Shadow banking in China: Battling the darkness; Every time regulators curb one form of non-bank lending, another begins to grow

Shadow banking in China: Battling the darkness; Every time regulators curb one form of non-bank lending, another begins to grow

May 10th 2014 | JINGJIANG | From the print edition

IN THE town of Jingjiang, a few hours’ drive from Shanghai, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is making 21 huge container ships for Seaspan, a Canadian shipping firm. An enormous sign declares, “We want to be the best shipyard in China.” It is certainly among the most profitable, earning 3 billion yuan ($481m) last year. But only two-thirds or so of that came from building ships. The rest came from lending money to other companies using a local financial instrument called an entrusted loan. This puts Yangzijiang at the forefront of another industry: shadow banking. Read more of this post

Daydream believers: Korean unification is less likely to be gradual and peaceful than nasty, brutish and quick

Daydream believers: Korean unification is less likely to be gradual and peaceful than nasty, brutish and quick

May 3rd 2014 | From the print edition

THIS seems an odd time for South Korea’s leaders to be talking up the prospects of reunification with their country’s evil twin. The economic gap between the rich south and dirt-poor north of the peninsula grows ever wider, implying mounting reabsorption costs for South Korea. And under its latest Kim-despot, the 30-ish, callow but ruthless Kim Jong Un, the North seems as hostile as ever, threatening new nuclear and missile tests and this week conducting live-fire exercises near the disputed maritime border. In response to Barack Obama’s visit to Seoul in late April an official “Peaceful Reunification” committee thundered that the North “must settle its final scores with the US through an all-out nuclear showdown”. And misogynistic bile was spat at the South’s president, Park Geun-hye: a “dirty comfort woman for the US and despicable prostitute selling off the nation”. Read more of this post

Eurotunnel: The next 20 years; A bad project comes good—with better yet in store

Eurotunnel: The next 20 years; A bad project comes good—with better yet in store

May 10th 2014 | PARIS | From the print edition

QUEEN ELIZABETH gamely saluted “la combinaison de l’élan français et du pragmatisme britannique”. President François Mitterand countered with a courteous nod to Britain’s help in two world wars. A centuries-old dream of connecting Britain to France was formally realised on May 6th 1994 with the opening of Eurotunnel under the English Channel, la Manche. Read more of this post

Corporate whistleblowers: Lawyer’s poker; In-house counsels’ lips might no longer be sealed

Corporate whistleblowers: Lawyer’s poker; In-house counsels’ lips might no longer be sealed

May 10th 2014 | NEW YORK | From the print edition

THE potential rewards of exposing corporate wrongdoing have ballooned in America, where whistleblowers can now claim up to 30% of fines imposed. Bent executives can be forgiven for feeling that the only insider they can trust not to spill the beans is the company lawyer, bound as he is by strict ethics rules and the principle of “attorney-client privilege”. Read more of this post

Electricity supply: Profitable interruptions; Collecting and trading spare electricity is a thriving industry

Electricity supply: Profitable interruptions; Collecting and trading spare electricity is a thriving industry

May 10th 2014 | From the print edition

SPIKES in demand for power and unexpected dips in supply have plagued electricity generators and their customers for decades. The solutions have been crude. More than a decade ago North American power companies started paying big consumers to switch off machines and devices to ease the load on creaking grids. In 2003 French producers did the same to cope with a heatwave. Read more of this post

How better rice could save lives: A second green revolution; Technological breakthroughs in rice will boost harvests and cut poverty. They deserve support

How better rice could save lives: A second green revolution; Technological breakthroughs in rice will boost harvests and cut poverty. They deserve support

May 10th 2014 | From the print edition

WHEN, in 1961, the government of India asked a celebrated wheat breeder, Norman Borlaug, for advice about new seeds, the subcontinent was thought to be on the verge of starvation. China actually was suffering from famine. Borlaug persuaded India to plant a new semi-dwarf variety of wheat in Punjab. The next year, the country also tried out a dwarf variety of rice called IR8. These short-stemmed crops solved a basic problem: old-fashioned crops were long and leggy, so when fed with fertiliser they grew too tall and fell over. Borlaug’s varieties put out more, heavier seeds instead. They caught on like smartphones. Over the next 40 years the green revolution spread round the world, helping ensure that, where its seeds were planted, famines became things of the past. Read more of this post

Exorbitant privilege: American and English law and lawyers have a stranglehold on cross-border business. That may not last

Exorbitant privilege: American and English law and lawyers have a stranglehold on cross-border business. That may not last

May 10th 2014 | From the print edition

IN 2012 ICBC, a state-controlled Chinese company that is the world’s most valuable bank, bought four-fifths of the Argentine subsidiary of Standard Bank, a South African firm. The deal was hailed as a leap forward for “South-South” co-operation—direct economic ties between emerging markets. But one group of rich-world middlemen got a slice of the action: lawyers. ICBC was represented by Linklaters, an English firm, and Standard Bank by Jones Day, an American one. The deal was made under English law, with any differences to be settled in an English arbitration centre.

