The Asian work ethic comes at a price; Modern Chinese are increasingly worried about being pushed too hard

March 4, 2014 3:54 pm

The Asian work ethic comes at a price

By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai

Modern Chinese are increasingly worried about being pushed too hard, writes Patti Waldmeir

China’s state media recently reported that 600,000 mainlanders die every year from working too hard. Taken at face value, that would mean that 600,000 people a year face the same fate as may have befallen Moritz Erhardt, the Bank of America intern whose death in London last summer – possibly caused by overwork – triggered an industry-wide crisis of conscience over whether western bankers need to be more slothful. Read more of this post

Italian finance: Time to modernise; ‘Stress tests’ will count for little until the vast network of local banks is overhauled and governance reformed

March 4, 2014 6:57 pm

Italian finance: Time to modernise

By Rachel Sanderson

‘Stress tests’ will count for little until the vast network of local banks is overhauled and governance reformed

As the tourist season was heating up last summer in the southern Italian region of Puglia, officials from the Bank of Italy seized control of a small co-operative bank in Alberobello, the sun-baked town known for its whitewashed trulli houses. Read more of this post

Brazil Drought Jolts Commodities’ Prices; Coffee, Sugar and Soybeans See Sharp Increases

Brazil Drought Jolts Commodities’ Prices

Coffee, Sugar and Soybeans See Sharp Increases

ALEXANDRA WEXLER, JEFFREY T. LEWIS and LESLIE JOSEPHS

Updated March 4, 2014 7:27 p.m. ET

SÃO PAULO, Brazil—Brazil’s worst drought in decades is decimating crops but breathing new life into battered commodity markets. Read more of this post

Hyundai Scion Eyes Seoul Mayoral Bid

March 4, 2014, 2:30 PM

Hyundai Scion Eyes Seoul Mayoral Bid

By Kwanwoo Jun

Chung Mong-joon, Hyundai conglomerate scion and former presidential challenger, announced this weekend that he plans to run for Seoul mayor. Read more of this post

Australia Jumps on U.S. IPO Bandwagon via China

Australia Jumps on U.S. IPO Bandwagon via China

Australian Companies Favor U.S. Listings for Their Chinese Businesses

DANIEL STACEY

March 4, 2014 5:39 a.m. ET

Australian companies are increasingly carving out their Chinese businesses for U.S. initial public offerings, but unlike many IPO aspirants, raising cash isn’t the motivating factor. Read more of this post

Moutai Wins Wealthy Chinese Fans

Mar 4, 2014

Moutai Wins Wealthy Chinese Fans

Chao Deng

Kweichow Moutai Co.600519.SH +0.65%, the company known for its intoxicating brew of the same name,  is getting a  boost from a new group of consumers: private wealthy buyers. Read more of this post

Chinese Car Maker Giant SAIC Is Entering the Country Amid Slumping Car Sales and Political Unrest

Chinese Car Maker Faces Roadblocks in Thailand

SAIC Is Entering the Country Amid Slumping Car Sales and Political Unrest

KATHY CHU, NOPPARAT CHAICHALEARMMONGKOL and COLUM MURPHY

March 4, 2014 3:39 p.m. ET

SAIC Motor-CP boss Wu Huan isn’t sure ‘who the real customers of our MG are.’ SAIC Motor-CP

BANGKOK—When SAIC Motor Corp. 600104.SH -1.30% announced plans to make cars in Thailand by 2014, it was seen as a significant move by the Chinese auto industry to secure a foothold in Southeast Asia’s largest manufacturing hub. Read more of this post

China Corporate Bond Market Likely to See First Default; Shanghai Chaori Solar Unable to Repay All Interest Due on a Bond Friday

China Corporate Bond Market Likely to See First Default

Shanghai Chaori Solar Unable to Repay All Interest Due on a Bond Friday

LINGLING WEI and WAYNE MA

Updated March 4, 2014 7:02 p.m. ET

BEIJING—A Chinese solar company said it won’t be able to repay investors all the interest due on a bond Friday in what may be the first ever default in China’s $1.5 trillion publicly traded corporate bond market. Read more of this post

China’s leaders face major decisions on reform

China’s leaders face major decisions on reform

By William Wan, Updated: Wednesday, March 5, 9:16 AM E-mail the writer

BEIJING — China’s military spending will increase by 12.2 percent this year, officials announced Wednesday at an annual meeting of top government leaders. Read more of this post

