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The Exchange Square complex, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in Hong Kong on March 14. Dealmakers say a lot more than words is needed to revive Hong Kong’s weakest IPO market since the global financial crisis.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 29, 2024

China’s new plan to boost Hong Kong IPOs faces major hurdles

Pipeline of IPOs expected to remain feeble while valuations are low, China’s economic outlook is poor, and foreign investors remain distrustful of Beijing.
Activist investor campaigns are becoming more commonplace in Japan as the government and the Tokyo Stock Exchange encourage companies to boost shareholder returns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2024

Elliott Management's Sumitomo stake reflects growing activism in Japan

Elliott has built a large holding in Sumitomo after investing several tens of billions of yen in the trading house backed by Warren Buffett.
A vacant lot on the site of the former Tsukiji fish market where a group of companies plans to develop a commercial and residential complex in the coming years
BUSINESS
May 1, 2024

Developer hopes to tap Tsukiji's 'rich history' to create a new Tokyo hot spot

Mitsui Fudosan, tasked with renovating the former site of the famous Tsukiji fish market, hopes to build the vacant lot into a new trendy hub.
Tatsufumi Shibata, deputy director-general at the Financial Services Agency, is pushing for greater disclosure by companies of their cross-shareholding practices.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2024

Japan suspects firms are evading disclosure of cross-shareholdings

Some companies are thought to be masking cross-shareholdings as being owned for purely trading purposes.
The weak yen impacts the airline industry multiple ways, as it boosts foreign currency revenue from international flights but negatively affects travelers from Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2024

Japan firms reach pain threshold as yen keeps testing lows against the dollar

The currency's sustained decline makes planning difficult for all firms and can add costs across the whole supply chain.
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 3, 2024

Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests

The yen was at around ¥157.55 per dollar when it suddenly spiked, strengthening as far as ¥153 over the next half hour.
Sumitomo headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS
May 2, 2024

Sumitomo to bolster shareholder returns in new midterm plan

Sumitomo will allocate ¥700 billion ($4.5 billion) of returns over the next three years, with a goal of total shareholder return ratio of 40%.
Nomura Holdings and Mizuho Bank are hit by more than $100 million of potential losses related to All Blue Capital, raising questions about their monitoring of high-risk investment funds.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 3, 2024

Nomura and Mizuho face losses after fund’s failed trades

The size of the potential losses raises questions about the risk-management practices at two of Japan’s largest banks.
Claudio de Sanctis, head of private bank at Deutsche Bank AG, during an interview in Singapore, on April 18
BUSINESS / Companies
May 3, 2024

Deutsche Bank unveils wealth targets after hiring push in Asia

Private banks are turning to the Middle East and Southeast Asia amid China's property crisis and a downturn in capital-market activity in Hong Kong.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the United Steelworkers Union headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 17. Biden made clear that he does not want the proposed takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel to happen.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 4, 2024

Political furor over Nippon Steel's U.S. Steel bid puts investment panel in spotlight

Backlash over the deal has echoes of the 1980s when Nippon Steel tried and failed to buy another American metal company.
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks through a helicopter window during his flight to the Novatek-Murmansk's Offshore Superfacility Construction Center in the village of Belokamenka, in Russia's Murmansk region, last July.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
May 5, 2024

How Western sanctions are strangling Putin’s Arctic gas ambitions

The Novatek PJSC-led Arctic LNG 2 facility is a key part of Moscow’s plans to boost exports and replenish coffers. But it has remained virtually idled.
Automobiles charge at public electric vehicle charging stations in Paris on Feb. 14.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 6, 2024

France ramps up electric vehicle ambition as Xi arrives in Paris

The contract between the government, French business groups and unions aims for a fourfold increase in the sale of 100% EVs to 800,000 a year in 2027.
A Lamborghini Diablo SL automobile displayed at the company's event to mark the automaker’s 60th anniversary in Seoul in September 2023. While the boost in wealth among crypto investors was mostly poured into discretionary spending, a significant portion spilled into local housing markets, the researchers found.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 6, 2024

