China metal financing fears spread to Singapore

June 11, 2014 3:04 pm

China metal financing fears spread to Singapore

By Lucy Hornby in Beijing and Jeremy Grant in SingaporeAuthor alerts

An investigation into metals financing in a northeastern Chinese port city has cast a chill in Singapore, where a surge of business financing imports into China has bankers increasingly worried.

A Chinese company’s alleged use of metal as collateral to get loans from several international banks shows that commodity-backed loans are not as safe as bankers assumed. Read more of this post

Is ‘smart beta’ smart enough to last? If it relies on ‘dumb beta’ to work, it will be eliminated over time

June 11, 2014 5:09 pm

Is ‘smart beta’ smart enough to last?

By John AuthersAuthor alerts

If it relies on ‘dumb beta’ to work, it will be eliminated over time

How smart is Smart Beta really? Does it depend on Dumb Beta staying dumb and never wising up?

Those lucky enough not to speak fluent financial jargon could be excused for not understanding these sentences. But they cut to the heart of the debate over how to attempt to beat the stock market. Read more of this post

India must accept it is urban and reap the benefits; Modi has tapped into aspiration that offers new challenges and opportunities

June 11, 2014 3:31 pm

India must accept it is urban and reap the benefits

By David PillingAuthor alerts

Modi has tapped into aspiration that offers new challenges and opportunities

One of the main reasons Narendra Modi scored such an overwhelming victory in last month’s general election is also one of the least recognised: India is far more urban than it likes to think. Read more of this post

Thailand: Salute to the past; Military rule by detention, censorship and diktat has taken hold in a country known for its openness

June 11, 2014 6:39 pm

Thailand: Salute to the past

By Michael Peel and David Pilling

Military rule by detention, censorship and diktat has taken hold in a country known for its openness

Banners unfurled near Bangkok’s Victory Monument proclaim that what Thailand needs most is unity for the sake of “nation, religion and King”. The message, part of the new military junta’s campaign to “return happiness to the people”, is backed by a programme of festivals featuring free food, orchestral music and young women in camouflage miniskirts. Read more of this post

Korean credit market degenerates into big businesses’ coffers

Credit market degenerates into big businesses’ coffers

Seo Tae-wook, Chun Kyung-woon

Corporate bond market, one of the major pillars in the capital market, along with stock market, is descending into a funding channel for some large companies including Samsung Everland, LG Electronics and SK Energy.
Companies, which belong to large business groups and are entitled to strong support from parent companies, have no problems in raising long-term funds at low interest rates. In contrast, those with relatively lower credit rating find no place in the debt securities market and are driven to short-term fund market, struggling with liquidity shortage.
The outstanding issuance of AAA and AA rated bonds recorded 149.6 trillion won ($146 billion) as of late May, according to the investment bank industry Wednesday. This represents over 40 trillion won or a 36.5 percent rise in two years from 109.6 trillion won in January 2012.  Read more of this post

Hard graft on cards for Macau; If some people in Hong Kong have been left reeling by the threat of a possible 20-percent cut in the number of mainlanders that throng its malls, Macau is now going through a similar phase

Hard graft on cards for Macau
Mary Ma
Thursday, June 12, 2014
If some people in Hong Kong have been left reeling by the threat of a possible 20-percent cut in the number of mainlanders that throng its malls, Macau is now going through a similar phase.

But its gripe is not about the number of mainlanders.

For the Macau Monetary Authority has set July 1 as the deadline for jewelry stores and pawnshops operating on casino floors to remove all their China UnionPay card terminals. Read more of this post

Chinese wines struggle to uncork overseas sales; China’s makers of merlot and chardonnay have found success at home, but have struggled to convince drinkers overseas that their wines can compete with offerings from more established wine

Chinese wines struggle to uncork overseas sales

2014-06-11 18:11:22 Caijing

China’s makers of merlot and chardonnay have found success at home, but have struggled to convince drinkers overseas that their wines can compete with offerings from more established wine nations.

