Rising household debt threatens Asian banks: S&P

Rising household debt threatens Asian banks: S&P

BANGKOK, OCT 29:  

Rising household debt in East Asia could undermine the creditworthiness of some of the region’s banks, ratings agency Standard & Poor said on Tuesday. The warning was made in an S&P report evaluating the asset quality of banks in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, and China. “Rising household debt fuelled by rapid loan growth and easy monetary conditions could weaken the credit quality of banks in Asia,” said S&P’s credit analyst Ivan Tan. “Potential asset bubbles and imbalances are building up in some countries, and could put the banks at risk.” Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Korea have the highest household debt in Asia, according to the report, with banks in Malaysia and Thailand deemed the most vulnerable to non-performing loans in the household segment. The international credit rating agency said it did not anticipate “a sharp unwinding of household balance sheets” but warned that “a severe economic downturn leading to a rise in unemployment and a significant fall in property prices would hurt financial institutions.” It added that Asia’s major banks have generally healthy financial positions by global standards.

Asia’s export engine stuck in neutral despite US uptick

Updated: Tuesday October 29, 2013 MYT 11:46:00 AM

Asia’s export engine stuck in neutral despite US uptick

HONG KONG: Asia’s once-reliable export engine remains stalled two years into a global economic recovery, raising concerns about the region’s competitiveness and its ability to motor through the next tough time for emerging markets. Exports from seven of East Asia’s biggest exporters – Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore – grew by just 0.8% in the third quarter, according to a Reuters analysis of national trade data, led by a 3.1% gain in exports to the US from the same three months of 2012. The data reinforces a worrying trend in a region where gross exports represent more than a third of its combined economic output: since peaking in 2010 as the global economy rebounded from financial crisis, Asia’s export growth has rapidly cooled. Read more of this post

The revised consumer rights law, which includes a seven-day cooling-off period to return goods for refunds, has raised concerns among online shop owners about potential cost increases

Online shop owners fret over revision

Updated: 2013-10-29 09:01

By Xu Wei ( China Daily) Read more of this post

Despite R&D spending, China lags in innovation

Despite R&D spending, China lags in innovation

Updated: 2013-10-29 10:03

By Meng Jing ( China Daily)

Read more of this post

Chinese telecoms accused of complicity in text spam

Chinese telecoms accused of complicity in text spam

Chen Chu-chun and Staff Reporter

2013-10-29

China’s three major telecom carriers have been accused of serving as accomplices to mobile spam firms in sending out a massive amount of “junk text.” The three companies have denied the accusation, raised in a broadcast by state broadcaster Central China Television. Mobile spam firms, which typically can rake in 3 million yuan (US$493,000) in monthly profits, can send out mass messages through special devices or computers. Read more of this post

China’s richest men give their thoughts on property market; Wahaha’s Zong: “No construction of new property should be allowed. Housing bubbles have formed and it would be terrible to build more houses”

China’s richest men give their thoughts on property market

Kao Hang and Staff Reporter

2013-10-29

Zong Qinghou, chairman of China’s largest beverage producer Wahaha Group, has called for a halt in housing construction, reports the Chinese-language Beijing Times. Zong, attending the second World Zhejiang Entrepreneurs Convention held in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province on Sunday, interrupted a speaker to say that “no construction of new property should be allowed.” The Wahaha chairman — the country’s second richest man — objected to the massive construction taking place across the country under the pretext of urbanization. He said that vacant housing is now evident not only in major cities but also in rural areas, noting: “housing bubbles have formed and it would be terrible to build more houses.” Read more of this post

China’s Chilling Effect for Investor Research; Why an unflattering analysis of a publicly listed company can land an investment researcher in jail

10.29.2013 19:39

China’s Chilling Effect for Investor Research

Why an unflattering analysis of a publicly listed company can land an investment researcher in jail

By staff reporters Wang Shenlu and Zhang Bing

(Beijing) – Shanghai investor Wang Weihua’s final microblog post October 12 was brief and ominous: “The police are coming.” Three days later, Wang’s family said he’d been taken into custody by police officers who traveled more than 3,600 kilometers to Wang’s Shanghai home from Urumqi, a city in China’s far west. Police gave the family a document saying Wang was detained on charges of fabricating and disseminating false information about securities and futures trading activity. They gave no additional information. Authorities in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, have yet to release details of the case against Wang. The law says they have until November 11 to decide whether to file formal charges, or have him released. Read more of this post

