South Korea’s household debt: Hole in won; Korean households are struggling under mounting debt

South Korea’s household debt: Hole in won; Korean households are struggling under mounting debt

May 31st 2014 | From the print edition

THE Asian financial crisis of 1997 hit Mr Lee hard. His interior-design firm folded and he was officially branded a bad debtor. But the ensuing boom in household credit hit him harder. As banks were newly deterred from lending to businesses, they turned to individuals instead. Credit cards were peddled everywhere, on televisions and from street corners, and to everyone—including Mrs Lee. She racked up a debt of 7m won ($6,900), much of it interest owed. When she divorced him, Mr Lee, jobless, was left to foot the bill. Read more of this post

Picking holes in Piketty: The latest controversy around Thomas Piketty’s blockbuster book concerns its statistics

Picking holes in Piketty: The latest controversy around Thomas Piketty’s blockbuster book concerns its statistics

May 31st 2014 | From the print edition

FEW economics books have been as popular or as controversial as “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”. The blockbuster analysis of wealth and income distribution has been a publishing sensation, turning its French author, Thomas Piketty, into a household name. The book’s thesis, that wealth concentrates because the returns to capital are consistently higher than economic growth, has spawned furious debate. Mr Piketty’s preferred remedy (a progressive wealth tax) even more so. But amid the argument most commentators have agreed on one thing: “Capital” is an impressive piece of scholarship. Read more of this post

Asian business: A world to conquer; Asian business is reforming. Its emerging multinationals will change the way we all live

Asian business: A world to conquer; Asian business is reforming. Its emerging multinationals will change the way we all live

May 31st 2014 | From the print edition

BUSINESS power follows economic power. In the 1920s British firms owned 40% of the global stock of foreign direct investment. By 1967 America was top dog, with a 50% share. Behind those figures lie cultural revolutions. The British spread the telegraph and trains in Latin America. American firms sold a vision of the good life, honed by Hollywood and advertising. Kellogg’s changed what the rich world ate for breakfast, and Kodak how it remembered holidays. The next corporate revolution, as we describe in our special reportthis week, is happening in Asia. This too will change how the world lives. Read more of this post

North Asian Stocks Come Up Short; Expectations Stocks in China, South Korea and Japan Would Rally in 2014 Have Failed to Bear Fruit

North Asian Stocks Come Up Short

Expectations Stocks in China, South Korea and Japan Would Rally in 2014 Have Failed to Bear Fruit

MIA LAMAR

May 30, 2014 12:47 a.m. ET

Five months into the year, widespread expectations that stocks in China, South Korea and Japan would rally in 2014 have failed to bear fruit, frustrating those betting North Asia would lead gains in the region. Read more of this post

Earnings reports are about to get a lot more useful, if you read the footnotes

Earnings reports are about to get a lot more useful, if you read the footnotes

By Jason Karaian @jkaraian May 29, 2014

Of all the accounting concepts, revenue seems like the simplest. When a customer pays you for a product, you record it as revenue.

But nothing in accounting is ever that straightforward, and CFOs’ ability to game what they report as revenue has a long and sordid history. Fiddling with how and when to record sales as revenue has played a part in just about every big accounting scandal in the recent past, including at Enron and WorldCom. Read more of this post

Huawei emerging as Samsung’s strongest smartphone rival

Huawei emerging as Samsung’s strongest smartphone rival

Staff Reporter

2014-05-30

In October 2009, the operating profits of Samsung Electronics exceeded the combined operating profits of nine leading Japanese electronics firms, including Sony, Panasonic and Hitachi, which could be attributed to the fact that South Korean firms had become bolder than Japanese rivals during the economic recession and had stepped up investment when Japanese companies had scaled back. Read more of this post

Xiaomi to launch high-res smart TV, compatible with iPhone, iPad

Xiaomi to launch high-res smart TV, compatible with iPhone, iPad

Staff Reporter

2014-05-27

Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi will begin accepting preorders for its second-generation smart television Mi TV on June 3 this year. Taiwanese chipmaker Morningstar which supplies the company is expected to benefit from the device sales, reports our Chinese-language sister paper Commercial Times. Read more of this post

Jump in shareholder activism to hit Australian companies

Jump in shareholder activism to hit Australian companies

Published 29 May 2014 14:49, Updated 30 May 2014 11:17

Joyce Moullakis

Australian boards should brace for an uptick in shareholder activism, as lawyers and bankers urge preparedness and engagement with activists and proxy firms to navigate a typically disruptive process.

