>>11602016

Yoshihide Suga one step ahead of Moon Jae-in, talking with Biden on the phone

After intense contact and coordination, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was still one step faster than South Korean President Moon Jae-in and “preempted” to talk to Biden.

On November 12, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga spoke with Biden. Then Biden had a phone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Yoshihide Suga then made it clear to reporters that Biden renewed his promise on the phone that the Diaoyu Islands would apply to the “Japan-US Security Treaty.”

According to a report on the website of the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) on November 12, at about 8:30 in the morning local time, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had a telephone conversation with Biden, who had just announced his victory.

The first call between Suga Yoshihide and Biden started at 8:30 in the morning and lasted more than 10 minutes. After the call, Yoshihide Suga congratulated Biden and Harris on their successful elections. Yoshihide Suga also explained to Biden on the phone the “Suga diplomacy” policy based on the Japan-US alliance, and emphasized the importance of Japan and the United States to jointly create a “free and open Indo-Pacific strategy.”

After the call, Yoshihide Suga told reporters that Biden reiterated on the phone that the Diaoyu Islands are applicable to the “Japan-US Security Treaty.” In addition, he and Biden have reached an agreement that he will visit the United States as soon as possible to meet with Biden.

On the same day, Biden also had a phone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Yonhap News Agency reported on November 12 that South Korean President Moon Jae-in had a phone conversation with Biden at 9 am local time.

The Yonhap News Agency speculated that the two sides may exchange views on issues such as the realization of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of a permanent peace mechanism, the plan to consolidate the Korea-U.S. alliance through deepening economic cooperation, as well as the talks between Korean and U.S. leaders and the response to climate change.

Prior to this, Biden had telephone conversations with national leaders such as British Prime Minister Johnson, French President Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, German Chancellor Merkel, and other national leaders from the 10th local time.

https://www.iamnotresponsible.com/2020/11/12/yoshihide-suga-one-step-ahead-of-moon-jae-in-talking-with-biden-on-the-phone/

Virgin Australia Shareholder Sale Challenge Rejected By Court

Virgin Australia’s long road to new ownership and a relaunch is almost over. On Tuesday, a Federal Court in Sydney cleared the way to transfer over 8 billion Virgin Australia shares to new owners, Boston-based Bain Capital. The ruling came despite two shareholders challenging the transfer. Yesterday’s ruling confirms former shareholders are out of pocket. But some shareholders had argued there was some value in some of Virgin Australia’s assets, including its frequent flyer scheme. They argued the administrators, Deloitte, had pushed through the sale process and did not get full value from the collapsed airline. Some of the shareholders asked why the frequent flyer program, Velocity, had been significantly devalued. In 2019, when Virgin Australia took control of 100% of Velocity, the price the airline paid suggested Velocity was valued at nearly US$1.5 billion. Now, Deloitte says Velocity is valued at less than $500 million. The shareholders questioned this new valuation.

In the hearing, as reported in The Australian Financial Review, Deloitte’s legal representatives agreed there was some residual value in parts of the airline, but liabilities far outweighed these. As a result, the former shares were valueless, and the shareholders out of luck.

In the hearing, Deloitte relied on a largely unused piece of law in Australia’s Corporations Act. Section 444GA allows the transfer of shares if the court finds they have no value. Had the Velocity program retained its $1.5 billion valuation, an argument based on Section 444GA might well have failed yesterday.

But the Judge agreed with Deloitte’s lawyers, and the transfer of shares to Bain Capital will take place next week. It’s not quite the end of legal proceedings for the resurgent airline. Tomorrow, Deloitte is heading to the United States Bankruptcy Court in New York to clear the US Chapter 15 bankruptcy hurdle. That hearing, on Thursday afternoon (New York time) will deal with various Deeds of Company Arrangement, that Virgin Australia is subject to. In addition, the transfer of the shares needs the tick of approval from the US court.

What’s a US bankruptcy court got to do with an Australian airline? It’s all about protecting Virgin Australia’s US assets and helping them deal with US creditors.

moar

https://simpleflying.com/virgin-australia-shareholder-challenge-rejected/

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