Blind date TV shows in China have recently been criticized as tools to collect money illegally from single middle-aged men and young women, as the shows fail to introduce the men and women to each other

Blind dating shows in China scam contestants: CCTV

Staff Reporter

2013-10-28

Blind date TV shows in China have recently been criticized as tools to collect money illegally from single middle-aged men and young women, as the shows fail to introduce the men and women to each other, according to state broadcaster China Central Television. A recent CCTV program claimed that such TV shows are more like model contests showing off young girls in skimpy outfits. The women selected are usually looking to marry into extreme wealth. Read more of this post

Beijing steps up efforts to tackle industrial overcapacity

Beijing steps up efforts to tackle industrial overcapacity

Staff Reporter

2013-10-29

The Chinese government implemented policies last week to deal with excess capacity in industries nationwide, which will affect the evaluation criteria of local governments’ performance. The measure can be seen as part of the central government’s efforts to bring about economic reform and a structural transformation under President Xi Jinping’s leadership. Over the past few years, China has introduced industrial policies several times to control capacity, but the effects have not been evident. Read more of this post

Beijing divorces soar over property tax

Updated: Tuesday October 29, 2013 MYT 1:19:32 PM

Beijing divorces soar over property tax

BEIJING: Beijing’s divorce rate has soared as couples seek to avoid a property tax imposed earlier this year by using a loophole for those whose marriages end, state media reported Tuesday. Nearly 40,000 couples divorced in the Chinese capital in the first nine months of this year, up 41 percent on the same period in 2012, the Beijing Youth Daily said, citing official figures. Read more of this post

Tiananmen rumors go into overdrive

Tiananmen rumors go into overdrive
Mary Ma
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Yesterday’s incident at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square was disturbing. A sports-utility vehicle plowed into a crowd before crashing and bursting into flames – killing five people and injuring 38 others. The question of whether it was a traffic accident or a suicide attack is uppermost on most people’s minds. There was a similar incident more than 30 years ago, when a taxi driver also plowed into a Tiananmen Square crowd, resulting in five deaths. In the past, official media usually refrained from reporting on such sensitive incidents. But this time around, they did so quickly. Read more of this post

Is Taiwan’s innovation environment ‘diseased?’ Kaifu Lee, ex-Google China chief, thinks so.

Is Taiwan’s innovation environment ‘diseased?’ Kaifu Lee, ex-Google China chief, thinks so.

October 29, 2013

by Josh Horwitz

Last month Kai-fu Lee, ex-Google China chief and current CEO of Innovation Works, announced he would be moving back home to Taiwan in order to receive treatment for cancer. Now, after weeks of rest, Lee made his first public appearance today at Taiwan’s 11th Annual Global Views Summit, where he described Taiwan’s innovation environment as “diseased.” Read more of this post

Taiwan once again leads Asia in a ranking of continent’s leading entrepreneurs

Taiwan tops ranking of continent’s leading entrepreneurs

CNA
October 30, 2013, 12:18 am TWN

TAIPEI — Taiwan once again leads Asia in a ranking recently published by the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute, the Council for Economic Planning and Development said yesterday. According to the initial results published in September by the Washington-based institute, Taiwan takes seventh place in the 2014 Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index. Read more of this post

Hong Kong Disneyland executives expect the theme park to make handsome returns this year, thanks to surging visitor numbers and the opening of a new magical zone

Magical lift for Disneyland returns
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Hong Kong Disneyland executives expect the theme park to make handsome returns this year, thanks to surging visitor numbers and the opening of a new magical zone. At a Legislative Council economic development panel meeting yesterday, tourism commissioner Philip Yung Wai- hung said the theme park has welcomed more than 43 million visitors since it opened in September 2005. Read more of this post

The return rate of retirement pension offered by South Korea’s banks and insurers dropped to the zero percent level in the third quarter (Q3), sounding an alarm bell for subscribers of retirement fund scheme

Retirement pension rings alarm bell

Kim Yoo-tae

2013.10.27 12:49:53

The return rate of retirement pension offered by South Korea’s banks and insurers dropped to the zero percent level in the third quarter (Q3), sounding an alarm bell for subscribers of retirement fund scheme. The decline largely came as financial firms are struggling to make profit from asset management with the prolonged period of low interest rates. However, in this circumstance, subscribers should be more active in managing their fund for their later life, experts pointed out.  Read more of this post