By Dennis CHONG

HONG KONG, June 1, 2014 (AFP) – China’s makers of merlot and chardonnay have found success at home, but have struggled to convince drinkers overseas that their wines can compete with offerings from more established wine nations. Read more of this post

One in five executives thinks corruption is widespread in Canada’s business world, EY report shows

One in five executives thinks corruption is widespread in Canada’s business world, EY report shows

Claire Brownell | June 11, 2014 | Last Updated: Jun 11 5:29 PM ET
One in five executives thinks bribery and corruption are widespread in Canada’s business world, according to a new report from Ernst & Young.

The accounting and professional services firm released the figure from its global fraud survey, which polled executives from around the world about their perception of corruption and cybercrime. The survey found that while fewer Canadian executives think corruption is widespread in their country than the global average of 40%, the perception of corruption in Canada has increased since 2012, when 14% of Canadian executives said it was common. Read more of this post

Lululemon board battle highlights pressure for short-term shareholder gain

Lululemon board battle highlights pressure for short-term shareholder gain

Theresa Tedesco | June 11, 2014 | Last Updated: Jun 11 8:01 PM ET
Having watched his iconic creation stretched too thin, the founder of yogawear maker Lululemon Athletica Inc. took an unusually bold stance. Chip Wilson went public with his battle against the Vancouver-based company’s board of directors at the annual general meeting on Wednesday by voting against the reappointment of two independent directors, most notably the chairman of the board. Read more of this post

In Indonesia, Foreign Investors Wait to See Who Will Be President

In Indonesia, Foreign Investors Wait to See Who Will Be President

By Eveline Danubrata & Faith Hung on 07:45 am Jun 12, 2014

Jakarta/Taipei. Billions of dollars in foreign investment hinge on next month’s Indonesian presidential election, with at least one major company holding back after a former special forces general made a surprisingly strong entry into the fray.

A tight July 9 election that will decide who runs Southeast Asia’s largest economy for the next five years pits popular Jakarta governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo against the ex-general, Prabowo Subianto. Read more of this post

Portraits of the 500: The busiest Costco in the world – in Seoul

Portraits of the 500: The busiest Costco in the world

Caroline Fairchild

@FortuneMagazine

JUNE 6, 2014, 2:00 PM EDT

Portraits of the 500: The busiest Costco in the world

At Costco’s busiest store, the aisles are often packed.

This location in Seoul, South Korea, isn’t bigger than the retail giant’s typical warehouse store, just busier. Read more of this post

Anti-chaebol regulation eased

Updated : 2014-06-11 17:26

Anti-chaebol regulation eased
By Yoon Ja-young

The government plans to ease restrictions on chaebol in their competition with small companies and mom-and-pop stores.
The National Commission for Corporate Partnership (NCCP) announced plans to improve the regulations on competition between conglomerates and SMEs, Wednesday. Read more of this post

More than one-fourth of senior executives in Singapore feel it is justifiable to misstate financial performance in order to survive an economic downturn

PUBLISHED JUNE 12, 2014

More execs say it’s OK to misstate financials

MICHELLE QUAH

MICHQUAH@SPH.COM.SG   @MichelleQuahBT

More than one-fourth of senior executives in Singapore feel it is justifiable to misstate financial performance in order to survive an economic downturn. The staggering statistic was one of many in EY’s 13th and latest Global Fraud Survey. – PHOTO: SPH Read more of this post

Scrambling to Win China’s Auto Prize

Scrambling to Win China’s Auto Prize

ABHEEK BHATTACHARYA

June 11, 2014 4:11 a.m. ET

When China’s car market was speeding up, it dragged everyone along for the ride. Now car makers have to fight among themselves to get ahead.

China sold 11% more passenger cars in the first five months of 2014 than the year before, a comedown from the nearly 15% growth over the same period in 2013. Some of the deceleration is because last year was in comparison to a weak year in 2012. It’s also possible that China’s broader economic problems are weighing down on consumption.

Read more of this post

Ready or Not, Here Come the Asian Regulators

Ready or Not, Here Come the Asian Regulators

Soon, international banking investigations won’t be the sole preserve of the West.

