|
20 - 28 May 2014
| Issue 205
"Equity was a gap in
what we offered when I started. We were focused on debt because that was
the area that needed the most development, but we were missing out the
biggest markets in Asia by not looking at equities" Mark Austen said.
While Austen says it is too soon to be to be able say that an ECM group
will definitely come into being, the talks have been positive and he is
optimistic. (Global Capital)
Promoting Convergence and
Investments in EU-Asian Financial Markets, co-organised by ASIFMA &
CEPS.
CHINA
Chinese President Xi Jinping
has called for better coordination between government work and market
forces in promoting sustainable economic and social development. Calling
the relationship between government and the market the core issue in
economic reform, Xi said that the roles of the two are not contradictory
and should not be pitted against each other. (Xinhua)
The National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC) has promulgated the 'Administrative Measures on
Approval and Filings of Foreign Investment Projects' to reform its
administration of foreign investment projects in China. The Measures will
take effect on 17 June 2014 and the previous 'Interim Administrative
Measures on the Approval of Foreign Investment Projects' issued by the NDRC
on 9 October 2004 will be superseded as of that date.
China Shanghai Trade
Zone Moves Towards Open Capital Account
The People's Bank of China has taken a step towards allowing bank account
holders operating in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone to bypass Chinese capital
account controls as part of the government's latest financial system reform
moves. According to the bank's Shanghai branch Thursday, holders of
"free trade accounts" will theoretically be allowed to transfer
funds in and out of China without being subject to the capital controls
that apply outside of the zone. They also allow for the free convertibility
of the yuan, in theory at least. (MNI News)
The State Administration of
Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has issued the 'Provisions on Foreign Exchange
Control over Cross-border Security', which are intended to reform China's
regulatory regime for cross-border guarantee and security and adapt it to
the international commercial environment. Compared with the consultation
draft issued on 13 February 2014, the final provisions include several
steps further to deregulate cross-border security. The provisions will take
effect from 1 June 2014.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange
(SSE) has issued the 'Pilot Administrative Rules of Preferred Stocks
Business on the SSE', in order to set out the rules for listing, trading
and transferring preferred stocks on the SSE, as well as information
disclosure requirements.
The People's Bank of China
(PBoC) unveiled a $2 billion investment vehicle with the African
Development Bank (AfDB) yesterday, in a deal that revolutionises the way
China finances projects on the continent. (Central Banking)
HONG
KONG
Hong Kong
Government: ASEAN trade pact views invited
The Government invites interested parties to send in their views regarding
a proposed free trade agreement between Hong Kong and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations before negotiations between the two sides begin in
July. A consultation document has been uploaded for views to be submitted
on or before July 7.
Government
welcomes IMF assessment commending Hong Kong's well-regulated and resilient
financial system
The Government welcomes a comprehensive assessment by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) which commends Hong Kong's financial system as very
well regulated and resilient, according to the Financial System Stability
Assessment report released by the IMF today (May 23). The report
acknowledges that Hong Kong's financial sector is one of the largest and
most developed in the world, ranking first in the World Economic Forum
Financial Development Index.
SINGAPORE
Opening Remarks by Ravi
Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the Asian
Monetary Policy Forum (AMPF)
Singapore Exchange (SGX) will
set up a liaison office in India within a month to help Indian firms interested
in listing and raising capital in Singapore. "Such capital raising is
achieved via equity, Real Estate Investment Trust, Business Trust, Global
Depository Receipts and debt listings on our Exchange," Ronald Tan,
SGX Director for Marketing and Business Development, told today. "I
think for us that (the approval and office) is huge commitment because we
have been engaging India for last 10 years," he said. (Economic Times)
INDIA
Pakistan, China
and Japan to receive high priority under Narendra Modi's foreign policy
Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi's foreign policy will be
"Vajpayee-plus", defined by "out-of the-box thinking"
and "completely different from what his critics expect". Also,
South Asian neighbours and Asian giants China and Japan will be Modi's
first foreign policy priorities. People belonging to a small team working
closely with Modi's core team on major foreign policy and security policy
matters told ET that Modi's invitation to all Saarc leaders, including
Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif, was "just the beginning of a redefined and
radically rethought" foreign policy. (Economic Times)
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has drawn up a list of issues that should be pushed by the new
government. With inflation-control on top of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan's
mind, sources familiar with the developments said implementation of the
Urjit Patel committee's recommendations will be the main agenda the central
bank will take up for discussions with the new finance minister. The Patel
committee had suggested inflation targeting should be RBI's singular
mandate and the central bank should be accountable for meeting the target.
