Comprehensive study highlights the need for improved plan design and participant support to help with retirement security

NEW YORK, Dec. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — J.P. Morgan Asset Management today released its “Retirement by the Numbers” report, revealing that anonymized Chase household data showed that 48% of plan participants carry credit card debt, which increases their likelihood of taking a loan from their retirement plan.¹ High credit card balances are also associated with lower contribution rates and smaller account balances, reducing retirement readiness by up to 40% for older participants. This year’s research draws on data from 16,000 defined contribution plans and more than 12 million participants from Employee Benefit…

The South Korean government provided 269 individual crypto traders with over $15 million in debt relief from a fund intended to help small companies.

The Financial Services Commission has vowed to overhaul selection processes after the Board of Audit and Inspection audited the operations of the New Start Fund.

“We will strengthen the selection criteria for potential recipients of New Start support,” said Shin Jin-chang, chair of the regulatory Financial Services Commission, per the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

However, despite…

After stormy debates and heated exchanges, the general assembly of the Egyptian Iron and Steel Company (EISC) convened on September 22 to approve yet another extension to the company’s liquidation timeline, adding a fifth year starting in January. The hall erupted with chants from individual shareholders: “Void,  void,  void. Five years of liquidation is void.”

When the extraordinary general assembly decided to liquidate the company on January 11, 2021, it set a two-year deadline. But when that period elapsed, the liquidation had barely begun, prompting one extension after another.

Throughout the past four years, minority shareholders have repeatedly demanded that the…

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Kochi has held that homebuyers are not barred from invoking insolvency proceedings merely because complaints over project delays are pending before the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA, as long as financial default and distress are established under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Admitting a Section 7 application filed by 30…

Equans is set to take a near £5m hit from the liquidation of the private finance initiative (PFI) company that previously had responsibility for schools in Stoke-on-Trent.

Transform Schools (Stoke) Ltd (TSSL), a PFI vehicle that built and maintained the city’s schools under a 25-year contract with City of Stoke-on-Trent Council, announced in November that it would appoint liquidators.

Equans was the primary maintenance contractor working for TSSL in recent years.

The PFI contract came to an end in October with millions of pounds of maintenance work across 88 schools incomplete, according to the local authority.

A statement from the council at the time said it was drawing up deals with “the main contractor” to continue outstanding…

Fewer companies went through the insolvency process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in financial year (FY) 2025, according to the credit rating firm ICRA.

As per the ICRA, only 724 companies were admitted for insolvency, a sharp 28 per cent drop from 1,003 in the previous year.

The number of approved resolution plans also dipped slightly to 259 from 263 last year.

Under the IBC, introduced in 2015, authorities try to streamline the process of resolving financial distress and insolvency of companies and individuals. The IBC offers a framework for prompt and effective resolution with the dual goals of protecting creditors…

The Madras High Court has recently held that once a resolution plan is approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, authorities cannot proceed against any property standing in the name of a corporate debtor for offences committed before the insolvency process, even if such property is alleged to be held benami. A single bench of Justice G R Swaminathan ruled that Section 32A(2) of…

A couple who sold cannabis and magic mushrooms were caught “red handed” after police spotted their car was not insured.

Jamie Redington and Katie Whiley were pulled over by officers on Dereham Road, Norwich, after their Ford Focus was flagged as uninsured.

Norwich Crown Court heard police became aware of a strong smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle, which they then searched.

Norwich Crown Court (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)

Chris Youell, prosecuting, said Redington, 37, and Whiley, 34 were “caught red-handed” with cannabis as well as magic mushrooms – a class A drug – found in the car, on August 15 last year.

Magic mushrooms (Image: Newsquest)

Police also found a knuckle duster in the door of the car and seized mobile phones.

On…