Korea’s top 10 conglomerates owned land worth more than 60 trillion won ($55.5 billion) thanks to their massive investment in real estate amid the prolonged property market slump

Updated : 2014-03-23 19:18

Conglomerates expand land purchases

By Kim Rahn
Korea’s top 10 conglomerates owned land worth more than 60 trillion won ($55.5 billion) thanks to their massive investment in real estate amid the prolonged property market slump, a report showed Sunday.  Read more of this post

Emerging Europe the new hunting ground for bad loan investors

Updated: Monday March 24, 2014 MYT 7:29:41 AM

Emerging Europe the new hunting ground for bad loan investors

WARSAW: Central and eastern European countries are turning up the pressure on banks to clean up their balance sheets, creating new opportunities for bad loan investors that are seeing returns dwindle in recovering eurozone economies. Read more of this post

Myanmar’s Log Export Ban to Hurt Businessmen But Help Forests

Myanmar’s Log Export Ban to Hurt Businessmen But Help Forests

By Jared Ferrie on 03:54 pm Mar 23, 2014

1.  Myanmar will ban the export of raw timber logs from April 1, choking off profits in a sector that provided critical funding to the country’s former military rulers for decades, as a new reformist government steps up efforts to save forests.

Read more of this post

Russia’s Leading Role in the Indonesian Mining Revolution

Russia’s Leading Role in the Indonesian Mining Revolution

By Randy Fabi & Fergus Jensen on 10:45 am Mar 24, 2014

1.  Russia’s two metal giants have emerged as big winners from Indonesia’s new mining law, after leading a drive to get Jakarta to stick to its controversial mineral ore export ban in the face of opposition from miners and Asian buyers.

Read more of this post

MAS may review sales of yuan investments

PUBLISHED MARCH 24, 2014

MAS may review sales of yuan investments

JAMIE LEE

[SINGAPORE] Retail deposits make up a small portion of all yuan-denominated deposits here, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), while pointing out that it may review financial institutions’ sales practices for investment products. Read more of this post

Investor treaties in trouble; Several countries are reviewing these agreements, prompted by the number of cases brought by foreign companies who claim that changes in government policies affect their future profits

Updated: Monday March 24, 2014 MYT 8:08:52 AM

Investor treaties in trouble

BY MARTIN KHOR

Several countries are reviewing these agreements, prompted by the number of cases brought by foreign companies who claim that changes in government policies affect their future profits.

THE tide is turning against investment treaties that allow foreign investors to take up cases against host governments and claim compensation of up to billions of dollars. Read more of this post

BMW regional parts distribution centre in Singapore to Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), Malaysia; being in Malaysia has allowed the carmaker to upscale its business with much succcess

23 March 2014| last updated at 11:36PM

BMW moves S’pore parts centre to Johor

JOHOR BARU: Carmaker BMW AG will relocate its regional parts distribution centre in Sembawang, Singapore to Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Gelang Patah, Johor in August.

The centre keeps an inventory of parts for BMW sedans, sports activity vehicles and Mini series. Read more of this post

Indian business looks to Modi to spark capex revival

March 23, 2014 7:31 am

Indian business looks to Modi to spark capex revival

By James Crabtree in Mumbai

India’s opinion polls put opposition leader Narendra Modi as the country’s next prime minister, shortly after election results are announced on May 16. But will India’s corporate sector, enthused by the arrival of a new government headed by a self-described business-friendly leader, then begin investing once again? Read more of this post

European regulators warn as risky loans rise above bubble peak

March 23, 2014 7:31 pm

European regulators warn as risky loans rise above bubble peak

By Anne-Sylvaine Chassany and Martin Arnold in London

Debt investors are abandoning normal creditor protections on European leveraged buyout loans as they snap up riskier securities at a faster rate and in greater proportions than at the peak of the credit bubble. Read more of this post

German property rush chases concrete gold; Low interest rates see savers invest in houses and flats