Second Korean Wave sweeps China

Second Korean Wave sweeps China

Wednesday, March 5, 2014 – 09:41

Xiao Lixin

China Daily/Asia News Network

The Korean Wave is again sweeping across China, with many Chinese women worshipping South Korean actors Kim Soo-hyun and Lee Min-ho as demigods. Read more of this post

Korean food makers zero in on halal market

Korean food makers zero in on halal market

Wednesday, March 5, 2014 – 09:22

Bae Ji-sook

The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

SOUTH KOREA – Korean food makers are gearing up to grab the Muslim food market with halal food products. Read more of this post

Wealth Advisers Offer Offshore Investors a Safe Haven in the U.S.; With turmoil in emerging markets, wealthy families again seek low-risk havens to invest their assets. Welcome to America

Wealth Advisers Offer Offshore Investors a Safe Haven in the U.S.

With turmoil in emerging markets, wealthy families again seek low-risk havens to invest their assets. Welcome to America.

03 MAR 2014 – ANDREW BARBER

The recent local currency turmoil in many emerging markets has led to renewed interest among wealthy families in socking away assets in another country. With longtime safe harbors like Cyprus hit by negative macroeconomic forces and increased regulatory scrutiny, the U.S. has become the destination of choice for many high-net-worth individuals from emerging markets. Read more of this post

Regulators Zero In on Auditors’ Consulting Services

March 4, 2014, 6:23 AM ET

The Morning Ledger: Regulators Zero In on Auditors’ Consulting Services

By David Hall

Regulators are taking a closer look at the consulting services that some auditors provide for clients—and the big fees they generate. The U.S. government’s audit watchdog says it has started quizzing accounting firms on whether their fast-growing consulting practices could hurt the quality of their audits, writes CFOJ’s Emily Chasan in today’s Marketplace section. Overseas, the European Parliament is expected to vote in April on legislation that would cap nonaudit services provided by a company’s auditor at 70% of the audit fee. Read more of this post

New Japan Index Targets High Performers; Government-Backed Stock Index Excludes Some Well-Known Firms

New Japan Index Targets High Performers

Government-Backed Stock Index Excludes Some Well-Known Firms

KOSAKU NARIOKA

March 4, 2014 3:04 a.m. ET

TOKYO—Some of Japan’s cash-rich firms are starting to take action to feature on a new government-backed index of 400 companies offering higher investment returns. Read more of this post

From India’s northern backwaters, a new business elite rises

From India’s northern backwaters, a new business elite rises

Mon, Mar 3 2014

By Sanjeev Miglani

PATNA, India (Reuters) – Ravindra Kishore Sinha built India’s largest security business from a garage in the dirt-poor state of Bihar. He has just won a seat in the upper house of parliament, becoming its richest member, and his Security and Intelligence Services (SIS India) firm is growing at 40 percent a year. Read more of this post

Samsung Everland scales back luxury fashion

Samsung Everland scales back luxury fashion

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014

Bae Ji-sook and Lee Woo-young

The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

SEOUL – Samsung Everland’s fashion division is shelving hexa by kuho, a high-end womenswear label targeting the global market, according to a company insider. Read more of this post

Caixin Explains: The ‘Lianghui’ Meetings; The country’s top legislature and political advisory body are meeting this week. Here is what you should know about them

03.03.2014 17:23

Caixin Explains: The ‘Lianghui’ Meetings

The country’s top legislature and political advisory body are meeting this week. Here is what you should know about them

Compiled by Caixin

(Beijing) – Top lawmakers and political advisors from all over the country are gathering in the capital this week for this year’s “lianghui,” or sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Read more of this post

How HK could fall into a $1.5t trap

How HK could fall into a $1.5t trap
Eddie Luk
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Government expenditures by 2041 would reach HK$2.9 trillion – more than twice revenues of HK$1.4 trillion – in a worst-case scenario projected by a government working group. Read more of this post

ingapore now the world’s most expensive city: Economist

Singapore now the world’s most expensive city: Economist

SINGAPORE — Singapore has topped the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) list of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, according to the 2014 list released yesterday (this morning, March 4, Singapore time).

