year.

Leverage ratios are in decline, too. Leverage ratios are the amount of money lenders are willing to give companies in relation to their profits as defined by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA).

It’s not all doom and gloom. Wertman says lenders have become more flexible in the way they let borrowers spend money. Over the same time periods, Noetica’s database of thousands of private credit contracts indicates that borrowers got more leeway to make investments, pay dividends, and more generous terms in how they calculate their EBITDA.

Wertman is careful to say he does not know why private credit deal terms are getting stricter, just that they are.

“Terms never move by accident,” he says. “These are sophisticated parties with highly sophisticated data sets and thought processes behind these deals. So I wouldn’t think about it as an accident. I would think about it as this is reflecting what lenders and borrowers are currently thinking of the market.”

There have been small cracks in the credit market recently, sources have told Fortune. We previously reported that covenant defaults—technical breaches of loan terms rather than payment failures—rose from 2.2% in 2024 to 3.5% currently, according to proprietary data from Lincoln International shared with Fortune. And payment-in-kind (PIK) deals, where struggling companies defer interest payments, went from 6.5% of deals in Q4 2021 to 11% today.

Similarly, Kroll Bond Rating Agency told Fortune that it estimates defaults will peak at 5%, based on its analysis of 2,400 companies carrying $1 trillion in private debt.

Switzerland’s MKS PAMP, one of the world’s largest refiners and traders of precious metals, has joined a growing number of European companies that are expanding operations in Hong Kong, drawn by the city’s strengthened focus on its financial services and commodity trading sectors.

The Geneva-based firm – locally known for minting the centenary gold bars for Bank of China (Hong Kong) in 2017 – on Thursday opened its 3,600 sq ft regional headquarters at the St John’s Building on Garden Road in Admiralty, a move that is expected to bolster the city’s role as an international gold trading hub.

“We decided to create a regional head office in Hong Kong because our clients wanted us to be making decisions in their time zone,” CEO James Emmett told the Post in an interview. “They wanted us to show the ability to move quickly here.”

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“We see long-term demand for precious metals being very strong in Asia. Structurally, it continues to increase,” he added.

The Swiss firm’s customers include banks, governments, watch and jewellery manufacturers, retailers and other precious metal refiners.

The Hong Kong headquarters will serve as the company’s regional hub, overseeing a comprehensive suite of precious metals trading and financial services. Other core functions include regional sales and client relationship management, treasury operations and overall operational support for the Asia-Pacific region.

An image of the Bank of China Tower, designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei, is shown engraved on one of the commemorative gold bars minted by Swiss firm MKS PAMP for the 100th anniversary of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) in 2017. Photo: SCMP alt=An image of the Bank of China Tower, designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei, is shown engraved on one of the commemorative gold bars minted by Swiss firm MKS PAMP for the 100th anniversary of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) in 2017. Photo: SCMP>

Previously, MKS PAMP served its Asian clients from its Geneva headquarters. The opening hours of Asian markets are ahead of trading sessions in Europe.

The Swiss company’s expansion, along with similar initiatives by other European firms, reflected confidence in the city’s economic growth after a few turbulent years, which included the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2022, the total number of foreign companies operating in Hong Kong fell below 9,000 for the first time since 2019, according to government data. A 2022 survey by the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong found that nearly half of its 260 member companies considered either a full or partial relocation of offices relocating their offices within a 12-month period.

MKS PAMP sees Hong Kong as a gold trading centre, according to CEO Emmett. “Making Hong Kong an international gold trading hub was a deciding factor” to setting up an office in the city, he said.

“Hong Kong is not only a vital link to the Chinese mainland’s gold market, but also its position at the nexus of Asia-Pacific’s precious metals market,” he said. “We see great opportunities with the Chinese mainland as well as the rest of the Asia-Pacific.”

Its expansion in Hong Kong comes as other European firms have set up offices in the city. Paris-based private equity firm Ardian recently opened a new 4,000 sq ft office at Two International Finance Centre in Central – the firm’s fifth location in Asia – as it looks to expand its US$3 billion in regional investments within its US$200 billion in assets under management.

Meanwhile, London-headquartered fintech company 3S Money said it plans to launch its new office in the city in January.

St John’s Building on Garden Road in Admiralty, where MKS PAMP set up its Hong Kong headquarters. Photo: Google alt=St John’s Building on Garden Road in Admiralty, where MKS PAMP set up its Hong Kong headquarters. Photo: Google>

On Hong Kong’s advantages, MKS PAMP’s Emmett said the city provided not only trading and skilled talent, but also logistics, security and storage infrastructure – “all of which are very important for precious metals”.

