The Next Leap for the Indonesian Economy: Deeper Capital Markets

The Next Leap for the Indonesian Economy: Deeper Capital Markets

By Mukul Raheja on 9:13 am February 5, 2014.

The presence of robust, deep, regulated and liquid capital markets is essential for any economy to function efficiently. For an emerging and growing economy like Indonesia it is especially crucial. Not only do functioning capital markets offer an alternative to bank borrowing for private businesses seeking financing, they also help the government get access to cheaper sources of funding to finance the national budget and infrastructure projects. Read more of this post

Why Indonesians Distrust Their Leaders

Why Indonesians Distrust Their Leaders

By Jakarta Globe on 11:04 pm February 5, 2014.
In a working democracy, elected men or women with public jobs must be the best and most trusted people within that particular country. They were chosen by voters who have placed their trust in these men and women to serve and protect them. Read more of this post

Improving Corporate Governance Seen as Key for Further Foreign Investment in Indonesia

Improving Corporate Governance Seen as Key for Further Foreign Investment in Indonesia

By Vanesha Manuturi on 11:00 pm February 4, 2014.

Jakarta. Indonesian Finance Minister M. Chatib Basri has called on the country to improve corporate governance as part of its efforts to lure more foreign investors.

“During the era of easy money, foreign investors usually place their portfolio without a full assessment of the country,” Chatib said at an event organized by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) in Jakarta on Tuesday. Read more of this post

European Banks Have $3 Trillion of Exposure to Emerging Markets

European Banks Have $3 Trillion of Exposure to Emerging Markets

By Steve Slater on 9:44 pm February 4, 2014.
European banks have loaned in excess of $3 trillion to emerging markets, more than four times US lenders and putting them at greater risk if financial market turmoil in countries such as Turkey, Brazil, India and South Africa intensifies. Read more of this post

Kumho sibling feud reignited; conflict between Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo and his younger brother and Kumho Petrochemical Chairman Park Chan-koo, who have been at odds since they fought over who should manage the group

2014-02-04 16:40

Kumho sibling feud reignited

By Kim Tae-jong

The feud between two brothers of the Kumho family has been reignited, following the elder brother’s accusation Monday that his younger brother’s personal driver stole his private information. Read more of this post

Celltrion stocks plunge on ‘CEO risk’

2014-02-05 16:34

Celltrion stocks plunge on ‘CEO risk’

By Kim Tae-jong

Stocks of Celltrion dropped by 6.14 percent Wednesday following news that its CEO has been banned from overseas travel and the prosecution will soon summon him for questioning over alleged stock price manipulation. Read more of this post

French fashion brand Carven aims to triple sales in 4 years

French fashion brand Carven aims to triple sales in 4 years

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 – 15:43

Reuters

PARIS – French fashion brand Carven aims to triple its sales within four years, helped by ambitious store-opening plans and solid demand for its chic schoolgirl style, its chief executive and controlling shareholder said on Tuesday. Read more of this post

Swiss grapple with identity, economy in immigration vote

Swiss grapple with identity, economy in immigration vote

Tue, Feb 4 2014

By Caroline Copley

WINTERTHUR, Switzerland (Reuters) – Low taxes and good infrastructure aside, what entrepreneur Thorsten Schwenke really needs to grow his small Swiss-based business is the right people, regardless of their nationality. Read more of this post

Scooter boom: Young women find gusto on India’s roads

Scooter boom: Young women find gusto on India’s roads

5:45am EST

By Aradhana Aravindan

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – ‘Plush pink’ and ‘burgundy bliss’ scooters are the new buzz on India’s roads, even as the rest of the autos market is sputtering amid an economic slowdown. Read more of this post

Emerging markets buffeted by bipolar world

Emerging markets buffeted by bipolar world

2:13am EST

By Mike Dolan

LONDON (Reuters) – Ailing emerging markets are caught between a rock and a hard place – Washington and Beijing to be more precise.

For much of 2013, the investor narrative was that currencies and stock markets from Mumbai to Moscow and Istanbul to Johannesburg were running aground as Federal Reserve largesse ebbed away. Read more of this post

Investors cling to frontiers as emerging markets sink

Investors cling to frontiers as emerging markets sink

7:17am EST

By Carolyn Cohn

LONDON (Reuters) – As emerging markets tumbled this year, the riskiest country groupings on the fringes have been a haven. Read more of this post

Hot desking’ emptying Australia’s office towers

Hot desking’ emptying Australia’s office towers

Wednesday, Feb 05, 2014

Jonathan Pearlman

The Straits Times

OFFICE towers in Australian cities are at their emptiest in years as firms have sought to cut costs by “hot desking” and moving to flexible or open plan offices. Read more of this post

Microsoft Prescription: More Bill Gates; Co-Founder Strengthens Role to Mentor New CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft Prescription: More Bill Gates

Co-Founder Strengthens Role to Mentor New CEO Satya Nadella

SHIRA OVIDE, JOANN S. LUBLIN and MONICA LANGLEY

Updated Feb. 4, 2014 8:03 p.m. ET

Satya Nadella is Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT -0.36% new CEO. But he ascends as co-founder Bill Gates returns to a more central role at a company struggling to catch up inmobile and other fast-moving technologies. Read more of this post

Bank Of America Warns: “Too Few Bears Out There”, “Investors Not Prepared” For Selloff

Bank Of America Warns: “Too Few Bears Out There”, “Investors Not Prepared” For Selloff

Tyler Durden on 02/04/2014 08:24 -0500

There is one main reason why complacency is bad: selloffs. Because as Bank of America explains, in an environment in which there are “too few bears“, and where investors are “not prepared for a downside correction”, when you do finally get a sell off for whatever reason, with nobody hedged and otherwise prepared for such an outcome, the only logical continuation is piling on until one gets selling exhaustion. And in a world in which hedge fund leverage is about 500%, by the time exhaustion comes, there will be very few left standing. Read more of this post

The $3 Trillion Hole – Why EM Matters To European Banks

The $3 Trillion Hole – Why EM Matters To European Banks

Tyler Durden on 02/04/2014 12:23 -0500

How many times in the last few days have we been told that Turkey – or Ukraine or Venezuela or Argentina – are too small to matter? How many comparisons of Emerging Market GDP to world GDP to instill confidence that a little crisis there can’t possible mean problems here. Putting aside this entirely disingenuous perspective, historical examples such as LTCM, and ignoring the massive leverage in the system, there is a simple reason whyEmerging Markets matter. As Reuters reports, European banks have loaned in excess of $3 trillion to emerging markets, more than four times US lenders – especially when average NPLs for historical EM shocks is over 40%.

The risk is most acute for six European banks – BBVA, Erste Bank, HSBC, Santander, Standard Chartered, and UniCredit Read more of this post

Singaporeans not as wealthy as GDP figures suggest

Singaporeans not as wealthy as GDP figures suggest

Tuesday, 04 February, 2014, 5:57am

Jake van der Kamp

HK performs better than the Lion City on the basis of personal consumption expenditure

… the average growth of Singapore’s gross domestic product and GDP per capita has outperformed Hong Kong’s over the last 45 years. Its GDP was only half that of Hong Kong more than 20 years ago. Today the Lion City’s GDP is slightly ahead and GDP per capita is 25 per cent higher than in Hong Kong. Read more of this post