WILLIAM MCGOVERN

June 11, 2014 12:45 p.m. ET

Global investigations of banking activity are becoming a fact of life given that banking is now a global activity. So far most of the headlines have come from Western regulatory inquiries into the activities of Western banks in Western markets. But more of this heat is destined to shift to Asia, and bankers, local regulators and Western authorities alike will face new challenges. Read more of this post

Curtain Up in China: Broadway Gives Its Regards to Beijing

Curtain Up in China: Broadway Gives Its Regards to Beijing

Jun 06, 2014

The next must-see Andrew Lloyd Webber musical may be making its debut in Beijing rather than Broadway. Recently, the composer and theater impresario announced plans to restructure his company so he can infuse more investment capital in Asia. The move by Lloyd Webber, famous for musicals such as Cats, Phantom of the Opera and Evita, lends further recognition to the region’s increasing influence as a growth market and tastemaker.

“They love the product out [in Asia],” Mark Wordsworth, chairman of Lloyd Webber’s companies, told The Daily Telegraph. “The commentators in London think it is all about the West End or Broadway. Well, we make more money globally from performances of The Phantom of the Opera in Manila, [Philippines].” Read more of this post

Howard Marks, Investing In A Low Return World

Howard Marks, Investing In A Low Return World

by Michael IdeJune 10, 2014, 4:34 pm

Marks says Oaktree Capital is fully invested, but recommends proceeding with caution

Value investors are contrarian by nature. They want to buy when everyone else is cashing out, and sell when sentiment is driving asset prices ever higher. So when dyed-in-the-wool value investor and founder of Oaktree Capital Management Howard Marks spoke at the Morgan Stanley Financials Conference earlier today you might have expected him to warn people against being too optimistic, but you would only be half right. Read more of this post

US Has The Most Overvalued Equity Market: Rothschild

US Has The Most Overvalued Equity Market: Rothschild

by Michael IdeJune 11, 2014, 2:20 pm

Rothschild likes equities, short maturity corporate debt, and gold

Even though economic growth was weak last quarter (and negative in the US), Rothschild Wealth Management is bullish on global economic growth and believes that developed economies should continue to expand and emerging markets stabilize through the rest of the year as capital spending picks up speed. Even though it calls equity valuations ‘stretched’, especially in the US, it still believes that equities are the most attractive asset class available.

   Read more of this post

Large banks and trading firms are frantically trying to determine whether they have fallen victim to a suspected commodities fraud emanating from the giant Qingdao Port in northeast China

Banks Fear Missing Collateral In China

By PETER EAVIS and NEIL GOUGH

JUNE 11, 2014 6:49 AM 11 Comments

Large banks and trading firms are frantically trying to determine whether they have fallen victim to a suspected commodities fraud emanating from the giant Qingdao Port in northeast China.

Citigroup and several other big Western banks are concerned that their loans may lack the appropriate collateral of big stockpiles of copper and aluminum at the port. The banks have inspectors on the ground who are trying to assess whether enough of the metals are there. Read more of this post

Coles builds a team to establish financial services in empire expansion to better bind customers to its stores and boost grocery sales

Coles builds a team to establish financial services in empire expansion

Date

June 12, 2014

Eli Greenblat and Eric Johnston

Coles has pulled together a high-level strategy team to develop its burgeoning financial services arm, with an eye to offering banking services to better bind customers to its stores and boost grocery sales.

The team have been meeting in a sealed-off section of Coles’ Melbourne headquarters where their confidential discussions are quarantined from other staff in the building’s open-plan office. Read more of this post

China to maintain manufacturing supremacy

May 23rd 2014

China to maintain manufacturing supremacy

In the past three decades China has revolutionised global manufacturing. In that time 500m people have moved from its fields to its cities, creating an unprecedented mass of factory workers. China’s economy is changing, however, as wages rise and labour unrest grows. Does this mean an end to its dominance of global manufacturing? The Economist Intelligence Unit believes that new infrastructure and further productivity growth, allied to a continued supply of new urban workers, will keep China competitive, despite several new trends in supply chains. Read more of this post

PCAOB Cracks Down on Fraud; A new PCAOB standard will require auditors to probe more deeply into related-party deals, unusual transactions and executive pay.