In addition, he said: “Clear commercial law further strengthens Hong Kong’s ecosystem.”

MKS PAMP was also exploring the possibility of developing manufacturing or refining capabilities in the Greater Bay Area, which would complement its existing refinery in Switzerland.

That consideration comes as gold prices hit record highs this year, fuelled by historically strong central bank purchases, investor inflows and a weaker US dollar.

“Asian people are buying more physical gold and want to hold it,” Emmett said.

According to its website, MKS PAMP served as a reference price member for the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price Trading – a centralised pricing process for the precious metal.

The momentum in gold is expected to continue, driven by “solid” demand from central banks, according to Alexandra Symeonidi, corporate credit analyst on William Blair’s emerging markets debt team. She added, however, that investor appetite remained uncertain amid ongoing market volatility.

This year, Hong Kong’s push to become a global gold trading hub has gathered pace in spite of ongoing geopolitical tensions.

In 2022, MKS PAMP became the first in its industry to launch a portfolio of precious metal products which have had their carbon footprint independently verified. Photo: Handout alt=In 2022, MKS PAMP became the first in its industry to launch a portfolio of precious metal products which have had their carbon footprint independently verified. Photo: Handout>

In June, the Shanghai Gold Exchange opened its first offshore physical gold delivery vault in the city, and the government has committed to building gold storage capacity exceeding 2,000 tonnes within three years, up from around 150 tonnes in late 2024.

Hong Kong is also planning to boost gold refining and set up a central clearing system, according to Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address in September

For private equity firm Ardian, being close to clients in Hong Kong was a major reason for setting up a new office in the city, according to Jason Yao, the company’s head of Greater China. He said the firm sees Hong Kong as a natural base to further grow its secondary private equity business in Asia.

Ardian has about 50 long-standing clients in the Greater China region. Several major insurance companies had already committed to the firm’s various products, Yao said.

Meanwhile, 3S Money is building a seven-member team in Hong Kong – across sales, know-your-customer capabilities and anti-money-laundering functions – to provide personalised financial services. Founded in 2018, the firm operates six global offices worldwide, including in London, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Riga and Dubai.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

An increasing number of wealthy customers from mainland China are using Hong Kong to diversify their investments and expand their businesses globally, according to a senior executive of Hong Kong-based mid-tier lender China Citic Bank International.

“After many government efforts to promote family offices in recent years, we have seen strong growth from wealthy mainland customers seeking our bankers to help them set up family offices in Hong Kong,” said Wendy Yuen Miu-ling, head of the bank’s personal and business banking group, in an exclusive interview.

She said the bank, which uses the name CNCBI for short, had seen new cross-border wealth-management customers from the mainland triple in the first half of this year, while assets under management jumped 30 per cent.

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The growth of the wealth-management business helped boost the bank’s fee income by 50 per cent in the first half, while its private bank operating income increased by 60 per cent, Yuen said.

Rich mainland clients liked to set up family offices in Hong Kong “as a platform for them to diversify their investment portfolio”, she said, adding that as an international financial centre, the city offered them a wide range of international products to invest in.

Family offices are entities created by affluent individuals or families to manage their investments, succession planning and philanthropic activities.

CNCBI is the Hong Kong unit of mainland China’s Citic Bank, which is under the Citic Group. The group, established in 1979 by Rong Yiren with the support of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, has developed into a conglomerate with businesses in finance, manufacturing, infrastructure and other sectors.

“Being part of the Citic Group is important as the brand is well known on the mainland,” Yuen said. “Our wealth-management customers can also get services from other units of the group as we can offer them trustee, investment banking, securities trading and other services.”

In addition, mainland enterprises that open accounts at CNCBI can tap Citic’s other units around the world to support global expansion. The group’s securities arm would also help such customers raise funds in Hong Kong by issuing bonds or stocks to tap the city’s active capital market, Yuen said.

“While CNCBI is a mid-tier bank in Hong Kong, mainland customers like our bankers in Hong Kong to help them expand globally because Citic is a well-established large conglomerate,” she said.

Like larger peers including HSBC and Standard Chartered, CNCBI has invested in private banking in the city. Its new centre, which opened on September 29 in Citic Tower in Admiralty, offers a 180-degree view over Victoria Harbour. With a gross floor area of about 15,000 sq ft, it is double the size of the bank’s previous centre in Lippo Centre and offers 17 locally themed meeting rooms.

