China Says Local-Level Debt Soars, Stirring Fear
December 30, 2013-- The total debt of local governments in China has soared to nearly $3 trillion as the country's addiction to credit-fueled growth has deepened in recent years, according to the findings of a long-awaited report released on Monday by the central auditing agency.
In the report, which is likely to further raise concerns about China's debt problem, the National Audit Office found that local governments across the country had accumulated 17.89 trillion renminbi, or $2.95 trillion, worth of debt obligations as of the end of June. That was an increase of 12.7 percent from December 2012, when local government debt stood at 15.88 trillion renminbi, the report said.
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Source: New York Times
South Korea exchange rushes to implement 'kill switch'
December 30, 2013--South Korea's exchange operator, Korea Exchange (KRX), is rushing to implement a "kill switch" system designed to minimise the fallout from trading algorithms going wrong after a local broker was brought to the brink of bankruptcy by erroneous electronic trades this month.
HanMag Securities, a local derivatives broker, faces collapse after suffering a loss of Won46.2bn ($4.3m), after entering thousands of erroneous trades in Kospi options. It is the first time a South Korean securities group faces bankruptcy due to erroneous electronic trades.
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Source: FT.com
Tokyo's Nikkei index soars 57%
December 30, 2013--On the last trading day of the year, Japanese shares posted their best annual performance for more than four decades, leaving other major markets in the dust.
Foreign investors piled into the long-laggard market in 2013 as the government and central bank unveiled measures aimed at stoking the world's third-largest economy that sent the yen plummeting against the dollar and cheered exporters.
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Source: FIN24
China shares rise
December 30, 2013--Chinese shares were up 0.23% in morning trade on Monday as sentiment improved after Beijing issued rules to protect stock investors, dealers said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 4.82 points to 2 106.07.
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Source: FIN24
Tokyo share trade boosted by new tax rules
December 30, 2013--Trading in Japanese stocks rose to an all-time high in the days leading up to the year-end shutdown, as individual investors prepared for a new tax regime designed to challenge their deep-rooted
antipathy toward the world's second biggest equity market.
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Source: FT.com
Chinese PM Li Keqiang pledges 'appropriate liquidity' in 2014
December 30, 2013--Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has said that the government will keep liquidity at an appropriate level in 2014 to maintain the stability of financial markets and the broader economy.
He made the remarks during a recent inspection tour to the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, according to an account published on the website of the State Council, China's cabinet, late on Sunday.
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Source: Reuters
LSE develops framework for market makers
December 28, 2013--The Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) has initiated work on devising a framework to appoint liquidity suppliers and takers, who are known as market makers.
A spokesperson at the LSE said market makers would add efficiency and transparency in the market to rebuild an investor's confidence. After the appointment, the stock market would enjoy a liquefied order book. It would also ensure a trading platform under a secure and well regulated infrastructure.
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Source: The News
Publication of the draft of the "Principles for Responsible Institutional Investors"
December 26, 2013--The Council of Experts Concerning the Japanese Version of the Stewardship Code (Chairman:Hiroyuki Kansaku, Professor of Graduate Schools for Law and Politics/Faculty of Law, The University of Tokyo) publishes the draft of "Japan's Stewardship Code" and is calling for public comments in Japanese.
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Source: fsa.go.jp
Stock Exchange of Thailand announces its 2014 strategy
December 24, 2013--The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has announced its 2014 strategy in pushing for sustainable growth within the next 3 years.
According to the SET, it will beginning next year focus on newly registered companies and quality investors in order to cope with the market's volatility.
Furthermore, it will bridge investment opportunities within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in order to stimulate growth within the region.
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Source: National News Bureau of Thailand
IMF Working paper-Development of the Renminbi Market in Hong Kong SAR: Assessing Onshore-Offshore Market Integration
December 24, 2013--Summary: Offshore use of the renminbi expanded rapidly in Hong Kong SAR as China sought to develop an international role for its currency while maintaining capital controls. This prompts two questions addressed in this paper: How far advanced is renminbi internationalization? And, what role does Chinese capital account liberalization play?
The first is addressed by testing the extent of integration of offshore and onshore markets for the renminbi using a Threshold Autoregression (TAR) model and finds that there are substantial unexploited arbitrage opportunities. A VAR model is used to indentify factors contributing to this limited market integration and finds that capital controls and shifts in global market sentiment explain much of the divergence in onshore and offshore renminbi exchange rates. To address the second question, the paper shows how capital account measures have been used to promote offshore use of the renminbi more actively in the wake of the global financial crisis, but that this was done asymmetrically with controls on inflows eased to a greater extent than on outflows. It concludes that a more balanced liberalization process will sustain progress in renminbi internationalization.
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