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Foreigners to be mostly kept out of China's privatizations
March 6, 2014--As China embarks on a new wave of opening up state-dominated industries to private capital, foreign firms will largely be kept out and authorities are likely to look to institutions like domestic pension funds and insurers.
State giants China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Sinopec Corp and China Railway Corporation have said they were seeking investments from private capital and also social capital, or funds sourced from pension funds and insurance companies. "I think those are going to be the key groups that the SOEs (state-owned enterprises) will first partner up with," said Sun Lijian, deputy director of the School of Economics at Fudan University. "It will also fit in with Beijing's strategy to diversify investment channels for its vast, locally managed pension funds." The move reflects China's desire to avoid adding further debt on to the federal government's books while injecting much-needed cash into vital sectors, but without ceding control
Source: Today's Zaman
China Retains 7.5% Growth Target for 2014
March 5, 2014--China set a 7.5 percent target for economic growth in 2014, a pace that may make it more difficult to achieve the leadership's goals of curbing credit risks and stemming the pollution choking the nation's biggest cities.
The growth target, which is the same as last year's, will boost market confidence and protect jobs, Premier Li Keqiang told the annual meeting of the legislature in Beijing today. "We must keep economic development as the central task and maintain a proper economic growth rate," Li said.
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Source: Bloomberg
Japan eyes Bitcoin regulations, taxes: Report
March 5, 2014--Japan may slap regulations on bitcoin including taxing transactions, a report said, as the global digital currency suffered another alleged theft that cast doubt on its reliability.
Tokyo will issue new guidelines, possibly this week, which would pave the way for firm rules that could see banks and brokerage houses restricted in how they deal in the virtual unit, leading Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.
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Source: Times of India
First China Onshore Default Looms as Chaori to Miss Payment
March 5, 2014--Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co. said it may not be able to make an 89.8 million yuan ($14.6 million) interest payment in full on March 7, in what would be the first default of an onshore bond.
The maker of energy cells to convert sunlight into power, plans to pay 4 million yuan to bondholders, the company said in a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange yesterday.
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Source: Bloomberg
IRDA permits insurers to invest in equity ETFs
March 3, 2014--IRDA on Monday allowed insurance companies to invest in equity Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) with certain conditions, a move which would help boost inflows into the country's stock market.
Only passively managed schemes of the mutual funds which are registered with SEBI and governed by SEBI are eligible, IRDA said in a notification.
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Source: india.com
New ETF to be Listed on Mar. 24, 2014 (Mon.)-Nomura Asset Management"NEXT FUNDS Russell/Nomura Fundamental Index Exchange Traded Fund"
March 3, 2014--Today, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE) approved the listing of new ETF managed by Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd.
This will be listed on Monday, March 24, 2014
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Source: TSE
PSU exchange-traded fund can invest up to 10% of corpus in derivatives
March 2, 2014--Fund managers of the CPSE Exchange Traded Fund, comprising shares of 10 bluechip firms, will be allowed to invest up to 10 per cent of the Rs 3,000 crore corpus in derivative products like stock futures and interest rate swaps.
The draft prospectus, filed by the Finance Ministry with the SEBI, says: "the Scheme may invest in derivative products like stock index futures, interest rate swaps, forward rate agreements or other derivatives..."
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Source: Hindu Business Line
S&P Dow Jones Indices' Market Attributes: Index Dashboard Asia Pacific
February 28, 2014--This month's highlights include:
After a sobering start to the year, February saw global markets in recovery mode. The S&P Asia 50 was up 3% while the Asia-Pacific Emerging BMI Index rose 3.5%.
Bucking the trend-and despite rallying significantly mid-month - the S&P TOPIX ended the month down, as did equity markets in China.
Commodities have emerged from the doldrums; both broad indices are up significantly.
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Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
i-VCAP Management launches syariah compliant fund
February 28, 2014-Malaysia's Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) market received a much needed boost with i-VCAP Management Sdn Bhd (i-VCAP) launching its syariah-compliant, MyETF MSCI Malaysia Islamic Dividend (MyETF-MMID)- the country''s first ETF launched this year since the last ETF was listed on Bursa Securities in 2010.
The prospectus launch was held yesterday with a tentative listing on Bursa Securities' Main Market scheduled for March 21, 2014.
The launch of MyETF-MMID is poised to inject fresh impetus into Malaysia's ETF market which for the most part, has been nascent at best. The Fund will leverage on MSCI' s robust benchmark index which represents Malaysia' s high dividend yielding stocks (MSCI Malaysia IMI Islamic High Dividend Yield 10/40 Index published by MSCI Inc).
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Source: Borneo Post
Hong Kong SFC Proposes Restricting Retail Access to Dark Pools
February 27, 2014--Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission said it will consult the public on proposed legislation to restrict retail investors from accessing so-called dark pools and enhance disclosure requirements.
Alternative liquidity pools, or dark pools, should be limited to institutional investors as the platform operators may not properly and sufficiently inform retail clients about risks, the SFC said on its website today. Retail orders, which are typically smaller than those of institutional investors, also risk having their orders not being transacted fairly, the regulator said in a statement today.
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Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek