SoftBank Group Corp (OTC: SFTBY) CEO Masayoshi Son announced that he is resigning from the board of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) on Thursday.What Happened Son announced his resignation from Alibaba's board, effective the same day, at the end of SoftBank's annual shareholder meeting, reported the Wall Street Journal. Son's resignation matches the day on which Alibaba CEO Jack Ma's resignation from Softbank's board comes into effect. Ma had announced his resignation last month. The SoftBank chief executive said he was stepping down of his own volition, and that the parting from Alibaba was smooth. Son made clear that there was no discord with Alibaba.Son had been on Alibaba's board since 2005 and Ma on Softbank's since 2007.Why It Matters In 2000, Son had invested $20 million in Alibaba, which has paid SoftBank handsomely. The investment supports the Japanese group's share price, credit rating, and funding activities, according to WSJ.Last month, SoftBank raised $11.5 billion by selling Alibaba's stock in an effort to bolster its balance sheet. The sale of shares came after its Vision Fund saw a decline in the value of its tech investments. For the financial year spanning April 2019 and March 2020, SoftBank incurred an operating loss of $12.7 billion.Price Action On Wednesday, SoftBank OTC shares closed 4.59% lower at $24.73. On Thursday, the company's shares traded 0.24% lower at $50.24 at press time in Tokyo.Image by WikimediaSee more from Benzinga * Chinese Internet Giant NetEase's Shares Surge In Hong Kong On Debut * Apple Cuts iPhone Prices in China To Push Sales As Country Reopens Economy * Alibaba Invests .4B In AI And Internet of Things Systems For Its Smart Speakers(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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The oil industry’s inroads to cutting supply are “dwarfed by the by the cuts that we’ve seen in demand,” even as states re-open their economies amid the coronavirus pandemic, says one oil expert.

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Under the deal, Catalent will provide manufacturing services for an initial 100 million doses starting in the third quarter at its facility in Bloomington, Indiana. It will also provide other packaging and labeling, storage and distribution services at its facilities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to support Moderna’s late-stage vaccine trial, which is expected to begin in July. Drugmakers including Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc have also signed agreements to boost manufacturing capacity for their experimental vaccines even before having adequate evidence of their efficacy.

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The once high-flying payments firm Wirecard files for insolvency after a €1.9bn accounting scandal.

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* Founded in 1999, Munich-based Wirecard has 5,800 employees in 26 countries around the world. * Wirecard’s expansion was driven by its long-serving chief executive and leading shareholder Markus Braun, an Austrian who led the company since 2002 until he resigned last Friday. * In Feb. 2019, Singapore police said they were looking into reports by the Financial Times of alleged financial irregularities at Wirecard’s local office, allegations that had driven its shares sharply lower.

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(Bloomberg) — Wirecard AG’s main banks are facing potential losses on about 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) of loans to the scandal-hit fintech after it started insolvency proceedings.A group of about 15 banks led by ABN Amro Bank NV, Commerzbank AG and ING Groep NV had been negotiating next steps with the firm on a 1.75 billion-euro facility that was about 90% drawn, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this week. Talks on next steps with lenders came to an abrupt halt with the insolvency filing that surprised some of the banks, people with knowledge of the matter said.Wirecard’s decision to file for insolvency caps the swift downfall of the financial firm once lauded as one of Germany’s most successful up and coming businesses. The bank’s descent quickened earlier this week when it said that 1.9 billion euros ($2.15 billion) previously reported as cash on its balance sheet probably doesn’t exist, triggering a collapse in the shares and a criminal investigation. Ex-Chief Executive Officer Markus Braun surrendered to police after an arrest warrant was issued. He’s since posted bail and is no longer in custody.Wirecard’s subsidiary Wirecard Bank is not included in the insolvency proceedings, Bloomberg has reported. Deposits at the bank are insured to an amount of as much as 19.7 million euros per clients, the German banking association said by email.Lenders to Wirecard didn’t terminate the loan and didn’t precipitate the insolvency, people familiar with the matter said. Banks had granted Wirecard a short reprieve, deciding not to force the firm to repay the loans right away while assessing the company’s long-term prospects, Bloomberg has reported.Wirecard also has an outstanding bond worth 500 million euros and a convertible bond worth 900 million euros.(Adds table of bank exposures, details about Wirecard Bank in fourth paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the day Wirecard announced the start of insolvency proceedings.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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(Bloomberg) — Wirecard AG filed for insolvency, following the arrest of its CEO amid a massive accounting scandal that left the German payment-processing firm scrambling to find over $2 billion dollars missing from its balance sheetWirecard management cited over-indebtedness as the reason behind the decision to seek court protection in Munich, according to a statement. The company also said it’s considering whether the insolvency proceedings should also be applied to its subsidiaries.Wirecard Bank is not included in the proceedings, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named, as the situation is private. German regulator BaFin is responsible for deciding whether a bank should file for insolvency, although there are also other measures it can take when a lender runs into trouble.The company’s rapid fall from grace comes after it admitted that 1.9 billion euros went missing from its balance sheet, and is a major setback for Germany’s burgeoning tech scene and a debacle for investors. In less than a week, the company once hyped as the future of German finance had seen its shares and bonds collapse and its former Chief Executive Officer Markus Braun arrested in an accounting-fraud probe after almost two decades at the helm of the company.Wirecard’s shares tumbled 13% to 10.20 euros in Frankfurt after trading resumed. Its 500 million euros of bonds due 2024 fell 6 cents on the euro to a record low of 12 cents on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.The insolvency proceedings leave Wirecard’s creditors facing lengthy negotiations with administrators over how much they’ll get back out of the money they’re owed following the company’s implosion. Banks who lent to Wirecard including Commerzbank AG, ABN Amro, LBBW and ING have been demanding more clarity from the company in return for the extension of almost $2 billion in debt.Wirecard has licenses with Visa, Mastercard and JCB International, through which Wirecard’s banking arm issues its credit cards. If Wirecard is unable to find its missing cash, Visa and Mastercard may have cause to revoke the licenses.“The big question is whether they retain the Visa and Mastercard licenses,” Neil Campling, analyst at Mirabaud said. “Without those they have no business.”For Germany, the affair represents an embarrassment. While the country has seen the likes of airline Air Berlin and renewable-energy firm Solarworld file for insolvency in past years, critics say that Wirecard’s troubles could have been spotted earlier.The crisis began when Wirecard failed to publish its yearly report on June 18, citing the missing cash. In the ensuing days, Wirecard’s stock and bonds collapsed after two Asian banks that were alleged to be holding the funds denied any business relationship with the company. Braun resigned on June 19, and was arrested by Munich prosecutors a couple of days later. He’s been since released on bail.(Adds details about Wirecard bank in 3rd paragraph, shares resume trading)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Wirecard said on Thursday it was filing for insolvency after disclosing a $2.1 billion financial hole in its accounts, becoming the first sitting member of Germany’s blue-chip share index to go out of business. Shares were suspended by the Frankfurt Stock Exchange before the news. Wirecard said in a two-paragraph statement that its new management had decided to apply for insolvency at a Munich court “due to impending insolvency and over-indebtedness”.

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(Bloomberg) — Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s biggest stockholder publicly backed a 9 billion-euro ($10 billion) government bailout, giving the rescue plan a major shot of momentum and boosting the airline’s shares and bonds just before a crunch vote.With Heinz Hermann Thiele declaring support after days of frenzied speculation about his intentions, the state rescue appears likely to secure the two-thirds backing required at Thursday’s special shareholders meeting. The German billionaire who had earlier criticized the conditions held the votes to single-handedly stop the deal and plunge Europe’s largest airline into turmoil.A failure of the landmark bailout, which featured the state buying a heavily discounted 20% stake in the airline, would also have been a serious blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s efforts to take a more activist approach to managing Germany’s economy.Thiele eased those concerns by saying he “will vote in favor” of the plan at the meeting, according to an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published on its website late Wednesday.Because only 38% of shareholders registered for the online meeting, Thiele’s 15.5% stake translates into about 41% of the votes. Lufthansa needs to win about half of the rest for the share sale to pass. It’s only part of the larger bailout package that also includes state loans and a so-called silent participation.Approval of the deal would bring the curtain down on weeks of high-stakes drama that buffeted Lufthansa’s stock and bonds and forced it to examine insolvency. It would also thrust the state back into the heart of a company that was privatized with fanfare two decades ago.Lufthansa shares jumped as much as 21% Thursday in early Frankfurt trading, the biggest intraday rise since March 13. They were up 15% at 10.35 euros at 10:53 a.m., valuing the company at 4.9 billion euros.The news of Thiele’s support also triggered a sharp rally in Lufthansa debt, with the company’s euro bonds maturing in 2024 jumping the most on record to trade as high as 90.2 cents on the euro. The airline’s bonds have been under pressure since March and a sell-off accelerated last month when the company lost its investment-grade rating at S&P.The virtual meeting starts at 12 p.m. in Frankfurt. Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr, who’s fighting for the airline’s survival, will address shareholders before opening the floor to questions. The process could take several hours before the vote proceeds and the results are released later in the afternoon.In another step forward the deal, Lufthansa on Thursday won European Union approval for a 6 billion-euro recapitalization plan, the bulk of the financing in the rescue plan. To ease competition concerns, the airline has committed to make slots available at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs.Securing a state holding would be a victory for Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, pleasing his Social Democratic allies and bolstering his ambitions to run for chancellor next year. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier would notch a landmark deal that’s meant to serve as a model for the government’s plan to act more as a state capitalist.‘Better Than Insolvency’Andreas Laemmel, a member of the Bundestag’s economy and energy committee for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc, said the negotiations with Lufthansa had served as a “learning process” for the government which will inform talks on possible future bailouts for other companies.“The aid package will protect the value of the shares and help the company be successful again,” Laemmel said Thursday in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio. “That’s the best contribution that the government can make, giving shareholders security.”Read more:One Man Can Save Lufthansa’s Bailout or Unleash BedlamLufthansa Closes German Charter Carrier With Loss of 1,200 JobsGermany Dares Lufthansa’s Top Shareholder to Scuttle BailoutLufthansa’s Fate Will Affect German Savers Holding Its DebtUnions, many investors and proxy advisory firms recommend shareholders back the deal. While stockholders will see their holdings diluted, it’s not clear what the rationale for blocking the package would be without a major investor proposing an alternative.“A government-orchestrated bailout is better than insolvency,” said Patrick Schuchter of Union Investment, holder of a 0.12% stake. He plans to vote for the rescue, despite the drawbacks for shareholders. “Investors need to choose the lesser evil or sell their shares.”Securing the bailout would allow Lufthansa’s management to turn attention to negotiating restructuring packages with the company’s powerful labor unions. The airline late Wednesday reached a deal with its cabin crew union that would save around 500 million euros until 2023. In return, Lufthansa pledged not to make redundancies for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.The company faces tough choices as it seeks to slim down for what Spohr predicts will be years of depressed travel demand. Labor representatives back the deal as the alternative coould man even deeper cuts.“We extraordinarily welcome the decision to support the state aid package,” Christine Behle, a supervisory board member and deputy chairman of labor union Ver.di, said in an emailed statement. “With this, the survival of the company would be secured and an insolvency avoided.”(Updates with EU approval, adds chart)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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