1 HOUR 14 MIN AGO

SINGAPORE — Singapore has topped the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) list of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, according to the 2014 list released yesterday (this morning, March 4, Singapore time). Read more of this post

New breed of China-born designers seek their fortunes in Paris

March 3, 2014 1:28 pm

New breed of China-born designers seek their fortunes in Paris

By Elizabeth Paton

Among the well-established houses on the Paris Fashion Week calendar, a growing number of new names hail from mainland China. Read more of this post

‘White gold’ turns New Zealand into the ‘Saudi Arabia of milk’

March 3, 2014 8:49 am

‘White gold’ turns New Zealand into the ‘Saudi Arabia of milk’

By Jamie Smyth in Sydney

It was once derided as a country with 20 sheep for every person. But it is now cows that rule resplendent as an agricultural revolution driven by consumers in China has made New Zealand the world’s biggest milk supplier and transformed its US$175bn economy. Read more of this post

Norway’s oil fund caught between the devil and deep blue sea

March 3, 2014 3:03 pm

Norway’s oil fund caught between the devil and deep blue sea

By Richard Milne in Oslo

Sovereign wealth fund may cease investing in fossil fuels

On the very day last week when Norway’s parliament discussed banning its sovereign wealth fund from investing in coal miners, Store Norske, the country’s state-owned coal miner, opened a mine on the Arctic island of Svalbard. Hypocrisy was the word on the lips of environmentalists. Read more of this post

Active Stock ETFs Are Poised to Take Off; Fund Companies Are Rolling Out Funds and Regulators Are Weighing New Designs

Active Stock ETFs Are Poised to Take Off

Fund Companies Are Rolling Out Funds and Regulators Are Weighing New Designs

ARI I. WEINBERG

March 3, 2014 4:00 p.m. ET

In the $1.7 trillion world of exchange-traded products in the U.S., one lonely corner of the market has received outsize attention lately: the so-far tiny realm of actively managed stock exchange-traded funds. Read more of this post

Shedding Some Light on Shadow Banking; Don’t let a vaguely sinister label for this useful financing prompt harmful regulations

Shedding Some Light on Shadow Banking

Don’t let a vaguely sinister label for this useful financing prompt harmful regulations.

TONY JAMES

March 3, 2014 6:54 p.m. ET

The term “shadow banking” is one of those Orwellian terms that can undermine critical thought. It has a negative, vaguely sinister connotation about a source of financing that is an essential and desirable part of the financial system. As discussion about the regulation of nonbank entities begins in earnest, it’s time to clear the air about what these institutions are and how they operate. Read more of this post

Through China’s Smog, Darkly; Beijing talks pollution control but not the political reform required

Through China’s Smog, Darkly

Beijing talks pollution control but not the political reform required.

Updated March 3, 2014 6:26 p.m. ET

Chinese supremo Xi Jinping last week strolled through a popular Beijing neighborhood during the latest “airpocalypse,” as filthy grayish-yellow haze smothered the city’s streets. The Chinese leader mingled with locals, posed for cameras and conspicuously wore no face mask to hide from the smog. The message, per state-run Xinhua’s headline: “Breathing together, sharing the fate.” Read more of this post

After vacating Bangkok’s streets, Thai protesters look to courts

After vacating Bangkok’s streets, Thai protesters look to courts

Monday, March 3, 2014 – 18:36

Reuters

BANGKOK – Anti-government protesters in Thailand have retreated to a central Bangkok park, freeing up traffic after blocking big intersections for more than a month, but Thailand’s four-month political crisis looks no closer to a solution. Read more of this post

Berkshire prefers buying big businesses: Buffett on CNBC

Berkshire prefers buying big businesses: Buffett on CNBC

3:17pm EST

(Reuters) – Conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N:Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) would rather keep buying big businesses than simply adding to stock holdings, company head and legendary investor Warren Buffett said on Monday. Read more of this post

Warren Buffett Defends Business Wire On HFT Issue

Warren Buffett Defends Business Wire On HFT Issue

by Mark MelinMarch 03, 2014, 1:50 pm

Buffett points out select HFT firms received information at the same time as major newswires, yet the real issue could be how they limited the secretive offering to only a handful of firms Read more of this post

Uncertified ‘inadequate’ licenses abound in South Korea amid recession; Number of licenses surges 7-fold to nearly 7,000 in S. Korea

Number of licenses surges 7-fold to nearly 7,000 in S. Korea

Yoon Jin-ho, Choi Hee-suk

2014.03.03 17:52:58

Uncertified ‘inadequate’ licenses abound in South Korea amid recession. The youth struggling to get a job, the employed people worried about job insecurity, and baby-boomers who have not prepared enough for retirement are flocking to win licenses, only to waste time and money.  Read more of this post