March 23, 2014 2:44 pm

Germany’s property rush is based on concrete gold

By Claire Jones in Frankfurt

For Germans these days, some things that do not glitter are gold. A property boom across the biggest cities has been dubbed a betongold – literally concrete gold – rush. Read more of this post

Libraries lend themselves to new business creation

March 23, 2014 12:31 pm

Libraries lend themselves to new business creation

By Andrew Bounds, North of England correspondent

Manchester’s imposing Central Library reopened this weekend with a mission to inspire a new generation to read – and start businesses. Read more of this post

Xi’s rising clout could mean swifter reforms

Xi’s rising clout could mean swifter reforms

Tuesday, March 25, 2014 – 03:00

Kor Kian Beng

The Straits Times

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s concentration of power in his hands, through the proliferation of intra-party panels that he heads, could change the consultative decision-making process through collective leadership that came about in the 1990s. Read more of this post

China Set to Cap Transfers Using Mobile-Payment Services

China Set to Cap Transfers Using Mobile-Payment Services

Move Comes as State Banks Push Back Against Finance Businesses of E-Commerce Giants Alibaba, Tencent

Updated March 24, 2014 11:34 a.m. ET

BEIJING—China’s largest Internet firms have had startling success elbowing their way onto the turf of the state-run banks, but now the country’s banks and regulators are pushing back. Read more of this post

SEC probes banks and companies in complex bond and loan securities dealings: WSJ

SEC probes banks and companies in loan securities dealings: WSJ

Mon, Mar 24 2014

(Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into the increasing number of complex bond deals on Wall Street that may create new opportunities for fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Read more of this post

Angry Chinese Homeowners Vent Frustrations After Price Cuts; Homeowners Demand Their Money Back After Developer Cuts Prices on New Homes

Angry Chinese Homeowners Vent Frustrations After Price Cuts

Homeowners Demand Their Money Back After Developer Cuts Prices on New Homes

ESTHER FUNG

March 22, 2014 9:11 a.m. ET

CHANGZHOU, China—Groups of angry homeowners put up banners and demanded their money back after Hong Kong-listed property developer Wharf Ltd. cut prices on new homes in an eastern Chinese city, in the latest sign of stress in the nation’s property market. Read more of this post

Japan’s retailers play games with tax rise prices; Consumption tax rise comes at delicate stage in recovery

March 23, 2014 10:46 am

Japan’s retailers play games with tax rise prices

By Ben McLannahan in Tokyo

Consumption tax rise comes at delicate stage in recovery

Japan’s revival under Shinzo Abe has pushed up inflation higher than base wages, so many people are feeling poorer. Is this a good time for taxes to go up too? Not really. Which is why the government is allowing retailers to act like they haven’t. Read more of this post

Executives take note: activists are sometimes right; McKinsey’s consultants suggest the best strategy is to listen

March 23, 2014 3:13 pm

Executives take note: activists are sometimes right

By John Authers

McKinsey’s consultants suggest the best strategy is to listen

Executives need to beware of activist investors. They are better armed than ever before, and they are coming after ever bigger targets. As this year’s proxy season in the US comes into view, with annual meetings and board elections on the agenda, heads of big corporations should no longer assume that they are safe. Read more of this post

Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit: Political roots of a rent-seeking racket

March 23, 2014 7:09 pm

‘Fragile by Design’, by Charles Calomiris and Stephen Haber

Review by Martin Sandbu

An analysis of close ties between governments and bankers is a fine addition to standard economic models but leaves questions hanging Read more of this post

The New Hedge-Fund-Like Retail Funds; Mutual funds that aim to copy hedge-fund strategies are proliferating.

The New Hedge-Fund-Like Retail Funds

Mutual funds that aim to copy hedge-fund strategies are proliferating.

ROB COPELAND

March 21, 2014 5:24 p.m. ET

It is getting easier to invest like a hedge fund. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

Hedge funds have long served an exclusive clientele of deep-pocketed institutions and wealthy individuals. Now, an expanding array of mutual funds is bringing hedge-fund strategies to the masses.

