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☆ Mukesh Ambani will take credit where it’s due
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Boss Mukesh Ambani might do precisely that to fund a push by his $220 billion Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) conglomerate into consumer lending. The company is spinning off and listing its little-noticed non-bank financial company. More than rivals, Ambani is sitting on a treasure trove of data to assess the credit worthiness of borrowers. As a home-grown tycoon, Ambani has a better chance of success than other late entrants to financial services. On Oct. 21, Reliance revealed plans to spin off Reliance Strategic and rename it Jio Financial Services.

☆ Jiang Zemin made China richer and more unequal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Jiang Zemin, who died on Wednesday, catapulted China into the modern world. And his death comes at an inconvenient time for the current president, Xi Jinping. Chosen as party chief weeks before the violent 1989 suppression of Tiananmen Square protesters who demanded economic and political reforms, Jiang inherited a system riven by infighting. While numbers can deceive in a state-led economy like China’s, Jiang still notched up some encouraging stats. Follow @johnsfoley on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSJiang Zemin, the former president of China, died on Nov. 30.

MUMBAI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - India's biggest companies should be investing much more than they are currently, Uday Kotak, chief executive of Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS) said in an interview at the Reuters NEXT conference on Wednesday. Across India's banking sector, lending has been rising steadily - a sign of a new private investment cycle in the world's fifth largest economy. Kotak said he believes the gap between credit and deposit growth will narrow in the next three to six months, but did not elaborate. He also said it was critical for the government to follow through on plans to privatise most state-run companies. To view the Reuters NEXT conference live on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, please click here.

☆ Protests leave China facing a terrible trilemma
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Such behaviour undermines arguments that abandoning Xi’s zero-Covid policy will instantly stimulate economic activity. Even before factoring in Beijing’s response to the unrest, the International Monetary Fund expects a measly 3.2% GDP growth for China this year. Covid-19 cases began spiking in China in early November following a week-long public holiday. The government reported 40,347 new infections for Nov. 27 in an update issued Nov. 28. Beijing announced 20 relaxations of the country’s pandemic policy on Nov. 11, including shorter quarantine periods and more narrowly targeted lockdowns.

☆ Breakingviews: Protests leave China facing a terrible trilemma
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

HONG KONG, Nov 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Officials’ muddled response to spiking Covid cases has set off three consecutive days of demonstrations spanning cities and social classes. Such behaviour undermines arguments that abandoning Xi’s zero-Covid policy will instantly stimulate economic activity. Covid-19 cases began spiking in China in early November following a week-long public holiday. The government reported 40,347 new infections for Nov. 27 in an update issued Nov. 28. Beijing announced 20 relaxations of the country’s pandemic policy on Nov. 11, including shorter quarantine periods and more narrowly targeted lockdowns.

☆ Foxconn is stuck between rock and hard place
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Nov 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The $45 billion top Apple (AAPL.O) supplier Foxconn (2317.TW) is trying to resolve its problems in China with cash. Financial fixes can only do so much to tackle a problem stemming from Beijing’s zero-Covid policy. Workers have been upset after being forced to live in difficult conditions designed to stamp out Covid-19 infections. In every way, manufacturers in China face a long and bumpy road to recovery if they try to please both their workers and Beijing. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

That puts Hong Kong in a league of its own. The competitive tension between Hong Kong and Singapore is greater than ever. The danger is that Hong Kong’s new embrace of virtual assets will set up a regulatory race to the bottom, even if FTX’s collapse means it might happen at a slower pace. The policy statement notes that retail investors in other markets have been granted exposure to virtual assets including through exchange-traded products. Column by Thomas Shum in Hong Kong, Pranav Kiran in Bengaluru.

☆ Messy money manager merger goes from bad to worse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rob Adams must be wishing he could turn the clock back eight months. That’s when the boss of Australian fund management icon Perpetual (PPT.AX) was readying his first tilt for rival Pendal (PDL.AX). Whatever lies behind Paul Skamvougeras’ decision to quit as Perpetual’s Head of Equities, losing a key executive right on the eve of a merger is awkward. And shareholders remain unconvinced the Pendal deal is a certainty as its stock trades 11% below the offer price. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ COP27 deal is a blessing in a very good disguise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The world’s premier forum for combatting climate change concluded in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday with an inadequate agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. At Glasgow’s COP26 a year ago, the world’s nearly 200 nations promised to update their decarbonisation plans in 2022. Pessimists will accurately stress that a newly agreed loss and damage fund to pay off affected countries is just an empty bucket – the details will be determined later. At COP26 it was obvious a perceived lack of generosity from richer nations was holding back efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The commitment to establish a dedicated “loss and damage” fund left many of the most controversial decisions on how it might work until next year, including who should pay into it.

