Bamboo Innovator

The reluctance of United Overseas Bank (UOB) to follow its local rivals in making huge bets on China looks to be paying off in the wake of the mainland’s economic slowdown

UOB’s cautious China policy paying off

Saturday, Jun 21, 2014

Rennie Whang

The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – The reluctance of United Overseas Bank (UOB) to follow its local rivals in making huge bets on China looks to be paying off in the wake of the mainland’s economic slowdown.

UOB took a cautious approach to the mainland despite the hype surrounding its rapid growth and opted instead to expand its presence in the fast-growing ASEAN region. Read more of this post

Thais hit Cambodia casinos to sidestep junta betting blitz

Thais hit Cambodia casinos to sidestep junta betting blitz

Sunday, June 22, 2014 – 13:26

AFP

POIPET, Cambodia – Desperate for a flutter during a junta crackdown on gambling at home, Thais are making a beeline for casinos in a seedy Cambodian border town – which has already been deluged by migrants also fleeing the kingdom. Read more of this post

China’s wealth management products total $2.62 tril

China’s wealth management products total $2.62 tril

Sunday, June 22, 2014 – 12:58

Reuters

BEIJING – China’s wealth management products totalled 12.8 trillion yuan (S$2.62 trillion) as of the end of May, state media said, quoting the vice central bank head. Read more of this post

Tax-driven mergers: Inverse logic; The rush of firms fleeing America for tax reasons is set to continue

Tax-driven mergers: Inverse logic; The rush of firms fleeing America for tax reasons is set to continue

Jun 21st 2014 | NEW YORK | From the print edition

AMERICA is a land of immigrants, but some of its biggest companies are keen to emigrate, driven abroad by high tax rates and America’s “worldwide” system of taxation, which grabs a share of their foreign profits. The preferred method of exit is the “tax inversion”, which uses a cross-border merger—generally one that also has some sort of industrial logic—as the pretext for reincorporating in a more tax-friendly place. Medtronic, a maker of medical devices, is the latest and largest firm to change its nationality in this way. Read more of this post

Leviathan as capitalist: State capitalism continues to defy expectations of its demise

Leviathan as capitalist: State capitalism continues to defy expectations of its demise

Jun 21st 2014 | From the print edition

IT IS now 25 years since Francis Fukuyama published “The End of History?” and ignited a firestorm of debate. Today there are many reasons for thinking that he was wrong about the universal triumph of liberalism and markets, from democracy’s failure in the Middle East to the revival of religious fundamentalism. But one of the most surprising reasons is the continuing power of the state as an economic actor: far from retiring from the business battlefield in 1989, the state merely regrouped for another advance. Read more of this post

Riding the rich, grey Chinese wave: China’s largest private-sector conglomerate has been a skilful surfer of changing business trends

Riding the rich, grey Chinese wave: China’s largest private-sector conglomerate has been a skilful surfer of changing business trends

Jun 21st 2014 | SHANGHAI | From the print edition

RETIREMENT homes can be depressing places, but Starcastle comes as a pleasant surprise. This upmarket development for pensioners in Shanghai is a joint venture between Fosun Group, a Chinese conglomerate, and Fortress Investment Group, an American private-equity firm. Visitors find a colourfully decorated apartment building filled with energetic oldies. By the entrance, a giggling gaggle admires the herbs and flowers; nearby, residents practise tai chi and calligraphy; others are in a classroom, learning to use WeChat, a mobile-messaging app.

Ask a trio chatting in the centre’s open-air café why they chose this place, which caters to people keen on living independently while still getting meals and nursing as needed, and their answers point to a powerful trend. Since time immemorial, Chinese children have been expected to take care of their aged parents—but rising incomes and shifting norms are changing things. The 93-year-old former boss of a hotel chain insists such stylish retirement homes, previously unheard of in China, are the future: “It’s very advanced, it’s convenient… and the kids stop worrying.” Read more of this post

Investors Just Threw A Ton Of Money At Unusually High-Risk Bonds For A Project That Doesn’t Make Money

Investors Just Threw A Ton Of Money At Unusually High-Risk Bonds For A Project That Doesn’t Make Money

MYLES UDLAND MARKETS  JUN. 22, 2014, 12:19 AM

“Where can you get 12% yield?”

