Bamboo Innovator

Korea must shed homogeneity jinx

2013-07-17

Korea must shed homogeneity jinx

Kim Ji-soo

Korea should more positively shed the yoke of racial homogeneity and welcome immigrants with open arms in order to get ahead globally, an international politico-economic expert claims in an interview. Talking about his recent book on the future of Korea immigration, Mo Jongryn, said, “Look at Apple. Everybody, irrespective of nationality, wants to work there.” “By changing its concept, Samsung will be able to tap into the 7 billion of the world population rather than from 50 million South Koreans,” Mo said about Korea’s global winning strategy. Read more of this post

Corporate bonds with detachable warrants (BDWs) will be no longer available for issuance from late next month in South Korea after 15 years of rocking the political and business circles

Corporate bonds with detachable warrant to vanish in S. Korea

Hwang Ji-hye, Oh Soo-hyun

2013.07.17

Corporate bonds with detachable warrants (BDWs) will be no longer available for issuance from late next month in South Korea after 15 years of rocking the political and business circles. This has prompted companies to rush to issue BDWs. Buyers of BDWs can give the issuer warrant in exchange for shares and sell the shares at a market price to take profits if share price rises above the exercise price. However, the revised Capital Market Integration Act will take effect on August 29, which prohibits issuance of BDWs. The National Assembly came up with such regulations to prevent majority shareholders from employing BDWs to fraudulently gain profits or hand over their shares as inheritance. Since its adoption in 1999, BDWs became a subject of nationwide controversy when corporations such as Samsung SDS and Doosan were accused of issuing BDWs to illegally transfer shares to parties of special interest. The accusation prompted prosecutors to seek investigation into the charge. In addition, BDWs triggered political controversy during the presidential election last year, as prominent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo was suspected of having converted BDWs into stocks exceeding the bonds’ value while running a computer vaccine company. The issuance of bonds with warrants has jumped 30 percent year-on-year (yoy) this year, said local financial information provider FnGuide Wednesday.

Legoland Korea will open in Chuncheon in Gangwon Province, South Korea in July 2016.

Legoland Korea starts countdown for formal contract

Gee Hong-goo

2013.07.18

Educational theme park Legoland Korea will open in Chuncheon in Gangwon Province, South Korea in July 2016.

If the 1.32 million square-meter (400,000 pyeong) Legoland Korea is constructed in Jungdo, the most attractive tourist place in Chuncheon, it will become the world’s seventh largest and East’s Asia’s first Lego-themed theme park.  The Maeil Business Newspaper found Merlin Entertainments Group wrapped up fine-tuning process for the formal contract Thursday to sign it around early next week. A formal contract came 22 months after the memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed in September 2011.  Read more of this post

Activist Billionaire Investor Nelson Peltz Presses PepsiCo to Spin Off Beverages and Buy Mondelez

Updated July 17, 2013, 10:03 p.m. ET

Peltz Presses PepsiCo to Spin Off Beverages and Buy Mondelez

MIKE ESTERL, JULIET CHUNG and JULIE JARGON

Activist shareholder Nelson Peltz said he is urging PepsiCo Inc. PEP +1.45% to acquire Mondelez International Inc. MDLZ +2.13% to create a global snack giant and spin off PepsiCo’s underperforming beverage business. But PepsiCo “right now doesn’t love” the proposed deal, Mr. Peltz said in an interview on CNBC, adding that he is continuing to talk with the snack and beverage company. Read more of this post

A Bailout Lifeline to a Brazilian Billionaire Would Be Risky

JULY 17, 2013, 3:29 PM

A Lifeline to a Brazilian Billionaire Would Be Risky

By CHRISTOPHER SWANN

A bailout of billionaire Eike Batista would look bad for Brazil. Whiffs of cronyism hang over reports that state development bank BNDES has eased debt terms for the once high-flying tycoon. Taxpayers already have up to $4.7 billion wagered on his collapsing empire. If Brasilia risks more to save a pampered tycoon, it had better be prepared for another round of street protests.

The flamboyant billionaire once called BNDES “the best bank in the world.” Now he may have even more reason to think so. Daily newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported that the bank is voluntarily softening the loan conditions for his heavily indebted group of companies. BNDES, Mr. Batista’s largest creditor, has denied any favoritism. Still, it would not be the first time the government has come to the entrepreneur’s aid. Read more of this post

Downbeat Maersk Line chief warns of new era in shipping; Container shipping industry faces lower annual growth

July 17, 2013 11:02 am

Downbeat Maersk Line chief warns of new era in shipping

By Mark Odell, Transport Correspondent

The struggling container shipping industry must prepare for a new era that will see growth in demand fall to half the levels seen over the past two decades, the head of the world’s largest carrier has warned. Søren Skou, chief executive of Maersk Line, a bellwether for global trade, told the Financial Times that the more downbeat outlook was not just due to an prediction of sustained weaker economic growth globally. Read more of this post

Thai farm subsidy creates rice mountain; the effects on world prices could be serious if Thailand floods the market with its rice

July 17, 2013 2:52 pm

Thai farm subsidy creates rice mountain

By Emiko Terazono

Europe has had its butter mountain and wine lake. Now the Thai government is sitting on a rice hoard large enough to supply half of global imports for a year – and traders fear a price collapse as it starts to sell. Bangkok’s rice buying policy, designed to boost farmers’ incomes, has led to a stockpile of 17m-18m tonnes. With the new crop set to be harvested in October, the Thai government needs to dispose of its existing inventory to raise money for the new purchases. Rice market experts are on high alert as Bangkok could issue tenders for about 350,000 tonnes of its rice as early as next week. Concepción Calpe, senior rice analyst at the Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome, warns the effects on world prices could be serious if Thailand floods the market with its rice. “It could potentially have catastrophic consequences,” she said. Read more of this post