Shareholder activism remains in its infancy in Australia, but the recent arrival of US specialists in this area, as well as the formation of the Thorney Opportunities Fund, suggests more activity is on the horizon. Read more of this post

Banks structured to deliver poor advice

Banks structured to deliver poor advice

May 26, 2014

John Addis

Something odd occurred last week, something that almost never happens in business, let alone financial planning, a sector famously impervious to the needs of its customers.

An industry body – in this case the Financial Planning Association (FPA), representing over 6,000 planners – argued the case for more regulation. Read more of this post

Aussie billionaire Frank Lowy’s pride dealt a blow in Westfield Group revolt

Frank Lowy’s pride dealt a blow in Westfield Group revolt

May 30, 2014 – 9:50AM

James Thomson

Frank Lowy might have been forced to shelve his plan to restructure his family’s $70 billion property empire after a dramatic series of meetings on Thursday, but the damage will be more to the billionaire’s pride than his fortune.

While the Westfield empire will forever by synonymous with Lowy and his family, a diversification strategy has seen the percentage of their wealth directly related to Westfield’s decline in recent years. Read more of this post

Is billionaire Solomon Lew going to spoil Woolworths Holdings’ David Jones party?

Is billionaire Solomon Lew going to spoil Woolworths Holdings’ David Jones party?

May 30, 2014 – 12:46PM

Eli Greenblat and Sue Mitchell

Premier Investments chief Mark McInnes and director Solomon Lew. Photo: Josh Robenstone

Retail billionaire Solomon Lew could be planning to derail the takeover of David Jones by South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings after it was revealed his private company has scooped up 0.65 per cent of David Jones issued capital. Read more of this post

The new Indian government’s free market agenda is encouraging, but it is fraught with danger

Why investors should be cautious about India

May 29, 2014: 10:33 AM ET

The new Indian government’s free market agenda is encouraging, but it is fraught with danger.

By Sanjay Sanghoee

All hail Narendra Modi?

FORTUNE – Markets around the world rallied recently on Narendra Modi’s historic win as India’s new prime minister. Foreign investors are hopeful he will turn the economy around and have invested $16 billion in India’s markets in the last six months alone. Read more of this post

How to Become an Oligarch

SIMON JOHNSON

Simon Johnson, a former chief economist of the IMF, is a professor at MIT Sloan, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and co-founder of a leading economics blog, The Baseline Scenario. He is the co-author, with James Kwak, of White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters to You.
MAY 28, 2014

How to Become an Oligarch

WASHINGTON, DC – Let’s say that you would like to become one of the richest people on the planet, someone with enormous wealth and access to the top rung of political power. This is not an unreasonable aspiration for any fresh college graduate in today’s winner-take-all economies. But how realistic is it? Read more of this post

The Power Players Behind Indonesia’s Presidential Candidates

The Power Players Behind Indonesia’s Presidential Candidates

By Erwida Maulia on 10:32 pm May 29, 2014

1.  Two tickets running in Indonesia’s upcoming presidential election revealed the major compositions of their respective campaign teams last week; one is filled with a vast rank of veteran politicians plus retired Army generals, while the other is likely gathering an army of young intellectuals.

