Corporate Lies Are Increasingly Immune to Investor Complaints

Corporate Lies Are Increasingly Immune to Investor Complaints
MARCH 20, 2014
High & Low Finance
By FLOYD NORRIS
Companies do not have a right to lie to their shareholders, a German judge ruled this week. But sometimes, she added, lies are necessary.

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Revisiting Gandhi, on the Banks of the Sabarmati; An old ashram is a place to reflect on a new India of skyrocketing growth

Revisiting Gandhi, on the Banks of the Sabarmati
MARCH 19, 2014
By MIRA KAMDAR
AHMEDABAD, India — As a teenager in the 1920s, my grandfather Prabhudas Kamdar was enthralled with Mahatma Gandhi. He devoured every issue of Gandhi’s magazine, Young India, as soon as it came out and was deeply drawn to Gandhi’s satyagraha movement.

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Five reasons why Malaysia is not in trouble

Updated: Thursday March 20, 2014 MYT 11:24:04 AM
Five reasons why Malaysia is not in trouble
BY CECILIA KOK

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is better prepared to manage another global financial crisis due to its sound economic and financial structure as well as the availability of a strong surveillance mechanism, according to Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz. Read more of this post

China’s government is planning to shift parts of its vast bureaucracy to a city 150km from Beijing, causing shares in companies linked to the struggling metropolis to surge in anticipation

March 19, 2014 6:09 pm
China to shift Beijing bureaucrats to Baoding
By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing
China’s government is planning to shift parts of its vast bureaucracy to a city 150km from Beijing, causing shares in companies linked to the struggling metropolis to surge in anticipation.

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Li & Fung to spin off US-focused brands and licensing divisions through stock split

March 20, 2014 12:13 pm
Li & Fung to spin off divisions through stock split
By Paul J Davies in Hong Kong
Li & Fung, which supplies toothbrushes and T-shirts to some of the world’s biggest retailers, will spin off its US-focused brands and licensing business through a stock split as it launches another round of restructuring.

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Why Japan invests too much

Why Japan invests too much
March 20, 2014 7:48 amby Andrew Smithers
The Japanese government is trying to encourage the country’s companies to increase the amount they invest. This is like trying to push water uphill. Japan as a whole and in terms of business already invests too much. Read more of this post

Let a hundred companies fail

March 19, 2014 3:21 pm
Let a hundred companies fail
China’s defaults are necessary but require careful handling
Since taking off five years ago, China’s debt market has had the appearance of a one-way bet. The country’s turbocharged growth meant corporations were typically in good enough financial health to pay back their loans. But even those companies that ran into trouble did not face the risk of default, since the government would order state-owned banks to ride to their rescue. The same principle applied to local authorities, which were put in the position to borrow large sums of money via off-balance sheet financial vehicles. Read more of this post

Slumping Fertility Rates in Developing Countries Spark Labor Worries; Birthrates Fall in Thailand, Raising Concerns about Aging Population

Slumping Fertility Rates in Developing Countries Spark Labor Worries
Birthrates Fall in Thailand, Raising Concerns about Aging Population
JAMES HOOKWAY
March 19, 2014 10:31 p.m. ET

BAAN TAM TA KEM, Thailand—Slumping fertility rates aren’t just a problem for wealthy countries anymore.
Birthrates have fallen in Thailand in recent years, making it one of the poorest countries facing the prospect of shrinking labor pools and an aging population. Such problems, while familiar in Europe and Japan, used to be unheard of in the up-and-coming economies of Southeast Asia. Read more of this post

U.S. Alleges Inside Traders Used Spycraft, Ate Evidence; Three Ran Ring Using Information From Top M&A Law Firm, Prosecutors Say

U.S. Alleges Inside Traders Used Spycraft, Ate Evidence
Three Ran Ring Using Information From Top M&A Law Firm, Prosecutors Say
JENNIFER SMITH
Updated March 19, 2014 8:55 p.m. ET
Prosecutors allege stock tips were often swapped by a clock in New York’s Grand Central Terminal.Associated Press
Three men ran an insider-trading ring with information from one of New York’s premier mergers-and-acquisitions law firms, prosecutors say, taking care to chat in code and flash stock tips on napkins or sticky notes before gobbling them down under the clock inside the teeming great hall of Grand Central Terminal.

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Crossing China’s Big Red Currency Line

Crossing China’s Big Red Currency Line
ALEX FRANGOS
March 20, 2014 1:32 a.m. ET
China’s currency slide continues, crossing a level that traders worry will trigger turmoil for investors. Heard on the Street columnists Alex Frangos, Abheek Bhattacharya and Aaron Back debate what Beijing is aiming to do by letting its currency move sharply lower.
The big red currency has crossed a big red line. It might not be so scary on the other side.

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The ‘Singapore Solution’ to China’s Stock Woes?

The ‘Singapore Solution’ to China’s Stock Woes
Allowing companies to list directly overseas is good for regulators and investors.
PAUL GILLIS
March 19, 2014 11:34 a.m. ET
Alibaba has finally announced its plan to list its shares in New York, after months of speculation about the location. This is a blow to Hong Kong, which had courted the Chinese tech company but was unwilling to change its rules to allow founder Jack Ma to keep control of the company after the listing. But this is also a blow to Chinese investors, who will yet again be denied an opportunity to invest in one of their country’s most successful firms.

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Developers Offer a Peek at Shanghai’s Dream Center; Big projects like the Dream Center have been more heavily scrutinized lately amid concerns about over building and tightened credit in China

Developers Offer a Peek at Shanghai’s Dream Center
ESTHER FUNG
March 20, 2014 9:48 a.m. ET
SHANGHAI— DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. DWA +0.22% and its Chinese partners say they plan to build live performance theaters and concert halls in a 15 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) Shanghai project that will open in 2017 or early 2018.
“The size and scale [of the project] has gotten bigger and bigger,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation’s chief executive. “Securing the necessary approvals and getting financing took a longer time than expected.”

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Luxury Brands Look to South Korea for China Sales Boost; Korean Sitcoms Are Popular Among Fashion-Conscious Chinese Consumers

Luxury Brands Look to South Korea for China Sales Boost
Korean Sitcoms Are Popular Among Fashion-Conscious Chinese Consumers
WEI GU
Updated March 20, 2014 8:44 a.m. ET

Luxury brands see sales jump thanks to Korean wave in China. HSBC’s Erwan Rambourg tells the WSJ’s Wei Gu who is benefiting from the popularity of Korean style in China.
To succeed in China, luxury brands are getting help from South Korea.

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