Investors just took on a ton of risk to finance a new Florida passenger railway project being undertaken by Fortress Investment Group, reports Reuters’ Natalie Harrison and Shankar Ramakrishnan.

The project, called All Aboard Florida, plans to use existing freight railway on the east coast of Florida to carry passengers. Read more of this post

More than half a million votes were cast for full democracy in Hong Kong by the second day of an unofficial online poll organized by activists and labeled illegal by China

Hong Kong Democracy Poll Gets Half a Million Votes by Second Day

By Natasha Khan June 21, 2014

More than half a million votes were cast for full democracy in Hong Kong by the s Read more of this post

How Inherited Wealth Helps the Economy

How Inherited Wealth Helps the Economy

JUNE 21, 2014

By N. GREGORY MANKIW

An undated photograph shows John D. Rockefeller, wearing a bow tie, and family members

Is inherited wealth making a comeback?

Yes, says Thomas Piketty, author of the best seller “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” Inherited wealth has always been with us, of course, but Mr. Piketty believes that its importance is increasing. He sees a future that combines slow economic growth with high returns to capital. He reasons that if capital owners save much of their income, their wealth will accumulate and be passed on to their heirs. He concludes that individuals’ living standards will be determined less by their skill and effort and more by bequests they receive. Read more of this post

Panasonic to sell birthplace of its TV business: report

Panasonic to sell birthplace of its TV business: report
Sunday, June 22, 2014
AFP

TOKYO — Japan’s electronics giant Panasonic will sell the plant where it first got into the television business half a century ago as it shifts away from the money-losing division, a report said Saturday.

The company plans to sell 60 percent of the plant’s 120,000-square meter site in Ibaraki, near the western city of Osaka, to Japan’s major homebuilder Daiwa House by early next year, the business daily Nikkei said. Read more of this post

China Resources sealed billions in deals without tenders, auditor finds; In one case, auditors find HK-listed power unit sealed HK$14.7b deals outside usual practice

China Resources sealed billions in deals without tenders, auditor finds

Saturday, 21 June, 2014, 3:14am

Eric Ng eric.mpng@scmp.com

In one case, auditors find HK-listed power unit sealed HK$14.7b deals outside usual practice

China Resources sealed billions of yuan worth of contracts without going through a tendering process, the National Audit Office has discovered. Read more of this post

Family businesses on the wane; Fewer family businesses are being passed on to successive generations, a new report finds

Family businesses on the wane

Fewer family businesses are being passed on to successive generations, a new report finds

Family businesses will contribute more than £120bn to the UK economy by 2018 Photo: AFP

By Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise Editor

7:00AM BST 20 Jun 2014

Family businesses are no longer being passed down to the third generation, new research has found. Read more of this post

Migrant Exodus Puts Strain on Ailing Thai Economy

Migrant Exodus Puts Strain on Ailing Thai Economy

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre on 03:04 pm Jun 21, 2014

Samut Prakarn, Thailand. Lek Numthong, who supplies foreign laborers for construction sites on the fringes of the Thai capital, normally has a truckload of workers eager to make a day’s wage. But his pick-up has been all but empty for a week.

Only two Burmese workers are sitting in the back.

About 200,000 Cambodians, a key component of the migrant workforce, have turned tail and gone home. The clumsy rhetoric that apparently precipitated their departure may be the first misstep in the efforts by the generals now running the country to revive an economy battered by months of political turmoil. Read more of this post

Tata Motors’ Tale of Two Shares

Tata Motors’ Tale of Two Shares

ABHEEK BHATTACHARYABy

Updated June 20, 2014 8:25 a.m. ET

Tata Motors 500570.BY -0.13% ‘ once-lonely Class A shares are getting some overdue respect. There’s reason to think the love fest could continue.

India’s most valuable car maker gives investors the choice between two stock listings. There are regular shares. And then there are Class A shares, which carry a tenth of the main stock’s voting rights, though pay a higher dividend.

Read more of this post