June 11, 2014

CFO.com | US

PCAOB Cracks Down on Fraud

A new PCAOB standard will require auditors to probe more deeply into related-party deals, unusual transactions and executive pay.

David M. Katz

Bottom of Form

Citing “decades of financial reporting frauds,” the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board yesterday issued new rules aimed at tightening auditor scrutiny of corporate related-party deals, “significant unusual transactions,” and executive compensation. Read more of this post

Political meddling is at the root of India’s power problems

Political meddling is at the root of India’s power problems: Kemp

Tue, Jun 10 2014

By John Kemp

LONDON (Reuters) – (John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

For decades, India’s power engineers had a dream: “One Nation. One Grid. One Frequency.”

At the start of this year, that vision was realised. India finally has a nationwide power system stretching from Tamil Nadu in the south to Kashmir in the north, Gujarat in the west to Nagaland in the east. Read more of this post

Revealed: Asian slave labour producing prawns for supermarkets in US, UK

Revealed: Asian slave labour producing prawns for supermarkets in US, UK

Thai ‘ghost ships’ that enslave, brutalise and even kill workers are linked to global shrimp supply chain, Guardian investigation discovers
• Trafficked into slavery on Thai trawlers to catch food for prawns 
• Thailand’s seafood industry: state-sanctioned slavery?
Kate Hodal, Chris Kelly in Songkhla and Felicity Lawrence

The Guardian, Tuesday 10 June 2014 12.05 BST

Slaves forced to work for no pay for years at a time under threat of extreme violence are being used in Asia in the production of seafoodsold by major US, British and other European retailers, the Guardian can reveal.

A six-month investigation has established that large numbers of men bought and sold like animals and held against their will on fishing boats off Thailand are integral to the production of prawns (commonly called shrimp in the US) sold in leading supermarkets around the world, including the top four global retailers: Walmart, Carrefour, Costco andTesco. Read more of this post

More Than 1 in 5 Homes in Chinese Cities Are Empty, Survey Says; Southwestern University of Finance and Economics Analysis Finds 49 Million Sold but Vacant Units

More Than 1 in 5 Homes in Chinese Cities Are Empty, Survey Says

Southwestern University of Finance and Economics Analysis Finds 49 Million Sold but Vacant Units

ESTHER FUNG

June 11, 2014 7:01 a.m. ET

SHANGHAI—More than one in five homes in China’s urban areas is vacant, and a current housing-price correction is putting additional pressure on the owners of such empty properties, according to a nationwide survey by researchers from China’s Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. Read more of this post

PCAOB Adopts Standard on Auditing Related-Party Transactions

PCAOB Adopts Standard on Auditing Related-Party Transactions

WASHINGTON, D.C. (JUNE 10, 2014)

BY MICHAEL COHN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ACCOUNTINGTODAY.COM

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board adopted a new auditing standard Tuesday, along with amendments to other auditing standards, to require auditors to pay more attention to three critical areas of the audit: related-party transactions, significant unusual transactions, and a company’s financial relationships and transactions with its executive officers. Read more of this post

Asia’s new generation of billionaires drive hard bargain with private banks

June 9, 2014 8:18 pm

Asia’s new generation of billionaires drive hard bargain with private banks

By Jeremy Grant

How do you meet a billionaire?

For the many banks and wealth managers chasing business from Asia’s ultra-wealthy, finding the answer to that question makes the difference between managing money for the region’s biggest business tycoons and merely aspiring to do so.

While the global population of billionaires – or ultra-high net worth individuals, in wealth managers’ jargon – has risen 60 per cent since 2009, say Singapore-based consultancy Wealth-X and UBS, the Swiss bank, the number in Asia has grown faster than anywhere else. Read more of this post