1 Toshiba is seeking a second credit line from banks in three months, aiming to gain access to another 300 billion yen (S$3.5 billion) amid rising costs from an accounting scandal that has led to asset sales.

2 China's central bank said it will start gauging risk next year using what it calls a Macro Prudential Assessment system built on examining banks' capital adequacy ratios. This should help cut financing cost.

3 Iraq aims to sell shares to the public in the US$1.3 billion (S$1.8 billion) Grand Faw container port first proposed in 2011 before falling oil prices crimped the government's ability to support the project on its own.

4 Shandong Shanshui Cement said it was at risk of defaulting on a bond maturing soon. Defaults have been rising in China, especially among industrial and manufacturing firms.

5 Russia's government will spend 20 billion roubles (S$390 million) to support the car industry in the first half of 2016, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said yesterday, amid poorer growth in Russia.