Investors who crave a seat at the table have poured billions of dollars into the mutual funds, swelling their assets to $286 billion by year-end, compared with $41 billion at the end of 2008, according to fund tracker Lipper. Read more of this post

Shiller Metric Carries Warning for Stocks

Shiller Metric Carries Warning for Stocks

SPENCER JAKAB

March 23, 2014 12:27 p.m. ET

Asked to define a bubble, some Wall Street wags say it is a bull market that an investor has missed.

But with the period between earnings seasons now under way and the S&P 500 back near its record high, investors may turn more attention to the stock market’s overall health rather than just that of its components. Read more of this post

Stop Throwing the Book at Investors; the average size of a 10-K filing so far is 152 pages

Stop Throwing the Book at Investors

JUSTIN LAHART

CONNECT

March 23, 2014 1:20 p.m. ET

Most firms have filed their 10-Ks for last year and boy, must investors’ arms be tired.

The annual financial reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission make for heavy reading. For the roughly 1,100 companies in the broad S&P 1500 index with a fiscal year that ended in December, the average size of a 10-K filing so far is 152 pages. Some would give Leo Tolstoy a run for his money: Trinity Industries TRN +0.80% ‘ filing runs to a (no doubt riveting) 1,913 pages. Read more of this post

MasterCard Faces Diverse Asian Needs; Asia-Pacific chief Vicky Bindra talks about the business promise of Myanmar and the hostile regulatory environment in China

MasterCard Faces Diverse Asian Needs

Asia-Pacific chief Vicky Bindra talks about the business promise of Myanmar and the hostile regulatory environment in China

JAKE MAXWELL WATTS

March 23, 2014 2:50 p.m. ET

Faced with staunch protectionism in China, tech-savvy consumers in Singapore and a virgin market in Myanmar, Vicky Bindra, MasterCard Inc. MA -3.09% ‘s Asia Pacific head, is a full-time juggler of very different demands. Read more of this post

Japan’s Aeon is looking to expand in five ASEAN countries

Japan’s Aeon is looking to expand in five ASEAN countries

Sunday, March 23, 2014 – 11:13

Sucheera Pinijparakarn

The Nation/Asia News Network

That is especially the case for Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The Aeon Group has assigned Aeon Thana Sinsap (Thailand) to oversee microfinance and leasing businesses in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos through the latter’s wholly owned subsidiaries. Read more of this post

Tesco confirms joint venture with Tata in India

Tesco confirms joint venture with Tata in India

Fri, Mar 21 2014

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Tesco (TSCO.L: Quote, Profile,Research, Stock Buzz) has sealed a joint venture agreement with a unit of India’s Tata Group that will see it invest $140 million and become the first foreign supermarket to enter the country’s $500 billion pounds retail sector. Read more of this post

Tata’s New Models Show Confidence in Indonesia

Tata’s New Models Show Confidence in Indonesia

By Heru Andriyanto on 11:38 am Mar 21, 2014

Read more of this post

Russian money in Britain: Honey trapped; London has more to lose than most when it comes to scaring off oligarchs

Russian money in Britain: Honey trapped; London has more to lose than most when it comes to scaring off oligarchs

Mar 22nd 2014 | From the print edition

THE charity ball planned for this May by the Friends of Dulwich College, a school in South London that charges £5,500 ($9,100) a term in fees, was to have been a lavish affair. With a Russian theme, and a lot of Russian parents on the organising committee, it included Aeroflot among its sponsors. In the light of the Ukraine crisis, though, it has been quietly cancelled. Presumably the idea of the well-heeled-and-educated whooping it up as Cossacks and babushkas was thought untimely. Read more of this post

Upcoming S Korea casino to be closed to locals; There are 17 casinos in South Korea, but only one is open to Koreans

Upcoming S Korea casino to be closed to locals despite potential benefits

By Korea Bureau Chief Lim Yun Suk 
POSTED: 21 Mar 2014 16:37
South Korea is planning to build its first Las Vegas-style casino and entertainment resort. But the integrated resort will be closed to locals, at least for the time being.

SEOUL: South Korea is planning to build its first Las Vegas-style casino and entertainment resort. Read more of this post