‘Shark processing hub’ of China sees business decline

‘Shark processing hub’ of China sees business decline

Staff Reporter 

2014-03-12

Puqi, a fishing port in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, has long been a center for the shark processing industry, but under pressure from foreign animal protection groups the port is seeing a sharp drop in its profits. Read more of this post

Local governments in China addicted to debt

Local governments in China addicted to debt

Staff Reporter 

2014-03-13

Local governments in China have incurred massive debts to fund huge infrastructural projects, a practice dubbed by scholars as an addiction which may prove difficult to wean, reports the China Youth Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Youth League of China. Read more of this post

Amit Jatia and McDonald’s 15-year Wait for Success

Amit Jatia and McDonald’s 15-year Wait for Success

by Shravan Bhat, Samar Srivastava | Mar 13, 2014

Amit Jatia and McDonald’s stuck by each other and adapted to value-conscious, vegetarian India. After 15 meagre years, they’re finally feasting Read more of this post

Self-Described Champion of India’s Poor Under Court Scrutiny; The jailed tycoon Subrata Roy faces accusations that many of his company’s investment vehicles are illegal and its investors fictitious

Self-Described Champion of India’s Poor Under Court Scrutiny

By GARDINER HARRISMARCH 13, 2014

Ink was thrown at Subrata Roy, chairman of the Sahara Group, as he arrived at India’s Supreme Court last week. CreditAssociated Press

NEW DELHI — Subrata Roy has long been one of Asia’s most flamboyant billionaires, a bejeweled, modern maharajah who lives on an opulent 270-acre estate and presides over the Sahara Group, which is, by its own account, India’s largest private employer. To his allies, Mr. Roy is an up-from-bootstraps hero who built from scratch a sprawling empire that provides vital financial services to India’s poor. Read more of this post

The clumsy bear mascot for a remote Kyushu farming region has rocketed to superstar fame and has notched up an unlikely marketing triumph in a nation obsessed with all things cute

Mascot Kumamon turns cute into bear market

BY HIROSHI HIYAMA

AFP-JIJI

MAR 12, 2014

Kumamon, the popular bear mascot of Kumamoto, draws a big crowd to a campaign event promoting food products from the prefecture in Tokyo on Feb. 23. | AFP-JIJI Read more of this post

NUS Risk Management Institute flags 16 China firms with high bond default risks

NUS unit flags 16 China firms with high bond default risks

The Business Times

13 March 2014

[SINGAPORE] Sixteen Chinese companies face a high chance of having their bonds default over the next year, given a lack

of cash and problems of overcapacity in their industry, data from National University of Singapore’s Risk Management

Institute (RMI) showed. Read more of this post

Baltic Dry Plunges 8%, Near Most In 6 Years As Iron Ore At Chinese Ports Hits All Time High

Baltic Dry Plunges 8%, Near Most In 6 Years As Iron Ore At Chinese Ports Hits All Time High

Tyler Durden on 03/12/2014 16:34 -0400

It would appear record inventories of Iron ore and plunging prices due to China’s shadow-banking unwind have started to weigh on the all-too-important-when-it-is-going-up-but-let’s-blame-supply-when-dropping Baltic Dry Index. With the worst start to a year in over a decade, the recent recovery in prices provided faint hope that the worst of the global trade collapse was over… however, today’s 8% plunge – on par with the biggest drops in the last 6 years – suggests things are far from self-sustaining. Still think we are insulated from the arcane China shadow-banking system, which suddenly everyone is an expert of suddenly? Think again. Read more of this post

Strong demand for ‘junk’ bonds erodes investor protection

March 12, 2014 5:07 pm

Strong demand for ‘junk’ bonds erodes investor protection

By Tracy Alloway and Vivianne Rodrigues in New York

Insatiable investor demand for higher yielding securities has helped push protection for buyers of junk-rated bonds to its lowest level on record, the rating agency Moody’s has warned. Read more of this post

Active fund managers are closet index huggers; Study finds ‘closet indexing’ is rife in US active funds

March 12, 2014 10:39 am

Active fund managers are closet index huggers

By John Authers

Study finds ‘closet indexing’ is rife in US active funds

How active is your fund manager, and what chance do they really have of beating the market? Read more of this post

African banks: Fragile dream; An institution created to embody stability and unity came close to failure. A new chief could provide a second chance

March 12, 2014 6:40 pm

African banks: Fragile dream

By William Wallis

An institution created to embody stability and unity came close to failure. A new chief could provide a second chance

For nine months, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated was creeping towards disaster. Depositors were taking fright. The stock price was dipping. A stream of internal letters warned the bank and the decades-old dream of building a pan-African rival to Barclays or Citibank was at risk of collapse. Read more of this post

Will costs erode Singapore’s edge?