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Hotel tycoon says Taiwan needs more ‘doers’

Hotel tycoon says Taiwan needs more ‘doers’
Saturday, May 10, 2014
By John Liu ,The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — In a speech given at Academia Sinica yesterday, five-star hotel president Stanley Yen (嚴長壽) pointed out that Taiwan needs more “doers” and has a great need for public servants with international perspectives. Read more of this post

Sun sets on Spaniards’ foiled solar power dreams

Sun sets on Spaniards’ foiled solar power dreams
Monday, May 12, 2014
By Katell Abiven, AFP

ALBACETE, Spain–“The sun could be yours,” the Spanish government promised in 2007, encouraging citizens to invest in solar power. Many who did now wish they could give it back. Read more of this post

Tricky times loom for mainland banks as trust products mature

Tricky times loom for mainland banks as trust products mature
Monday, May 05, 2014
The big four state-owned banks recently announced their first-quarter performances.

Apart from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398), the others saw double-digit growth in profit. But the ideal earning performance cannot eliminate investors’ concerns over mainland banking risk. Read more of this post

China Lumena will be removed from the Hang Seng Composite Index after its chairman and its controlling shareholder apparently absconded with 10 billion yuan of company funds

Lumena fades off from benchmarks 
Imogene Wong
Thursday, May 08, 2014
China Lumena New Materials Corp (0067) will be removed from the Hang Seng Composite Index after its chairman and its controlling shareholder apparently absconded with 10 billion yuan (HK$12.4 billion) of company funds. Read more of this post

Several employees at the local office of global accounting giant PwC fear there are recruiting practices in the pipeline that could load them up with work

Accountants fear idea of interns in numbers game
Staff reporter
Wednesday, May 07, 2014
Several employees at the local office of global accounting giant PwC fear there are recruiting practices in the pipeline that could load them up with work. Read more of this post

The US lawyer bubble has conclusively popped

The US lawyer bubble has conclusively popped

By Max Nisen @MaxNisen May 7, 2014

Law schools aren’t just facing a momentary downturn. The industry has to deal with the fact that the world simply needs far fewer lawyers. Read more of this post

Seoul’s financial hub facing exodus of firms

Seoul’s financial hub facing exodus of firms

May 12,2014

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Nearly 23 percent of South Korea’s listed companies with over one trillion won ($973.7 million) annual sales failed to earn enough from business operations to cover interest expense

23% of S. Korean firms with over $970mn revenue make profit short of interest expense

2014.05.07 14:55:49

Nearly 23 percent of South Korea’s listed companies with over one trillion won ($973.7 million) annual sales failed to earn enough from business operations to cover interest expense last year due to recession.  Read more of this post

S. Korea’s credit card usage No.1 among major nations

S. Korea’s credit card usage No.1 among major nations

2014.05.11 14:51:58

South Korea topped the list in terms of the frequency of credit card use among major nations around the world. Korea ranked third in per-capita credit card spending.

Read more of this post

Singapore Exchange sets sights on China

Singapore Exchange sets sights on China

May 9, 2014

Max Mason

Singapore Exchange chief executive Magnus Böcker says he is unlikely to make a second run at a merger with the ASX, and will instead focus on China after Singapore became just the second place able to have Chinese companies list directly on its exchange. Read more of this post

China is cheapening the yuan for scarier reasons than usual

China is cheapening the yuan for scarier reasons than usual

By Gwynn Guilford @sinoceros May 9, 2014

The sharp drop in the yuan’s value that started in mid-February 2014 has riled up US government officials who suspect that the People’s Bank of China is helping Chinese exporters at the expense of everyone else. But it has remained a bit of a mystery who was actually behind that drop—the PBoC or traders. Read more of this post

Why did hog giant’s IPO fail to entice investors?

Why did hog giant’s IPO fail to entice investors?

2014-05-07 18:59:22

Peter Fuhrman is chairman, founder and Chief Executive Officer of China First Capital,

During the world’s biggest probate dispute a few years ago, a fascinated audience learned that Nina Wang, the late chairwoman of Hong Kong real estate developer Chinachem, paid $270 million to her feng shui adviser (and lover) to dig lucky holes. As many as 80 of them were dug around Wang’s properties to improve her fortune. Read more of this post