☆ Investors ignore China Covid spike at their peril
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, Nov 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The blistering relief rally underway in Chinese equities is understandable. Most of China’s trading partners have moved on to living with the virus, but Xi still aspires to keep it out. New cases have officially multiplied from roughly 1,000 per day in October to 25,353 on Thursday. In the second, Covid-19 finally runs wild in China, killing the unvaccinated elderly as it did in Hong Kong earlier this year. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index in Hong Kong has risen nearly 30% in the past 14 trading days, Refinitiv data show, while the onshore benchmark CSI300 index gained 9%.

☆ Indonesia’s green step not yet a leap for mankind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

That’s where the private sector comes in, and why Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) are a potential game changer. More significantly, seven international banks, including HSBC (HSBA.L), (0005.HK), Citigroup and Bank of America (BAC.N), have promised to match that amount. International Finance Corporation figures show that “concessional” finance extended by public bodies at below-market rates can often attract 10 times its own level in private finance. The GFANZ working group will need to ensure Jakarta is sticking to its side of the decarbonisation bargain. The GFANZ group includes Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Macquarie, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Standard Chartered.

☆ India watchdog ire cools foreign banks’ ambitions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

India is bristling at the idea of foreign regulators inspecting its entities which settle trades in government bonds, foreign exchange and more. The higher costs will make the services of European Union and British banks in India uncompetitive, prompting clients to switch to other foreign or domestic banks. Bosses of smaller foreign banks already complain in private that their returns in India are lousy. The Reserve Bank of India, for example, could in theory strike a deal that sets boundaries on on-site visits, as Singapore has done. The Indian regulators include Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India and International Financial Services Centres Authority, ESMA said.

☆ Sea is turning the tide
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, Nov 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The loss-making Southeast Asian technology giant’s decision to ditch its growth-at-all-costs strategy is showing results. The $28 billion U.S. listed games-to-payments company Sea (SE.N) has been exiting some markets and slashing jobs and discounts. Overall group revenue grew 17% to $3.2 billion in the quarter, beating analyst estimates. Sea is now working toward achieving Shopee’s adjusted EBITDA breakeven by the end of 2023. The improvements will shore up support for its decision to remain in Brazil, a big emerging market.

☆ Piyush Gupta might be banking’s boldest boss
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Piyush Gupta of $65 billion Singaporean lender DBS Group (DBSM.SI) appears to be that CEO, whether he thinks of himself that way or not. Yet the two banks trade on a similar multiple of 1.5 times their estimated 2022 book value, according to Refinitiv. There is limited room for growth in DBS’ tiny home market, a city with a population of 5.5 million people. That, plus the pressure to maintain that 1.5-times-book market value, means Gupta needs to keep finding ways to grow. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks on Nov. 14 while at the G20 summit in Indonesia.

☆ SoftBank buyout goes from impossible to improbable
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The $74 billion Japanese investor logged earnings of $21 billion in the three months to end September after trimming its stake in Alibaba (9988.HK). It offsets some gloom as technology valuations plummet; writedowns of its punt on crypto exchange FTX will follow. Expectations that these repurchases are a prelude to a buyout have helped lift SoftBank’s shares by one quarter in the past month. But any further sales of Alibaba or other assets would give SoftBank the firepower to keep buying out minorities. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Cathay’s outgoing boss can flash half-decent card
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Nov 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Cathay Pacific’s (0293.HK) new boss has reason for optimism. The outgoing chief executive can flash a half-decent report card. He navigated the Air China- (601111.SS) and Swire Pacific-backed (0019.HK) company through backlash from Beijing after employees took part in the 2019 Hong Kong protests. The $6 billion airline has seen a modest rebound of travellers since Hong Kong dropped hotel quarantine requirements. Since Tang’s appointment in August 2019, Cathay has logged a negative total return of 16%.

