Bankers in Asia are bracing for a deal drought as efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus epidemic have put key meetings and roadshows on hold.

As the coronavirus outbreak in China shows no signs of abating any time soon, some companies that buy and sell goods in the Chinese market are considering the legal defense of force majeure.

Many global companies from hotels and airlines to industrial houses are expected to have to foot the bill for disruptions caused by a new coronavirus in China, with epidemics usually excluded from insurance cover, experts said.

Wall Street investment banks JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have been placed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s “named and shamed” list after the $300 million initial public offering (IPO) of Chinese biotech company Akeso was sent back for not meeting the correct regulatory requirements.

Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn said on Wednesday he had been treated brutally and ruthlessly by Japanese prosecutors, who threatened to take action against his family if he didn’t confess to their accusations.

China’s banking and insurance regulator (CBIRC) has released new rules which make it easier for foreign lenders to enter the Chinese market.

Banks and asset managers that use Asian benchmarks like the Hang Seng or Nikkei indices face a “perfect storm”, with two major regulatory changes slated to take effect the same day, a financial industry group said on Tuesday.

Next year could bring rising revenue, a hot lateral market and more consolidation to the U.S. legal industry, according to a report released on Wednesday by Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group and Hildebrandt Consulting.

When China’s top legislature criticised a Hong Kong court’s rejection of a face mask ban there, some global firms began to fear the potential for mainland interference in commercial contracts, lawyers and finance executives said.

EU antitrust regulators are investigating Google's collection of data, the European Commission told Reuters on Saturday, suggesting the world's most popular internet search engine remains in its sights despite record fines in recent years.