Indonesia to Ease Foreign Investment Caps From Airports to Power

Indonesia to Ease Foreign Investment Caps From Airports to Power

Indonesia will ease foreign ownership restrictions in airport and power projects to lure capital as the nation grapples with a current-account deficit that’s sending the rupiah to its worst yearly drop since 2000. Foreigners may own as much as 49 percent of airports and 100 percent of power plants built under public-private partnerships, the investment coordinating board said in a statement in Jakarta. The government will simplify processes to boost investment after completing talks today on its revised negative-investment list, which limits overseas ownership in some industries, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa told reporters. Read more of this post

As Japan’s Economic Pie Grows, Christmas Cakes May Shrink

December 25, 2013, 6:52 PM

As Japan’s Economic Pie Grows, Christmas Cakes May Shrink

ALEXANDER MARTIN

The size of Japan’s economic pie may be expanding, but a beloved staple of the year-end holiday season — the Christmas cake — may get smaller for many people as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic program, or “Abenomics,” pushes up prices and weakens the yen. The “Super Christmas Tower” cake offered in 2012 by Patisserie Satsuki at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. Read more of this post

Daiwa Real Estate to Set Up Japan’s First Health-Care REIT

Daiwa Real Estate to Set Up Japan’s First Health-Care REIT

Daiwa Real Estate Asset Management Co., a unit of Japan’s second-largest brokerage, will set up a health-care real estate investment trust that will own nursing homes and hospitals in the world’s fastest-aging society. Daiwa Real Estate plans to start operating the trust with about 10 billion yen ($96 million) as early as March and list the shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by mid-2014, the company said in a statement through the bourse today. The unit also manages Daiwa Office Investment Corp. (8976) and Daiwa Residential Private Investment Corp. with a total of 400 billion yen assets under management, it said. Read more of this post

Panasonic Debt Goes to First From Worst on Revamp: Japan Credit

Panasonic Debt Goes to First From Worst on Revamp: Japan Credit

Panasonic Corp. (6752) bonds went from last year’s worst performers to the best of 2013, as President Kazuhiro Tsuga avoided a junk debt rating by shrinking television and handset businesses. The notes topped the return rankings in the year to Dec. 23, gaining 6.5 percent, after placing last in 2012 with a 4.1 percent loss, Bank of America Merrill Lynch data show. That compares with a 4.1 percent increase for Kansai Electric Power Co., the second-best performer since Dec. 31, and a 1.7 percent average gain for Japanese corporate bonds. Bonds of technology companies worldwide declined 1.3 percent in the period. Read more of this post

Start-Up Spirit Emerges in Japan

December 25, 2013

Start-Up Spirit Emerges in Japan

By MARTIN FACKLER

TOKYO — The 20-somethings in jeans sipping espresso and tapping on laptops at this Tokyo business incubator would look more at home in Silicon Valley than in Japan, where for years the surest signs of success were the gray suits of its corporate salarymen. But for those hoping the nation’s latest economic plan will drag Japan from its long malaise, the young men and women here at Samurai Startup Island represent a crucial component: a revival of entrepreneurship. Read more of this post

Big Korean Corporate Failures Cloud Outlook After Record Issuance Drop; “Investors don’t trust even the A-rated companies after what happened at Tongyang”

Failures Cloud Outlook After Record Issuance Drop: Korea Markets

Offerings of won-denominated company bonds in South Korea plunged the most on record as corporate failures from Tongyang Group to STX Corp. dimmed investor appetite for lower-rated debt. Total sales slid 42 percent in 2013, the biggest drop in Bloomberg-compiled data going back to 1999. Companies rated A or below led the slump, issuing 7.01 trillion won ($6.6 billion) compared with 12.87 trillion won in 2012. Read more of this post

Hanjin Group, Korea’s ninth-largest chaebol, is speeding up its group restructuring by giving more power to the owner’s children

Hanjin Group owner’s son CEO of Hanjin KAL Holdings

Dec 26,2013

BY JOO KYUNG-DON [kjoo@joongang.co.kr]