Korea’s anti-trust regulator may punish Hyundai Motor Group for “unfair” inter-affiliate deals with its consumer financing unit, Hyundai Capital

2013-10-29 18:53

Hyundai Capital faces punishment

By Na Jeong-ju
The country’s anti-trust regulator may punish Hyundai Motor Group for “unfair” inter-affiliate deals with its consumer financing unit, Hyundai Capital, sources said Tuesday.
Hyundai Capital is being audited by financial regulators as part of a broader investigation into financial firms affiliated with conglomerates. The firm provides financing services for about 77 percent of cars sold by Hyundai and Kia Motors on the domestic market. “Our inspectors are checking details of business deals between Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Capital. They will face punishment if any irregularities are found,” a source said, asking not to be named. Read more of this post

Shady Yakuza loans have long history; laws slow to catch up

Shady loans have long history; laws slow to catch up

Critics say Mizuho should delve into how yakuza used money

BY TOMOKO OTAKE

STAFF WRITER

OCT 29, 2013

Mizuho Bank’s loans to yakuza and other shady individuals through its group credit company Orient Corp. may be just the tip of the iceberg as corporate Japan struggles to break off its long-held ties with organized crime. On Monday, Mizuho released the results of a third-party investigation report in which the mega-bank blamed “lax awareness” for its failure to take action on 228 mob-linked loans for cars and electronics totaling ¥200 million. Read more of this post

The global automakers’ final frontier; To keep up sales growth, car companies need to enter the so-called beyond BRIC markets — which include countries as large as Indonesia and as small as Belize

The global automakers’ final frontier

By Fortune Editors October 29, 2013: 5:00 AM ET

To keep up sales growth, car companies need to enter the so-called beyond BRIC markets — which include countries as large as Indonesia and as small as Belize.

By Doron Levin

FORTUNE — If global automakers want to benefit from sales growth over the next decade — as they do now in Brazil, Russia, India, and China (the so-called BRIC nations) — they must figure out how to sell in four major regional clusters where vehicle ownership has been sparse. The Middle East, despite its political instability, is likely to be the largest of the four regional clusters that constitute the “Final Frontier” for global automakers. The other three are Southeast Asia, the western half of South America, and North Africa, according to a study from the Boston Consulting Group. Read more of this post

Slowing to a Crawl: The political fight over deficits is pointless unless Washington confronts a bigger threat: the coming decline in economic growth

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013

Slowing to a Crawl

By JONATHAN R. LAING | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

The political fight over deficits is pointless unless Washington confronts a bigger threat: the coming decline in economic growth.

Within a few weeks congressional Republicans and Democrats will again square off over how much the U.S. government should tax and spend, possibly for years to come if a “Grand Bargain” is ever reached. But looming over this debate is a stark reality that many politicians and their constituents are unaware of. U.S. economic growth figures to slow dramatically over the next 20 years or so, generating far less money to achieve the Republican goal of a balanced budget or the Democratic aim of continued social spending. Read more of this post

Frenzy of Deals, Once Expected, Seems to Fizzle

OCTOBER 28, 2013, 8:38 PM

Frenzy of Deals, Once Expected, Seems to Fizzle

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN

It was mere months ago when headlines were blaring news of the return of merger mania. Deals were back! Confidence had returned! Warren Buffett was buying Heinz! Dell was going private! American Airlines was merging with US Airways! Well, take a look around. Prognostications of a return to deal-making have turned out to be wrong, very wrong. Read more of this post

European banks pay heavy price for scandals

European banks pay heavy price for scandals

12:21pm EDT

By Sara Webb and Katharina Bart

AMSTERDAM/ZURICH (Reuters) – Four European banks paid a heavy price on Tuesday in a clean-up of the financial industry, with Rabobank fined $1 billion and three other major lenders preparing for possibly huge legal costs after a string of scandals. Dutch Rabobank said it would pay regulators in the United States, Britain and the Netherlands 774 million euros after 30 employees were involved in “inappropriate conduct” linked to interest rate manipulation. Read more of this post

Do investors have too much information? Investors don’t seem to think so — but the SEC does.