Will costs erode Singapore’s edge?

Thursday, March 13, 2014 – 09:00

Alvin Foo

Economics Correspondent

The Straits Times

LAST week, Singapore captured headlines at home and abroad for an unsettling reason: It was named the world’s most expensive city by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Read more of this post

Thousands of doctors in Korea staged their first strike in 14 years to protest the government’s push to introduce telemedicine and for-profit subsidiaries for hospitals

Doctors defy South Korean President’s warning

Wednesday, March 12, 2014 – 09:27

Lee Hyun-jeong

The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

SEOUL – Concerns about the country’s health services are growing as doctors plan to launch further industrial action later this month, despite stern warnings from the government. Read more of this post

China’s ‘One Country, Two Systems’ Trap; Beijing’s unmet promises to Hong Kong are a lesson for Taiwan

China’s ‘One Country, Two Systems’ Trap

Beijing’s unmet promises to Hong Kong are a lesson for Taiwan.

Updated March 12, 2014 6:23 p.m. ET

The recent stabbing of government critic Kevin Lau is horrible enough for the people of Hong Kong. But it is also damaging to Beijing’s efforts to convince the people of Taiwan to support official negotiations aimed at eventual reunification with mainland China. Read more of this post

China’s Quiet Lehman Moment; A solar-power company’s default makes investors reconsider assumptions about the government

China’s Quiet Lehman Moment

A solar-power company’s default makes investors reconsider assumptions about the government.

JOSEPH STERNBERG

Updated March 12, 2014 7:09 p.m. ET

The default of Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co. last week set off speculation that China has reached its “Bear Stearns moment.” This is the first time a domestic bond has been allowed to default. Economists at Bank of America suggested that it will leave investors queasy about unsustainable debt levels, much as news in 2007 of mortgage-related losses at two Bear Stearns hedge funds triggered doubts about the U.S. housing market. Read more of this post

Gauging the Chinese Threat to European Machinery Makers: A German Perspective on the New Competitive Landscape

Gauging the Chinese Threat to European Machinery Makers: A German Perspective on the New Competitive Landscape

by Ralf Moldenhauer, Nikolaus Lang, Florian Bonanati, and Jan Schönfeld

MARCH 12, 2014

The competitive landscape for European machinery manufacturers—makers of traditional machinery (such as engines and turbines) as well as optical products and electronics—is changing rapidly. Chinese challengers are increasing their presence in developed markets and growing their businesses throughout the value chain. Once dismissed as low-end upstarts, Chinese machinery makers have built up their capabilities and now compete head-to-head with multinational companies on their home turf as well as in emerging markets. Read more of this post

The Singer sewing machine company, largely credited with helping develop the U.S. fashion industry by allowing clothes to be made more cheaply and efficiently, is exploring a sale that could fetch more than $500 million

Kohlberg looking to sell Singer sewing machine company – sources

3:51pm EDT

By Olivia Oran

(Reuters) – The Singer sewing machine company, largely credited with helping develop the U.S. fashion industry by allowing clothes to be made more cheaply and efficiently, is exploring a sale that could fetch more than $500 million, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Read more of this post

Alibaba’s Tsai says will ‘never’ change partnership structure for Hong Kong IPO

Alibaba’s Tsai says will ‘never’ change partnership structure for Hong Kong IPO

10:51am EDT

By Paul Carsten and Anne Marie Roantree

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding (IPO-ALIB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will not change its partnership structure in order to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai told Reuters in an exclusive interview in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Read more of this post

Reuters special report: China’s card-carrying money smugglers

China’s card-carrying money smugglers

Chinese are evading currency restrictions when travelling abroad by conducting phony sales on their UnionPay bank cards to get mounds of cash

The venture capital system in Australia is akin to having a great primary school system but no secondary schools or universities

When start-ups become grown-ups, where do they go for money?

March 12, 2014 – 6:04PM

Nitro CEO Sam Chandler on a visit to the company’s offices in Melbourne in 2013. Photo: Luis Enrique Ascui

Australia’s innovation funding environment is akin to having a great primary school system but no secondary schools or universities. Start-ups need a better go from the public and private sector, including superannuation funds, argues Sam Chandler. Read more of this post

New Zealand raises official interest rates, more on way

New Zealand raises official interest rates, more on way

March 13, 2014 – 7:37AM

“It is necessary to raise interest rates toward a level at which they are no longer adding to demand” : Graeme Wheeler, governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. 
Read more of this post

KL’s handling of crisis may tarnish its image; Malaysia is finding that tight control over information and more than 50 years under one coalition is a mismatch for handling a rapidly-growing crisis

KL’s handling of crisis may tarnish its image

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia is finding that tight control over information and more than 50 years under one coalition is a mismatch for handling a rapidly-growing crisis, analysts said.

