Regulation

Trump adds new impetus to old short-termism debate

17 August 2018

The U.S. president wants the SEC to examine letting public companies report earnings every six months, rather than quarterly. Plenty of others, like BlackRock’s Larry Fink, had already slammed the practice. Trump’s tweeted directive should prompt some useful independent analysis.

China’s startups can reinvent fewer wheels

17 August 2018

Beijing-based Redcore admits its "100-percent" homegrown browser has a Google base. Its programmers are the latest to dress up open-source software as Chinese, seeking state support. A clumsy localisation strategy does little for security, and distracts from real innovation.

Revamped U.S. deal reviews are skid risk for Tesla

16 August 2018

Saudi help in a buyout could spur national-security scrutiny under new powers. Tesla’s tech might be deemed critical, while D.C. also worries about China's ambitions. Rules and pilot programs are works in progress, but it's another uncertainty for CEO Elon Musk’s convoluted plans.

Britain’s Disney M&A ruling is a bit Mickey Mouse

16 August 2018

The Takeover Panel, generally a sound custodian of UK bid rules, is keeping the Magic Kingdom’s minimum buyout price for Sky at 14 pounds per share. Nudging it higher, in line with Disney’s Fox bid, would have set a better precedent for similar deals in the future.

China will fake until it makes better muni bonds

16 August 2018

The finance ministry told regional governments to hurry issuance of about 1 trln yuan of bonds to drive growth. It’s also stipulating they yield more than the sovereign rate. Despite progress building sustainable funding channels, Beijing mixes its messages to local officials.

Cox: When commemorating crises, think 20 not 10

15 August 2018

As the decennial anniversary of Lehman’s systemic collapse approaches, it’s worth recalling the one that preceded it. Russia’s 1998 default led to LTCM’s demise. Shockingly, that fiasco’s lessons went mostly unheeded until 2008. The key takeaway: there are always blind spots.

China’s stealth housing support is looking wobbly

14 August 2018

Officials are tweaking a $470 bln liquidity scheme by which the central bank effectively helps upgrade housing in smaller cities. Even a modest change could cause real estate markets to shudder. Little wonder that Chinese property developers tremble with every update.

Political risk creeps into China’s very bad bank

13 August 2018

Huarong Asset Management says earnings will drop sharply, after its chairman’s fall from grace triggered a liquidity crisis. The government, its top stakeholder, seems content to watch the shares collapse. Investors will take note: state backing now comes with more caveats.

China’s solar stress could burn more dealmakers

13 August 2018

Slashing official support for solar energy helped scupper Shanghai Electric’s plan to snap up a $2 bln stake in giant GCL-Poly’s core unit. A downturn should drive consolidation in the heavily indebted sector. But the doomed deal shows how hard it is for two sides to agree.

Summer lulls offer false sense of security

10 August 2018

That, at least, is the lesson of August 2008. A complacent Citi exec claimed the lender had more than enough capital, Merrill handed one banker a $40 mln guarantee, GM’s CEO was talking up its prospects - and the Fed was worried about inflation. The hubris didn’t last long.

Sinclair dumbly punched a gift horse in the mouth

7 August 2018

The right-wing broadcaster needlessly endangered its $3.9 bln bid for Tribune Media by selling stations to questionable buyers. That put sympathetically inclined Trump regulators in a bind. The Chicago-based TV group is better off pulling the plug and selling to someone else.

Chinese peer lending protests set political trap

7 August 2018

Beijing police on Monday stopped irate investors converging on the banking regulator and demanding compensation for losses from collapsed peer-to-peer lenders. Officials are partly responsible, yet a rescue would reinforce moral hazard. The risk is that discontent spreads.

India’s dated M&A rules let tycoons bet the house

6 August 2018

The Shroff family’s chemical group, UPL, is the latest to exploit a statute that lets companies do big overseas acquisitions without shareholder consent. Ring-fencing offshore debt does not protect investors. With Indian buyers at their most active, it's time for a tighter leash.

New rules will spoil India’s e-commerce party

3 August 2018

A draft plan to force online retailers to limit discounts, among other things, shields mom-and-pop stores from competition and strikes a nationalist tone. That could dramatically upset the strategies of Amazon and Walmart and leave India's marketplace looking rather Chinese.

Twitter purges users and shareholders alike

27 July 2018

The social network’s efforts to reduce spam, fake users and toxicity shrank active monthly users. Investors fled as well. That leaves both the platform and valuation more salubrious. Healthy returns will now depend on finding growth.

UK seeks awkward balance between M&A and security

24 July 2018

New plans to screen foreign purchases of British companies echo moves by countries such as France and are fairly sensible. However, they also increase politicians’ scope to meddle. That won’t make it any easier for the government to tout its open-market credentials post-Brexit.

Review: The Lehman saga told by its Brothers

20 July 2018

The Wall Street firm failed a decade ago. A dazzling new production of “The Lehman Trilogy” reminds us how it began 164 years earlier. The founding siblings and their offspring tell how immigration, financial innovation, and periodic crises set the stage for the final collapse.

China’s air quality depends on its debt clean-up

20 July 2018

Efforts to reduce smog have been an underrated success, with air pollution down by around 33 pct in some cities last winter. The campaign to trim the $20 trln corporate debt pile helped, as it cut credit to inefficient factories. If Beijing resumes easing, haze could reappear.

Viewsroom: Europe puts Google in a bind

19 July 2018

The search firm can easily cover the EU’s $5 bln fine for using its Android phone system to stymie rivals. But the order to stop forcing handset makers to pre-install its software could clip innovation. Plus: Goldman Sachs and Tesla put lackluster corporate governance on show.

Fedspeak puts America’s best bank in a quandary

18 July 2018

Supervision boss Randy Quarles reckons the biggest straight-up U.S. lenders need fewer regulatory constraints than the likes of JPMorgan. U.S. Bancorp, which again earned industry-leading returns last quarter, would benefit, but could also face M&A pressure it would rather avoid.