Read more of this post

The Whole World Is Pivoting to China; A Chinese economic crisis or hard landing would have deleterious consequences for many economies

The Whole World Is Pivoting to China

By Jean-Pierre Lehmann on 05:54 pm May 29, 2014

Only halfway through 2014 and it is clear the year will be remembered for a number of seismic shifts occurring in the Asia-Pacific region. Because Asia in the early 21st century is, as Europe was in the early 20th, the center of world power and potential, the implications for the wider global order are considerable. Read more of this post

Free Toasters for China’s Depositors?

Free Toasters for China’s Depositors?

MAY 28, 2014 6:03 PM EDT

By A. Gary Shilling

(This is the third article in a four-part series.)

In part two of this four-part series, I wrote about China’s shadow banks and the government’s efforts to assert more control over them.

The easiest way to curb — even eliminate — the shadow banks is to deregulate interest rates and erase those institutions’ competitive advantage. If inefficient state-owned enterprises were also privatized, they wouldn’t need to borrow at below-market rates and would lose their political and competitive advantages over smaller businesses. Putting all financial institutions under the same regulatory framework would solve a lot of problems, but powerful state-owned enterprises are resisting vigorously. Read more of this post

S. Korea’s unruly household debt woes deepen

S. Korea’s unruly household debt woes deepen

2014.05.27 14:37:39

Household debt in South Korea set another fresh record.

The growth of household debt remains unchecked even as it already broke through the 1,000 trillion ($976.7 billion) won threshold last year.
Outstanding household debt came to 1,024.8 trillion won in late March, up 3.4 trillion won from three months ago, said the Bank of Korea Tuesday.  Read more of this post

Rise of S. Korean style family offices

Rise of S. Korean style family offices

Kang Doo-soon, Seok Min-soo

2014.05.30 17:11:14

Family offices are on the rise in South Korea. They have been founded by entrepreneurs who emerged as millionaires with assets valued at several hundred billion won ($1=1,020 won) through sale of their own start-ups. This ushers in the era of family office, a company set up by a rich individual to manage his own investments.  Read more of this post

Investors Reward Indonesian Retailers Expanding Outside of Java

Investors Reward Indonesian Retailers Expanding Outside of Java

By Reuters on 06:38 pm May 30, 2014

1.  Indonesian retail stocks are all trading at big premiums to the broader market but investors are increasingly differentiating between those which make their money mainly in Jakarta and favouring those which are expanding outside of the capital.

Rising wages and rental costs in Jakarta are making doing business there more expensive and eating into retailers’ profits. By contrast, retailers pursuing growth outside of Jakarta and the main island of Java are booking fast-growing profits. Read more of this post

CJ chairman back to jail after treatment

Updated : 2014-05-30 20:49

CJ chairman back to jail after treatment

By Kim Tae-gyu

CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun was taken back to prison Tuesday after two weeks of treatment at Seoul National University Hospital, but his health is still not good, a group official said Thursday.
“He is not in critical condition, having been stabilized early this month. But he is too weak to remain jailed,” he said. “He is so frail that he cannot even lift a cup on his own.” Read more of this post

Wallpaper boss lambasts Britain’s ‘naive’ export strategy, saying that Britain must adopt German model to help mid-sized companies to trade abroad

Entrepreneur attacks Britain’s export strategy

Wallpaper boss lambasts Britain’s ‘naive’ export strategy, saying that Britain must adopt German model to help mid-sized companies to trade abroad

By Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor

7:00AM BST 28 May 2014

The boss of luxury wallpaper retailer Graham & Brown has claimed the Government’s export strategy is “naïve”, “slow” and “bureaucratic”, and does not give sufficient support to mid-sized exporters. Read more of this post

Booking of contract revenue set to change; From 2017, firms must follow a 5-step model requiring more judgment, estimates

Booking of contract revenue set to change

Business Times

30 May 2014

Michelle Quah

From 2017, firms must follow a 5-step model requiring more judgment, estimates

[SINGAPORE] In what may be the biggest change in recent years in the manner companies prepare their accounts, the world’s global financial standards setting body has announced a substantial alteration in the way revenue is to be recognised. Read more of this post

Thailand blocks site for video of princess topless

Thailand blocks site for video of princess topless

Thursday, May 29, 2014 – 03:00

The New Paper

Thailand’s military junta has blocked the UK’s MailOnline after the site revealed a video of Thailand’s Crown Prince and his wife, Princess Srirasmi, partying.