Hanjin Group, the nation’s ninth-largest chaebol, is speeding up its group restructuring by giving more power to the owner’s children.
The group, which owns the country’s top flag carrier, Korean Air Lines, conducted an executive level reshuffle on Christmas Eve, and Executive Vice President Cho Won-tae, the only son of Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, became CEO of Hanjin KAL Holdings, the holding company of the group established Aug. 1.
The CEO position of Hanjin KAL Holdings became vacant when CEO Suk Tae-soo moved to Hanjin Shipping.  Read more of this post

Hyundai Motor makes history with sales of a million in China

Hyundai Motor makes history with sales of a million in China

Dec 26,2013

Hyundai Motor said yesterday annual sales from Beijing Hyundai, a joint venture with Beijing Automotive Group, have surpassed 1 million units, becoming the fastest auto brand to achieve that milestone in the Chinese market. Hyundai, Korea’s largest automaker, also said it is the first time it has ever sold more than a million cars in a single market in a year. Hyundai previously set a sales target for 2013 for 970,000 vehicles in China. Hyundai, which started doing business in China in 2003, said its localized models have led the sales increase, while expansion of its second and third plants in China also helped to boost sales. Hyundai said it would expand its dealership network in China to 1,000 by 2015 and focus on balancing sales growth and enhancing brand value over the next 10 years. Posco E&C gets $175 million Uzbekistan highway contract. Posco Engineering & Construction said yesterday it won a $175 million order from Uzbekistan to build a highway. The affiliate of steelmaker Posco said it secured part of the CAREC A380 project under Uzbekistan’s financial ministry in a competition with 13 multinational builders. Posco E&C said that it will be responsible for 85 kilometers (52.8 miles) of highway from Kishlak to the Gazil region in the next two years. The company in 2010 bagged a 91-kilometer highway contract that is also part of the CAREC A380 project.

Korean gov’t writes off debts of 850,000 individuals; These programs are quite controversial because they can mislead the public ― people may think they don’t have to repay their debts because the government will take them over after all

2013-12-25 18:04

Gov’t writes off debts of 850,000

By Na Jeong-ju
As many as 850,000 individuals have benefitted from multiple debt-relief programs initiated by the Park Geun-hye administration this year, according to data unveiled Wednesday. Read more of this post

Samsung targets faster decision-making in 2014

Samsung targets faster decision-making in 2014

Wednesday, Dec 25, 2013

Kim Young-won

The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

SEOUL – Top executives of Samsung Group affiliates discussed how to become a first mover by deploying a swift decision-making process and seeking constant innovation during a strategy brainstorming session for next year, sources said Tuesday. Read more of this post

Ssangyong Engineering & Construction may file for court protection soon because creditors are refusing to provide a financial lifeline to the troubled builder

2013-12-25 18:03

Ssangyong may go under court control

Na Jeong-ju
Ssangyong Engineering & Construction may file for court protection soon because creditors are refusing to provide a financial lifeline to the troubled builder, sources said Wednesday. But it is feared that such court protection could push hundreds of Ssangyong’s subcontractors to the brink of bankruptcy, and deal another setback to the construction sector, which is already in a deep recession. Read more of this post

The eldest son of the late Samsung founder has proposed an out-of-court settlement in an inheritance suit he lodged against his brother and Samsung Group owner Lee Kun-hee

2013-12-25 16:34

Samsung brothers seek reconciliation

Kim Rahn
The eldest son of the late Samsung founder has proposed an out-of-court settlement in an inheritance suit he lodged against his brother and Samsung Group owner Lee Kun-hee. Whether the latter will accept the offer is not yet known. According to CJ Group, former Cheil Fertilizer Chairman Lee Maeng-hee’s lawyer proposed the settlement to Lee Kun-hee’s lawyer during a hearing at the Seoul High Court, Tuesday. Lee Maeng-hee, the first son of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull, is father of CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun who is now behind bars for tax evasion and embezzlement. He filed the suit to claim a substantial part of his younger brother’s inheritance. The offer came a day after it was announced that he has relapsed into cancer. Read more of this post

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