The fears over the housing ‘transaction cliff’ are looming and jeonse crunch will likely deepen in S Korea as the government’s property-boosting measures of transfer and acquisition tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2013

Fears over ‘housing transaction cliff’ reemerge

Ko Jae-man, Baek Sang-kyung

2013.12.25 17:51:05

The fears over the so-called housing ‘transaction cliff’ are looming and jeonse crunch will likely deepen in South Korea as the government’s property-boosting measures of transfer and acquisition tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year. Jeonse is a house rental system unique to Korea, based on a lump sum deposit paid by a tenant to a landlord at the start of a rental contract.  Read more of this post

New framework needed for trading Singapore corporate bonds; A good example is the 25 per cent plunge experienced by Olam perpetuals when the company was mauled by short-seller Muddy Waters in November last year

New framework needed for trading corporate bonds

Wednesday, Dec 25, 2013

Goh Eng Yeow

The Straits Times

Retail investors frustrated by bank deposit rates and the flatish stock market are often tempted by bonds but anomalies around some Genting issues show that it can be a perplexing game. The casino operator issued two tranches of perpetuals – a bond-like instrument that offers a fixed payout but no shareholder rights – last year. Read more of this post

It is important to prevent the Singapore housing bubble from getting out of hand, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan

Housing bubble must be kept in check: Khaw

Thursday, Dec 26, 2013

Rachel Au-Yong

The Straits Times

It is important to prevent the housing bubble from getting out of hand, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in a Facebook post on Monday. So despite the unhappiness which declining prices could lead to, cooling measures are needed, he added. “We cannot eliminate (the) property cycle but we can try to keep bubbles less bubbly. “This means taking away the punch bowl when the party is getting hot, much to the unhappiness of sellers and developers. But this is the right thing to do.” Sharing a link to a New York Times article on the housing slump in Ireland, where home prices have halved since its peak in 2007, he said “the bubble and its inevitable bust bring huge misery to many”. Read more of this post

Women Take on Philippine Rebels for Peace to Unlock $300 Billion

Women Take on Philippine Rebels for Peace to Unlock $300 Billion

Of the more than a dozen women Philippine President Benigno Aquino appointed to senior administration posts since gaining power in June 2010, one of the most diplomatically sensitive was Miriam Coronel-Ferrer. Read more of this post

Valuations at Extremes Making Winner of Losing Trade: Currencies

Valuations at Extremes Making Winner of Losing Trade: Currencies

Foreign-exchange managers who sold currencies as they became overvalued beat both trend-seekers and traders analyzing interest-rate differentials this year, the first time they’ve won out against these strategies since 2005. Read more of this post

The Gold Rush Spreads From China And India To Saudi Arabia

The Gold Rush Spreads From China And India To Saudi Arabia

Tyler Durden on 12/24/2013 19:59 -0500

In the “west”, the higher the price of gold rose, the more demand there seemingly was by momentum-chasing gamblersinvestors, if only for paper certificates claiming to represent gold, or GLD as the case may be. Conversely, once the momentum turned, the same investors couldn’t be bothered with gld (sic) even at 30% lower. At the same time, in the “east” the higher the price of gold rose, the lower the demand was for physical, which for that extinct breed of deranged gambler known as “value investor” is a familiar concept.”  And now that gold’s price is not only back to early 2011 levels, but is essentially below production costs, demand out of China is off the charts. Demand in India – traditionally the greatest in the world – continues to also at unprecedented levels, although now that official purchases of gold are regulated and limited through capital controls, it is forcing the local population to smuggle in gold through the most innovative of schemes. Read more of this post

Soaring compliance costs clip wings of Mideast, African banks

Soaring compliance costs clip wings of Mideast, African banks

2:07am EST

By David French

DUBAI (Reuters) – While it may be the most common given name in the world, the global banking system seemingly can’t cope with Mohammed and its various different spellings. Read more of this post

Islamic Banks, Stuffed With Cash, Explore Partnerships in West

DECEMBER 25, 2013, 7:11 PM

Islamic Banks, Stuffed With Cash, Explore Partnerships in West

By NATHANIEL POPPER

A noted Muslim law scholar, Yusuf DeLorenzo, recently pored through the books of Continental Rail, a business that runs freight trains up and down the East Coast. Along with examining the company’s financial health, Mr. DeLorenzo sought to make sure that the rail cars didn’t transport pork, tobacco or alcohol. He was brought in by American investment bankers who want to take rail cars bought by Continental Rail and package their leases into a security. The investment is being built for banks that are run according to Islamic law, which, among other things, prohibits investments in those three commodities. If the cars are acceptable, or halal, the deal will be one of the first in the United States to be completed in compliance with Islamic law. Read more of this post

Dirty money: Rich smell; The forum for rich countries issues an overdue mea culpa

Dirty money: Rich smell; The forum for rich countries issues an overdue mea culpa

Dec 21st 2013 | From the print edition

THE leakage of wealth from poor countries through tax evasion, money laundering and other misdeeds is becoming an ever bigger worry for those who want poor countries to get rich. Global Financial Integrity calculates that such “illicit financial flows” have increased sharply over the past decade and may now be $1 trillion a year or more. Even experts who question the campaigning group’s methodology accept that outflows probably exceed incoming aid and investment combined. Read more of this post

Five Lessons of 2013, Guaranteed to Be Forgotten

Five Lessons of 2013, Guaranteed to Be Forgotten

It’s that time of year when journalists let their creativity run rampant to produce 10-Best and 10-Worst lists, revisit the year’s biggest whoppers (look no further than the Oval Office), and offer prognostications for the coming year. With that in mind, I’ve gleaned the five most important lessons from 2013, which are all but guaranteed to be forgotten next year. Read more of this post