Corporate Governance

HDFC hiring for India’s best, hardest banking job

20 January 2020

The $99 bln lender is defying an economic slowdown to deliver 20% loan growth. Aditya Puri, who has led the institution to deliver outsize returns for almost three decades, is set to retire this year on a high note. His successor will inherit a richly valued bank with a lot to lose.

Boeing CEO’s top task is to re-engineer culture

10 January 2020

David Calhoun knows the importance of a company ethos, after having a front seat at General Electric’s rise and fall. Disturbing messages released by Boeing show a multi-year overhaul facing him – refocusing the firm from profit to engendering trust and making great planes.

India’s big build hinges on credibility revamp

7 January 2020

New Delhi wants the private sector to fund one fifth of a $1.4 trln infrastructure plan over five years. Much of the country’s bad debt, however, has come from previous projects. Investors will want evidence politicians are offering manageable risks before they sign up again.

The Exchange: India’s water crisis

6 January 2020

Kicking off Predictions 2020, Amit Chandra of Bain, Reshma Anand of Hindustan Unilever Foundation and Mridula Ramesh of the Sundaram Climate Institute come together in Mumbai to discuss who should pay for the scarce resource, and how the private sector can map out its true cost.

Carlos Ghosn helps the 1% end decade on-brand

2 January 2020

Nissan’s ex-boss didn’t like Japan’s justice system, and so arranged an escape to his former home Lebanon. The grotesque use of wealth ties a bow on a lucrative 10-year run for the ultra-rich. Leave it to a man who once partied at Versailles to rally the anti-plutocracy movement.

Tokyo brings home the Olympic gold in 2020

24 December 2019

Cities are often saddled with debt from hosting the games, and mismanagement has stretched from Montreal to Rio. Japan is setting new positive standards in sponsorship and sustainability, making medals from used phones. Add on short-term stimulus, and it can top the host podium.

Chinese bottled water IPO offers up a muddy glass

18 December 2019

Market-leader Nongfu Spring could raise more than $1 bln in Hong Kong. Mainland households are drinking more of the bottled stuff as incomes rise. That thirst, though, has brought competitors, and may also prompt a much-needed tightening of environmental and consumer rules.

Nasty pieces of WeWork

17 December 2019

The shared-office outfit’s absurd $47 bln valuation wasn’t all that got exposed during a shambolic IPO attempt that led to SoftBank’s bailout. With any luck, founder worship, supervoting shares, weak governance, wacky missions and more will be knocked down a peg – or several.

Boeing 737 MAX cuts will speed margins descent

16 December 2019

Limited competition has insulated the $185 bln aircraft maker’s shares from the long grounding. The plane may fly again soon, but investors and CEO Dennis Muilenburg expect rising profitability. Newly zealous regulators, overstretched staff and economic winds say otherwise.

Time has come for Aussie CEOs to walk climate talk

12 December 2019

Fierce bushfires have left Sydney choking, triggering public anger along with home fire alarms. A government that won by challenging Labor’s green campaign is sitting idle. Companies can fill the leadership gap by pushing for coherent policy that would benefit investors, too.

United flies back to bumpy governance

5 December 2019

The $22 bln airline is bumping CEO Oscar Munoz up to executive chairman and giving Scott Kirby the control stick. It undoes three years of having an independent chair in the cockpit. Activists inspired that change. United’s new flight path may put it back on their radar.

U.S.-China fault line runs right through Hong Kong

28 November 2019

President Donald Trump grudgingly signed a law effectively backing the city’s anti-government protesters. He tried to soften the blow for Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Bipartisan U.S. support, though, shows antagonism will outlast precarious trade talks – or a change of leader.

Banks Down Under have further depths to plumb

26 November 2019

Westpac is parting ways with both its chairman and CEO, days after a money-laundering scandal erupted. The $58 bln Aussie lender becomes the latest of the Big Four to replace its top brass. Persistent rot suggests investors may be underestimating the cost of the cleanup.

AIA buys itself a little extra China cover

25 November 2019

The $120 bln insurer hired Lee Yuan Siong from Ping An to be CEO. Weathering strife in Hong Kong, its biggest market, is the most immediate challenge. His tech savvy and mainland political ties, nurtured during his time at the Chinese titan, will be valuable both now and later.

Anime hero toys with Japan’s robotic governance

22 November 2019

Bandai Namco, the $14 bln creator of Pac-Man, wants to buy the rest of Sotsu, the company behind the iconic Gundam empire. A Chicago-based investor has flown in to fight a flawed deal unfair to minority shareholders. It may, however, take regulators to save the day.

India’s shadow bank fix shows much-needed audacity

21 November 2019

The regulator is taking control of a credit crisis, sending housing lender DHFL and $12 bln of liabilities to bankruptcy court. Unpicking a financial institution’s woes with a process designed for regular corporates is bold. It might also be the only way to break an impasse.

Aviva’s drift to mediocrity may tempt an activist

20 November 2019

The UK insurer pledged to simplify its business. Yet new CEO Maurice Tulloch’s strategy review disappointed hopes for asset sales, and mostly reaffirmed older aims. The $21 bln group’s sprawling structure, and discount to peers make it a juicy target for an uppity investor.

Russian tech investors see benefits of state grip

19 November 2019

Internet group Yandex’s shares jumped after it tweaked its governance to avoid a clampdown on foreign ownership. The new setup hands power to a fuzzy Russian entity, and could enable government meddling. But shareholders have less to worry about than peers in China, or America.

Chinese state lender sells rural retail risk

18 November 2019

Hong Kong-listed Postal Savings Bank, serving some of the country’s poorest folk, is planning a $4.7 bln Shanghai float. That will improve capital buffers, but it might get stuck rescuing rural brethren too. At a premium to book, it’s a doubly pricy bet on the peasantry.

WeWork pulls $26 bln telco deal into its vortex

11 November 2019

SoftBank may be considering T-Mobile US boss John Legere to run the office-sharing firm it rescued. But Legere is still clearing regulatory hurdles to a merger with Sprint, also backed by the Japanese firm. His early exit could leave SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son with double trouble.