Regulation

U.S. response to Hong Kong calls for precision

5 June 2020

Politicians want to swat China for ramming through draconian security laws in the restless city. The likely targets are Chinese banks. Starving them of dollars is a harsh option but risks collateral damage to foreign firms. Naming and shaming individuals is smarter and cheaper.

UK’s Hong Kong stance is so far mostly spin

4 June 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is offering 3 million residents of the former colony a possible route to citizenship. For now the tweaks to the visa regime look limited and vague. That's a missed opportunity for a post-Brexit economic boost as well as for righting a wrong.

War for Hong Kong talent is Taiwan’s to lose

3 June 2020

The island’s proximity and cultural similarity should appeal to Hong Kongers fleeing Beijing’s crackdown. For its part, the $600 bln economy needs to plug a severe labour shortage and boost investment. But warm political gestures could be offset by bad immigration policies.

Corona Capital: Bank fears, Payments M&A, Coal

2 June 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: A new U.S. regulator wants cities to reopen to prevent bank robberies. Western Union may bid for struggling rival MoneyGram. And the pandemic is hastening the decline of U.S. coal.

Tech giants dare antitrust deal watchdogs

1 June 2020

Facebook, Microsoft and Apple have been on a buying spree of small companies. U.S. regulators are examining such deals but their work has been hindered by Covid-19. Big Tech can argue some firms would fail otherwise. But the effect on consumers is a mixed bag.

Protests may be last straw for U.S. global stature

1 June 2020

Unrest over police brutality has spread across America, even as President Trump ditches treaties and condemns China’s crackdown in Hong Kong. Such isolationism and hypocrisy dismays allies. It will be difficult to reclaim the moral high ground, and losing it comes at a high cost.

Chinese online tutor gets lesson in multiplication

29 May 2020

GSX Techedu deflected one sloppy short-seller attack and a second sensational one. A third from Muddy Waters calling the $7 bln company a fraud hit as Luckin buckled and Congress moved on U.S.-listed Chinese stocks. Growing scepticism will require targets to have strong defences.

TikTok’s best move is a clean break from ByteDance

28 May 2020

The video app’s Chinese parent is shifting power away from the People’s Republic. That’s unlikely to win over American lawmakers suspicious TikTok will collect consumer data and send it back to Beijing. ByteDance’s most realistic political option is to sell its rising star.

Viewsroom: Hong Kong crunch

28 May 2020

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared the Asian financial hub no longer autonomous from China, days after Beijing unveiled plans to ban sedition and subversion there. Breakingviews columnists in the city untangle what it means amid the trade war, pandemic and protests.

Hong Kong financiers face Man Group’s terror

28 May 2020

During China’s 2015 crash, police detained the China chief of the British hedge fund and others; some state media blamed foreigners for sabotaging markets. Beijing’s proposed new security law will extend this attitude to Hong Kong. Bankers should worry as much as protesters.

Kotak cash call shows India Inc’s fear and greed

28 May 2020

A well-subscribed $1 bln share placement is sufficient to defend the richly valued lender against credit-quality doomsday. Barring that, it’s a massive war chest for acquisitions. Boss Uday Kotak, Asia’s richest banker, is prepared for both deep disruption and deep discounts.

Burst Michigan dams send pollution risk to surface

27 May 2020

Flooding after heavy rain almost reached a Dow chemical-storage site. That’s one crisis averted, but in general, companies pay too little attention to water contamination. Its effects are vast and are part of recent high-profile legal fights. But cleaning up won’t break the bank.

Bad borrowing habits come home to roost in India

27 May 2020

A London court ordered Anil Ambani, the brother of Asia’s richest man, to pay $700 mln to Chinese banks led by ICBC over a personal guarantee on a loan. The case is indicative of the unorthodox funding practices used by the country’s tycoons. It should help clean up their acts.

Luckin spill will get China coffee war brewing

25 May 2020

The reeling chain once worth $12 bln is getting booted off the Nasdaq for fraud. Its brand might be toxic, but it has assets and ideas that Yum China, Tim Hortons and HeyTea could buy or adapt. Such deep-pocketed competitors may present a more formidable challenge to Starbucks.

Hong Kong wreck looms if U.S. hawks join Beijing’s

22 May 2020

China is ramming through laws to suppress sedition and foreign meddling, which are certain to be broadly defined. The business community can endure political repression. Sloppy U.S. retaliation against trade and investment flowing through the city would really hurt, though.

Wall Street front opens wide in U.S.-China combat

21 May 2020

A political war of words, including over Covid-19, is intensifying and spurring more action. BlackRock’s Chinese investments are now targeted while attacks on U.S.-listed mainland companies threaten $1 trln in market value. It’ll be hard to avoid collateral damage in finance.

Bank watchdog Otting leaves loose ends dangling

21 May 2020

The outgoing OCC head revamped community lending rules without first getting fellow U.S. regulators on board. Despite good intentions, that’s not how glacial bank reform usually works. Lenders are now grappling with inconsistent rules. The mess will be left for others to resolve.

Regulators will owe banks a favour post-pandemic

21 May 2020

In contrast to 2008, lenders have so far helped cushion Covid-19’s economic blow, while central banks have propped up financial markets. The crisis highlights banks’ value as steady providers of credit. That will lead to some looser rules - and possibly a green light for M&A.

It’s a long jump back onto the travel bandwagon

19 May 2020

Despite the whopping 30% fall in globetrotting expected this year, tourists will pack their bags again just as they have after past crises. Health precautions will add costs, however, while empty middle seats hurt revenue. The relevance of corporate flyers also is bound to wane.

Hong Kong’s reeling companies need a quicker fix

7 May 2020

Local businesses have been battered by Covid-19 and months of protests, but the city still lacks a regime to give them breathing room while they nurse themselves back to health. A mooted Chapter 11-style system will take too long to implement, but other options are available.