MARCH 13

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia is finding that tight control over information and more than 50 years under one coalition is a mismatch for handling a rapidly-growing crisis, analysts said. Read more of this post

Malaysia darling of Chinese developers as investors turn cold on HK, S’pore

Updated: Wednesday March 12, 2014 MYT 8:17:45 AM

Malaysia darling of Chinese developers as investors turn cold on HK, S’pore

HONG KONG: Malaysia is turning into the darling of Chinese developers as mainland investors turn their backs on market restrictions in Hong Kong and Singapore and bet billions on cheaper housing and higher returns in the Southeast Asian country. Read more of this post

Why IPOs don’t always offer more transparency or governance

Why IPOs don’t always offer more transparency or governance

March 12, 2014: 5:00 AM ET

Moelis & Co.’s IPO highlights a big loophole for public companies.

By Sanjay Sanghoee

FORTUNE — When Moelis & Co., the boutique investment bank that has advised on $1 trillion of transactions since 2007, filed for an IPO last week, it was following in the footsteps of similar advisory firms like Lazard Ltd. (LAZ), Evercore Partners (EVR), and Greenhill & Co. (GHL), all of whom have done well as public companies. Read more of this post

Here’s How Much Real Estate A Million Dollars Buys You In Every Major US City

Here’s How Much Real Estate A Million Dollars Buys You In Every Major US City

ANDY KIERSZ FINANCE  MAR. 11, 2014, 11:29 PM

How much housing you can buy with a million dollars very much depends on what city you are looking to buy in.

According to Knight Frank data cited by CNBC’s Robert Frank, a million dollars goes a lot further in Cape Town than it would in Monaco. Read more of this post

Malaysia’s IHH Mulls Bid for Australia’s Healthscope

Malaysia’s IHH Mulls Bid for Australia’s Healthscope

Deal for Hospital Company, Put on the Block by TPG and Carlyle Group, Could Be Worth $5 Billion

CYNTHIA KOONS, GILLIAN TAN and P.R. VENKAT

March 10, 2014 6:31 a.m. ET

Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare 5225.KU -1.31% Bhd. is considering a bid for Australia’s Healthscope, a hospital and pathology company put on the block by private-equity owners TPG Capital and Carlyle Group CG -0.96% LP in a deal that could be worth $5 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Read more of this post

GEORGE SOROS: Europe Is Just Entering 25 Years Of Stagnation

GEORGE SOROS: Europe Is Just Entering 25 Years Of Stagnation

SAM RO MARKETS  MAR. 12, 2014, 8:20 PM

George Soros talked about Ukraine and Europe with Bloomberg TV’s Francine Lacqua.

“Japan is just trying to break-out of 25 years of stagnation, where Europe is just entering,” he warned. “The European Union is not a nation. It’s an incomplete association of nations and it may not survive 25 years of stagnation” Read more of this post

Our economic yardsticks are broken – they offer no warning of catastrophe; The government’s central measure of success should be improvements in the incomes of typical families, not GDP

Our economic yardsticks are broken – they offer no warning of catastrophe

The government’s central measure of success should be improvements in the incomes of typical families, not GDP

Andrew Harrop

theguardian.com, Wednesday 12 March 2014 09.00 GMT

In next week’s budget the chancellor, George Osborne, will announce the best economic headlines for years: solid economic growth, falling unemployment and low inflation. But headlines can deceive: the last time the main economic indicators were this good was 2007 and we know what happened next. Read more of this post

China’s public sector debt needs to be dealt with “immediately”, according to former Treasury minister Lord Sassoon

Lord Sassoon: China needs to resolve its debt

China’s public sector debt needs to be dealt with “immediately”, according to former Treasury minister Lord Sassoon

By Olivia Goldhill

2:03PM GMT 12 Mar 2014

China’s debt issues are the country’s biggest economic concern and need to be tackled, former Treasury minister and chairman of the China-Britain Business Council Lord Sassoon has said. Read more of this post

How China’s official bank card is used to smuggle money

How China’s official bank card is used to smuggle money

Tue, Mar 11 2014

By James Pomfret

MACAU (Reuters) – Growing numbers of Chinese are using the country’s state-backed bankcards to illegally spirit billions of dollars abroad, a Reuters examination has found. Read more of this post