(Business Standard)
Market regulator Sebi has
found large-scale violations in several schemes of select mutual fund
houses where norms regarding minimum 20 investors and maximum 25 per cent
single investor exposure have been breached repeatedly. These fund houses
have been asked by Sebi to immediately take redressal measures, failing
which penal actions can be taken, a senior official said. Industry
executives have also confirmed such directions from Sebi. Without naming
the concerned mutual funds, the official said the violations have come to
fore after an analysis of quarterly disclosures made by fund houses about
their schemes. (Indian Express)
US lawmakers hail
Narendra Modi's victory; call for greater Indo-US ties
Hailing the "historic victory" of Narendra Modi in general
elections, several influential American lawmakers have called for
rejuvenating ties with India as they invited the Prime Minister-designate
to the US. "What a great time! Now we have a new opportunity in India
to see a new government and to see some of the challenges that we all hope
are addressed. One of those is to what can be done to create a shot in the
arm for more economic prosperity in India," said Congressman Ed Royce,
Chairman of the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs. (Economic
Times)
JAPAN
Ruling-party lawmakers are
proposing to establish Japan's first corporate-governance code in a bid to
attract foreign investors disappointed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's
structural changes to the economy. Lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic
Party said this week they wanted companies listed on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange to appoint at least two independent directors in principle. They
presented the proposals to the government of Mr. Abe, who is set to
announce his latest growth strategy in June. (WSJ)
Bank of Japan Governor
Haruhiko Kuroda said Wednesday that one of the three major lessons
policymakers have learned from the recent global financial crisis is that
central banks can conduct monetary easing to support growth and stable
inflation even under near-zero interest rates. "It is possible to
implement monetary easing even in a situation where the policy rate is
around zero percent," Kuroda said in an opening speech to the BOJ's
international conference on "monetary policy in a post-financial
crisis era." (MNI News)
Speech by Mr Kikuo Iwata,
Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan, at a Newspaper Editorial Writers'
Meeting.
MALYASIA
Bank Negara Malaysia and the
Bank of Korea announce today the activation of the "Malaysia-Korea
Currency Swap-financed Trade Settlement Facility" whereby up to MYR15
billion or KRW5 trillion will be made available to facilitate trade
settlements between firms of both countries using our respective
currencies. This facility is developed arising from the Malaysia-Korea
Currency Swap Arrangement agreement that was signed between the two central
banks on 20 October 2013.
SOUTH
KOREA
The Korean Government has
announced that it will ease regulations on foreign direct investment (FDI)
in order to improve business conditions in Korea, lessening the number of
procedures required for foreign investors to invest in Korea. The
government will also simplify regulations in Free Economic Zones (FEZs) and
Free Trade Zones (FTZs).
PHILIPPINES
Speech by Mr Amando M
Tetangco, Jr, Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas at the Inaugural
Philippines Investment Summit
INTERNATIONAL
Christine Lagarde, managing
director of the International Monetary Fund, called for closer cooperation
among the world's central banks to cope with the challenges of increasingly
interlinked and complex financial systems. (Reuters)
World Trade Flows
Fall in First Quarter
World trade flows fell in the first three months of 2014, another
indication that a sustained and broad-based pickup in global economic
growth remains out of reach more than five years after the start of the
financial crisis. The Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, also
known as the CPB, Friday said the volume of world exports and imports in
March was 0.5% lower than in February. For the first quarter as a whole,
trade flows were down 0.8% on a quarterly basis, after a rise of 1.5% in
the final three months of last year. (WSJ)
UNITED STATES
Top U.S. securities
regulators are embracing a plan designed to shift more stock trading onto
exchanges and away from private trading venues operated by banks and other
firms, according to people familiar with the discussions. The move, which
could deliver a blow to bank trading operations, is expected to be part of
a coming Securities and Exchange Commission pilot program aimed at boosting
trading in the stocks of smaller companies. (WSJ)
EUROPE
The European Central Bank
(ECB) has today published a draft ECB Regulation on supervisory fees for
public consultation. The ECB will take over as supervisor of euro area
banks in November 2014 as part of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM).
The SSM will directly supervise up to 130 institutions and work with
national competent authorities to oversee smaller banks.
European Central Bank
President Mario Draghi said Monday that the Bank must be alert to negative
price spirals in the Eurozone and conceded that there was a risk of
deflation in the currency area under certain scenarios. (MNI News)
ESMA consults on
MiFID reforms
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched the
consultation process for the implementation of the revised Markets in
Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation (MiFIR). This is
the first step in the process of translating the MiFID II/MiFIR
requirements into practically applicable rules and regulations to address
the effects of the financial crisis and to improve financial market
transparency and strengthen investor protection.
ESMA publishes 8th updated Q&A
on EMIR implementation
The Q&A's purpose is to promote common supervisory approaches and
practices in the application of EMIR. It provides responses to questions
posed by the general public, market participants and competent authorities.
The Q&As are aimed at national competent authorities to ensure
convergent supervisory activities. It should also help investors and other
market participants by providing clarity on the requirements under EMIR.
European efforts to build a
financial-transaction tax are turning to which derivatives to tax and how
to leave room for future expansion, planning documents show. Greece, which
holds the EU's rotating presidency until July 1, has proposed several
options for taking the plan forward, according to the documents prepared
for a May 28 working group meeting. One task will be to decide which
derivatives to tax, while another will be to choose how the current plan
should set the stage for a broader scope later on. (Bloomberg)
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.