The 40-Year Club: America’s Longest-Serving Directors; Board Colleagues Say They Provide Useful Context, While Activist Investors Question Independence

July 16, 2013, 7:45 p.m. ET

The 40-Year Club: America’s Longest-Serving Directors

Board Colleagues Say They Provide Useful Context, While Activist Investors Question Independence

JOANN S. LUBLIN

Corporate governance has changed dramatically in 40 years. Just ask Robert Ted Enloe III. He’s been on the board of Leggett & Platt Inc LEG +0.69% . that whole time. “Governance is far better today,” says Mr. Enloe. The 74-year-old former attorney has served on the board of the maker of bedding and commercial fixtures since 1969. Mr. Enloe belongs to an unusual elite: He’s one of 28 outside directors with at least 40 years’ tenure at a company in the Russell 3000 stock index. Aged 67 to 87 years old, these senior statesmen—and they are all men—hold board seats at big businesses such asNike Inc., NKE +1.00% Level 3 Communications Inc. LVLT -0.05% andCenturyLink Inc., CTL -0.44% according to an analysis by governance researchers GMI Ratings for The Wall Street Journal. Read more of this post

Paying Auditors for Honest Appraisals; An Experiment in India’s Gujarat State Shows a Way to Realign Interests and Incentives

Updated July 17, 2013, 9:21 p.m. ET

Paying Auditors for Honest Appraisals

An Experiment in India’s Gujarat State Shows a Way to Realign Interests and Incentives

DAVID WESSEL

The auditing business rests on what Joshua Ronen, a New York University accounting professor, once called “a structural infirmity.” Auditors are paid by companies they audit, much as rating agencies are paid by companies they rate. This gives auditors an economic incentive to lie on their clients’ behalf, even if that puts their reputations at risk. As an old German proverb puts it: Whose bread I eat, his song I sing. These conflicts of interest figured in the corporate-accounting scandals of the early 2000s and the subprime-mortgage securitization debacle of the late 2000s. Despite attempts to lessen conflicts, resolution has defied easy solution. Read more of this post

The Demanding Off-Hour Escapes of China’s High-Tech Workers

http://nyti.ms/1bmHNnt

July 16, 2013

The Demanding Off-Hour Escapes of China’s High-Tech Workers

By DAN LEVIN

ZHENGZHOU, China — The hottest nightclub in this factory town is a neon-encrusted dive down the road from the industrial park where iPhones are made 24 hours a day. Tucked behind an open construction site, “Through the Summer,” as the nightspot is known, had it all on a recent Saturday night — plastic whistles, fruit plates, a toddler with a mohawk, counterfeit light sabers and a bawdy comedian who imbibed beer through his nose. Read more of this post

Once-Coveted Asian Oil Riches Take Backseat to U.S. Shale

Jul 17, 2013

Once-Coveted Asian Oil Riches Take Backseat to U.S. Shale

By Ross Kelly

Once captivated by Asia’s untapped oil-and-gas riches, some midsize U.S. energy producers are now selling their Asian assets as the North American shale revolution offers bright prospects closer to home. Companies such as Anadarko Petroleum CorpAPC +0.73%Hess Corp. HES +0.76% andNewfield Exploration Co. NFX +1.91% recently started looking for buyers for either all or some of their Asian portfolios, together worth billions of dollars. Assets for sale include oil fields in China’s Bohai Bay and natural-gas hubs in Thailand. Pulling back from Asia may appear counterintuitive. China’s energy demand alone will rise by 60% between 2010 and 2035, accounting for the largest share of growth in global energy use, according to the International Energy Agency. Read more of this post

China renews pledge to push property tax expansion

China renews pledge to push property tax expansion

English.news.cn   2013-07-17

BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) — The long-discussed expansion of China’s property tax plan has once again come under the spotlight following a renewed pledge by tax authorities to research the plan. The State Administration of Taxation (SAT) said in a circular issued late Tuesday that it will research the possible expansion of property tax pilot programs. However, like similar statements previously made by other authorities, the circular did not include any details regarding a timetable for the expansion. The comment is the latest in a string of official statements in which authorities have vowed to implement a property tax plan currently being used in the cities of Shanghai and Chongqing. Read more of this post

By the way, China isn’t rebalancing

By the way, China isn’t rebalancing

Kate Mackenzie

| Jul 17 13:09 | 14 comments | Share

Stephen Roach recently wrote for Yale Global Online arguing that yes, rebalancing is happening, but the new leadership have it under control because they are enacting the necessary reforms to facilitate this transition. A quick look at the composition of second quarter growth statistics suggests that is not happening — at least not now. INET’s China Economics Seminar summarises the composition revealed at the National Bureau of Statistics press conference on Monday: […]the spokesman of the NBS told reporters that overall consumption contributed 45.2% of GDP growth in the first six months of 2013 while investment’s contribution still stood well above half at 53.9%. Net exports contributed the rest at 0.9%. Consumption’s 45.2% is the lowest proportion since 2010, as consumption contributed 55.5% and 51.8% of GDP growth in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Read more of this post

When does a Chinese growth deceleration become a crisis?

When does a Chinese growth deceleration become a crisis?

Kate Mackenzie

| Jul 17 11:55 | 23 comments | Share

It’s clear to everyone that something big is happening in China.

Double-digit growth is long forgotten and even high single-digit growth is above the consensus (for whatever that’s worth). The implications of this alone are quite massive and you could throw around any number of predictions about what it might mean for commodities, global imbalances, and more. Nomura sees a 30 per cent chance of growth falling below 7 per cent later this year, and Barclays are talking about the odds of growth slowing to as little as 3 per cent growth. Even entertaining the possibility of an outright economic contraction would not get you accused of being a crazed permabear these days. Read more of this post