HONG KONG, Nov 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - As automakers hesitate to invest in legacy motors, China’s Geely and France’s Renault (RENA.PA) are teaming up to supply gas guzzlers and more to rivals. Founder Li Shufu wants new-energy vehicles to account for 50% of Hong Kong-listed Geely Automobile’s (0175.HK) sales next year. Renault boss Luca de Meo says European car sales at the company he leads will be 100% electric by 2030. By hitching itself to Renault, Geely can shift gears faster to make the most of the window of opportunity. Together, they sold nearly 5 million cars last year, most of which were internal combustion engines.

☆ Japan baulks at U.S. car credits
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Nov 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Japanese carmakers don’t offer much in the way of new technology. Nonetheless, Tokyo is sounding the alarm on U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan, via his Inflation Reduction Act, to offer credits for electric vehicles, officially noting it threatens Japanese carmakers in America, and will discourage investment. A new three-page comment from the government on the credits mentions the word “allies” nine times and reminds Biden that Japanese car makers have been investing in the United States for more than 40 years. After Tokyo stood firm behind the United States in slapping financial sanctions against Russia this year, Washington highlighted the pair’s alignment. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

The initial public offering of the ride-hailing-to-online-shopping giant at a $28 billion market capitalisation in April was a landmark deal on the back of relaxed listing rules. Now GoTo will have to manage a big contortion in the $570 billion stock market. At a stretch, GoTo’s involvement might prevent a further price slump on the company’s current $15 billion market value. The company sold nearly $1 billion of stock at a multiple of 17 times forecast revenue for 2023. The meddling in the secondary market looks like a necessary evil.

☆ Wealth darling DBS channels Singapore’s success
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MUMBAI, Nov 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Singapore’s status as a financial centre is thriving, and DBS Group (DBSM.SI), the city-state’s $63 billion wealth darling led by Piyush Gupta, is reaping the benefits of its home market’s success. It makes the Lion City’s pragmatism a key pillar of support: Singapore generated 62% of DBS' total income in 2021. DBS’ wealth management business is attracting money at a rapid clip: net new asset inflows amounted to S$15 billion during the first nine months, doubling from a year ago, Gupta noted. The bank’s annualised return on equity hit a record high of 16.3% too. The bank’s return on equity also hit a new record high of 16.3%, up from 13.4% in the prior three-month period.

☆ Bain gives India’s banking ball a time check
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Bain Capital on Tuesday pocketed some $400 million from selling just under a third of the more than 4% stake it bought in Axis Bank (AXBK.NS) in 2017. Back then, the private equity firm and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIFI.NS) injected cash as the country’s third-largest non-state-controlled lender was grappling with a slew of bad loans. Axis now oozes confidence under ex-HDFC Life Insurance executive Amitabh Chaudhry, who joined as boss in 2019. Gross bad loans account for 2.5% of total assets, less than half the level when Bain bought in. With Bain currently sitting on 1.6 times its money, excluding dividends, it’s a good time to send some in its party home.

☆ Geely’s pricey cars can hope for some premium spin
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Nov 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Geely Automobile (0175.HK) is hiving off its young electric vehicle brand, Zeekr. The Hong Kong-listed group’s chairman and founder Li Shufu has a lot riding on how the deal is positioned as the valuations of its homegrown rivals crash. Parent Zhejiang Geely’s extensive experience building battery-powered models and the Volvo Car (VOLCARb.ST) owner’s track record overseas suggests the upstart can scale rapidly. So far so good: Zeekr, which launched only last year, sold nearly 40,000 premium cars in the first nine months. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Breakingviews: Bank of Japan fiddles while bond market burns
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, Oct 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Bank of Japan (8301.T) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is playing with forex fire. With consumer costs spiking in Western economies, the Federal Reserve has been hiking borrowing rates, but in Japan inflation remains relatively tepid and growth anemic. Annual consumer inflation, at 3%, is subdued by global standards, but it is not the kind of demand- and wage-driven price rises the Bank of Japan has been trying to deliver. The central bank already owns roughly half of the total sovereign market; its holdings of long-term government bonds have risen to 560 trillion yen ($3.8 trillion) in 2022 from 40 trillion yen in 2008. Japan’s annual consumer inflation rate was 3% in September.

☆ Bank of Japan fiddles while bond market burns
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, Oct 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The world is facing a difficult 2023 as growth slows in most developed economies. The world economy will expand by 2.7% in 2023, per the IMF. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterChina’s contribution to global growth will be more than three times greater than the United States. The South Asian nation produces roughly 3% of world GDP. Even if it expands by 6.1% as forecast, it will account for just 7.7% of global growth.

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