The video appears to show the allegedly topless princess, a former waitress, in a tiny G-string as she feeds her pet dog cake to celebrate its birthday. Read more of this post

Option B: The blueprint for Thailand’s coup

Option B: The blueprint for Thailand’s coup

6:58am EDT

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Aubrey Belford

BANGKOK/CHIANG MAI Thailand (Reuters) – On Dec. 27 last year, Thailand’s powerful army chief stood before a crowded news conference and stunned the beleaguered government of Yingluck Shinawatra by saying he would not rule out military intervention to resolve a deteriorating political crisis. General Prayuth Chan-ocha said “the door was neither open nor closed” when he was asked whether a coup would happen. “Anything can happen.” Read more of this post

Myanmar opposition defies warning to push charter change

Myanmar opposition defies warning to push charter change

Wednesday, May 28, 2014 – 21:37

AFP

YANGON – Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party has launched a petition seeking changes to Myanmar’s military-drafted constitution despite warnings from electoral officials, a party spokesman said Wednesday. Read more of this post

Stumbling Thai economy lends urgency to junta’s revival efforts; Thai coup: Sweep the house – then return it to rightful owners quickly

Stumbling Thai economy lends urgency to junta’s revival efforts

6:32am EDT

By Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Orathai Sriring

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Private investment and consumption remained stagnant in Thailand in the run-up to this month’s military coup, further evidence of a stumbling economy that will lend urgency to the junta’s efforts to get the country working again.

Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy has been battered by political turmoil since late last year, when protesters backed by the royalist establishment launched a bid to oust the populist government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Read more of this post

Hong Kong to Relay Concern to China over Auditing Ban Proposal

Hong Kong to Relay Concern to China over Auditing Ban Proposal

HONG KONG (MAY 29, 2014)

BY AIPENG SOO

(Bloomberg) The Hong Kong government plans to meet Chinese officials to discuss concerns over a proposal to ban foreign accounting firms without a mainland partner from auditing Chinese companies planning to list overseas. Read more of this post

China’s Housing Bubble Desperation In Six Words: “Buy One Floor, Get One Free”

China’s Housing Bubble Desperation In Six Words: “Buy One Floor, Get One Free”

Tyler Durden on 05/29/2014 22:00 -0400

Having gone from the sublime (zero-money-down mortgages for Chinese homes) to the ridiculous (when China’s largst property developer says “the period in which everybody makes money out of property is gone,”) the latest desperate act of a dying Chinese property bubble is stunning. As WSJ reports, Season Joy City (a remote suburb of Beijing) offers not only a party bag of bonuses to lure potential buyers; but the development’s big selling point is “buy one floor, get one free.” The government’s reluctance to bail the nation out may soon be tested as Barclays notes “this downturn is more serious than in 2008.” Read more of this post

Mementos of triumphs make a return to bankers’ desks

May 29, 2014 5:08 pm

Mementos of triumphs make a return to bankers’ desks

By Emma Jacobs

When Lehman Brothers collapsed, Jessica Lindroos watched from her Canary Wharf office as redundant bankers left their building carrying boxes loaded with personal detritus. “It was a difficult time,” she says.

For The Corporate Presence, where Ms Lindroos works, the bank’s bankruptcy was particularly gloomy. TCP makes deal toys, also known as Lucites and tombstones, commissioned by banks to mark the closure of a corporate deal and sit on a desk or an office shelf. The design will include relevant corporate logos and may reflect the nature of the deal. A TCP Lucite for the Twitter deal featured the blue bird logo in a birdcage. Read more of this post