“Both local and wealthy mainland customers like to meet with our bankers, not just to manage their wealth but also to experience the cultural aspects of the city,” Yuen said. This was why the bank arranged cultural events, such as visits to the Art Basel show and the M+ museum, as well as exclusive cocktail receptions, she added.

Even in a digital age, physical venues played an important role in private banking and the wealth-management business, Yuen said. Besides its new private banking centre, CNCBI is upgrading many of its more than 20 branches.

“While clients may conduct simple banking transactions online, they would like to have a face-to-face meeting with their bankers in person to discuss financial planning, setting up of family offices and other complicated matters,” she said. “The 17 rooms of the new private banking centre are always fully booked.”

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alibaba Group Holding on Friday unveiled a 2 billion yuan (US$281 million) investment as part of a programme that will see a network of Taobao-branded convenience stores across China support the operations of the firm’s instant commerce and on-demand delivery business.

Rather than establishing Taobao Shangou’s own bricks-and-mortar shops, the programme would primarily provide existing convenience stores with a tech facelift, leveraging Alibaba’s digital infrastructure, according to Hu Qiugen, the instant commerce unit’s general manager. Alibaba owns the Post.

Under the programme, the operators of partner convenience stores would receive digital supply chain support from Alibaba’s domestic wholesale platform 1688.com, technical insights on product procurement and get their stock inventory replenished via the group’s Aoxiang platform, as well as Taobao branding.

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That technical support is expected to make certain each store provides “one-stop, 24-hour and 30-minute delivery” shopping service to consumers, according to Hu. Taobao Shangou’s partner convenience stores are expected to be rolled out in more than 200 cities on the mainland.

The first batch of Taobao partner convenience stores launched on Saturday in cities that include Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province, and Nanjing, the capital of eastern Jiangsu province.

“We are committed to ensuring a win-win within our ecosystem,” Hu said.

Taobao Shangou general manager Hu Qiugen speaks at Friday’s launch of the Alibaba unit’s new convenience store programme in Hangzhou. Photo: Sina alt=Taobao Shangou general manager Hu Qiugen speaks at Friday’s launch of the Alibaba unit’s new convenience store programme in Hangzhou. Photo: Sina>

Hangzhou-based Alibaba’s latest initiative further expands the scope of goods and merchants covered by its instant commerce push, more than two months after CEO Eddie Wu Yongming said the company had succeeded in scaling up user growth and making consumers prefer its platform over its rivals – including on-demand delivery giant Meituan and JD.com.

Taobao Shangou, which is accessible from the Taobao shopping app, currently has more than one-third of the traditional convenience stores in its ecosystem running round-the-clock operations.

Alibaba said monthly active users of Taobao Shangou reached 300 million in August, while daily orders hit a peak of 120 million.

China’s instant commerce market is expected to grow to 2 trillion yuan, according to estimates by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, an institute under China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Meituan, meanwhile, has also been expanding the footprint of its instant commerce operation.

Beijing-based Meituan, which claimed that its instant commerce service has more than 500 million users, on Wednesday announced a partnership with over 10,000 brands. The company said it will help these brands establish virtual stores on its platform, while also providing them with digital tools, warehousing and logistics support.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

BEIJING, Nov 2 (Reuters) – China Vanke, a state-backed property developer battling liquidity stress, said on Sunday its largest shareholder, Shenzhen Metro Group, agreed to provide loans of up to 22 billion yuan ($3.09 billion), a stock exchange filing showed.

One of China’s best-known household names, with many projects across bigger cities, Vanke is about a third owned by Shenzhen Metro.

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WARSAW, Poland — Poles met up with families and visited their beloved dead on All Saints’ Day, which was celebrated Saturday across the Catholic world.

All Saints’ Day, annually celebrated Nov. 1, is one of the most important days in the Polish calendar. Supermarket shelves are stacked with candles weeks in advance. As the day approaches, street vendors compete for spots near cemetery entrances, selling chrysanthemums and traditional snacks like pretzels, called “obwazanki” in Polish.

In cities across the country, special bus lines were introduced, with their final stops at the largest cemeteries. Inhabitants of big cities headed to the suburbs or villages where parents or grandparents live, so they can visit the graves of deceased family members together. Police officers set up special patrols, jokingly called “Operation Candle,” to keep the peace on the roads during the holiday.

Poland seemingly came to a standstill Saturday as people made their way to cemeteries to collectively honor those who have died. As the day turned to dusk, graves adorned with white and red candles and colorful flowers — set against the backdrop of orange autumn leaves — radiated warmth and comfort despite the somber occasion.

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