Do investors have too much information?

By Eleanor Bloxham, CEO of The Value Alliance October 29, 2013: 11:44 AM ET

Investors don’t seem to think so — but the SEC does.

FORTUNE — A new-fangled government intervention is in the works that just might pummel your retirement nest egg, once again. Rather than train her sights on prosecuting Wall Street executives, SEC Chief Mary Jo White has decided to focus her attention on a hitherto unknown problem, investor “information overload.” White’s latest salvo is a rallying cry for corporations to step into the shadows, pick up their pitchforks, and wage an assault on investor intelligence. Read more of this post

Cracks emerge in Finland’s ‘Triple A’ image

Cracks emerge in Finland’s ‘Triple A’ image
Monday, October 28, 2013
By Raine Tiessalo, AFP

HELSINKI — Finland’s image as an island of fiscal virtue in an ocean of European profligacy has eroded to the point that many ask if it can keep its stellar credit rating. Fitch confirmed Finland’s top “AAA” rating on Thursday, but warned that it could be lowered in the future, in case, for example, of a “failure to tackle the trend decline in potential growth.” The Nordic eurozone member has long prided itself on the extremely strict fiscal management that has allowed it to avoid ever breaking EU fiscal rules. Read more of this post

TARP Watchdog: Toxic US corporate culture unchanged

Updated: Tuesday October 29, 2013 MYT 1:15:24 PM

TARP Watchdog: Toxic US corporate culture unchanged

WASHINGTON: Five years after the US financial crisis forced the massive government TARP bailout, the US corporate culture remains toxic and breeding crime, the watchdog for the bailout program said Tuesday. More than 300 people in the banking, housing and securities industries are in the hands of the criminal system, whether it is a charge, a conviction or a sentencing, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) said in a quarterly report to Congress. Read more of this post

“The probability of China’s first onshore bond default is rising”; Fallen Angels Seen by Haitong on Record Downgrades: China Credit

Fallen Angels Seen by Haitong on Record Downgrades: China Credit

Record downgrades in China suggest more companies will lose investment-grade ratings as Premier Li Keqiang pares state intervention, according to Haitong Securities Co., the nation’s second-biggest brokerage. A total of 152 borrowers’ credit grades or outlooks were cut in the first nine months of this year, exceeding 73 for the whole of 2012, according to data compiled by Haitong. The yield on Anyang Iron & Steel Co.’s 2019 notes has jumped 396 basis points to 10.8 percent since China Chengxin Securities Rating Co. reduced its ranking to AA- from AA on June 28. Globally, fallen angels, or notes downgraded to junk, pay 4.9 percent, Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes show. Read more of this post

China Can’t Talk Its Way Out of Slowing Growth

China Can’t Talk Its Way Out of Slowing Growth

If imitation really is the greatest form of flattery, Shinzo Abe should be thrilled the Chinese are copying his “Abenomics” strategy to excite investors. The rest of the world shouldn’t be. China isn’t cribbing the Japanese prime minister’s actual blueprint, but his formula of spin and hype that has convinced the world something that doesn’t yet exist is real. The key to a great ad campaign is attracting customers and keeping them, something Abe has done with a brilliance that could teach the Edelman public-relations firm a thing or two. Read more of this post

Thailand’s Rural Boom Yields Mercedes and $6,000 Jacuzzis

Thailand’s Rural Boom Yields Mercedes and $6,000 Jacuzzis

When Tos Chirathivat and his billionaire family make acquisitions for their Thailand-based retail, property and hotel empire, they often do it in style. Seeking additional prime space in Bangkok’s congested downtown in 2006, Tos’s Central Group bought 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) of the British ambassador’s front lawn, which it’s now transforming into a curvaceous luxury shopping mall in the shape of an infinity symbol, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its December issue. Read more of this post

China Property Firms See New Market in Old Age Homes

October 28, 2013, 3:20 PM

China Property Firms See New Market in Old Age Homes

China’s property sector has been a reliable money-spinner even in the face of a nearly four-year government campaign to hold the line on speculation. But at least some property firms are starting to hedge their bets, taking a look at fresh opportunities from China’s aging population. A number of companies that have a lengthy track record in real estate are looking to turn their hand at property management with a twist – managing facilities that care for the elderly. Read more of this post