Lamborghini bros no more: Crypto is creating a new wealth effect

Study suggests that household spending out of crypto gains is more like the patterns from traditional equity investments, such as on home purchases.
Major banks as well as regional banks have raised their ordinary deposit rates to 0.02% per annum from 0.001%.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 6, 2024

Many banks in Japan raise deposit rates after BOJ action

Banks have also refrained from raising their lending rates, which would affect households and other corporate activities.
Over 300 companies went out of business in fiscal 2023 due to labor shortages, according to Teikoku Databank.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 6, 2024

Japan's labor crunch persists despite slight improvement

Companies involved in IT engineering fared the worst, with more than 7 in 10 saying they didn't have enough workers and had to resort to forgoing projects.
A group of fishing boats sit next to the Mekong river in Phnom Penh in 2021.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2024

Cambodia to cut shipping through Vietnam with China-funded canal

Cambodia's deputy prime minister downplayed environmental concerns about the new canal and dismissed speculation Chinese warships could use it.
Real wages fell 2.5% from a year earlier in March, marking the 24th straight month of declines, exacerbated by a 9.4% drop in bonuses.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2024

Real wages fell for 24th month in March, dented by 9.4% decline in bonuses

Data for full-time workers that avoid sampling problems and exclude bonuses and overtime pay grew by 2.3%, above 2% for the seventh month.
SoftBank Group is in talks to acquire Graphcore, a struggling British semiconductor startup.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2024

SoftBank said to be in talks to buy troubled AI chip firm Graphcore

Graphcore reported just $2.7 million in revenue for 2022, a 46% drop from the prior year, according to its latest financial report.
Hong Kong is looking to Saudi Arabia in efforts to attract a new set of investors to replace Western nations who may be deterred from doing business in China at a time of rising geopolitical tensions.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 9, 2024

Hong Kong woos Saudi money in attempt to revive stock market

Its bourse operator has been having a tough time in recent years amid a stuttering Chinese economy and saber-rattling by Beijing and Washington.
The United States Steel's plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Nippon Steel is sticking to its plan to close a deal by year-end to buy U.S. Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2024

Japan's Nippon Steel sticks to plan to close U.S. Steel deal by year-end

The takeover should bring Nippon Steel's global crude steel capacity to 86 million tons per year, close to its goal of 100 million.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong in Hanoi on Sept. 11, 2023. During Biden's visit to Hanoi last year, the U.S. and Vietnam elevated ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2024

Vietnam's China ties loom large in U.S. hearing on market economy upgrade

Opponents cite Beijing's outsized influence on Hanoi while proponents argue that denial of market economy status would push Vietnam closer to its neighbor.
A host promotes lipstick on TikTok Shop
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
May 10, 2024

Livestream shopping foils high-tech tools from stopping counterfeits

The sheer volume of violations means e-commerce infringement enforcement can feel like a game of "whack-a-mole" for those who monitor the internet.
People in a shopping district in Tokyo in March
BUSINESS / Economy
May 10, 2024

Japan’s households cut outlays as inflation remains sticky

Real outlays decreased 1.2% in March from a year before, falling for the 13th consecutive month.
LY said in November that there had been unauthorized access of its systems by a third party via Naver's cloud system, causing the leak of the personal data records of more than 300,000 Line users and others.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2024

Naver exploring options including stake sale in Line operator

Naver apologized for a recent security breach that led the Japanese government to issue administrative guidance.
U.S. President Joe Biden touts the economic benefits of semiconductor investment at Intel’s Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Arizona, on March 20.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 13, 2024

Global chips battle intensifies with $81 billion subsidy surge

The rush of funding has hardened battle lines in the U.S.-China trade war, including in nations like Japan.
Pending the offer’s success, I’rom Group will be delisted and Blackstone will own 55% of the company.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2024

Blackstone to take Japan drug trial firm private in management buyout

A tender offer will be made to acquire I’rom Group shares at ¥2,800 per share — a roughly 50% premium to Monday’s closing price of ¥1,873.
Natural gas burns on a domestic kitchen stove in London.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

As war stems Russian gas, Norway's Equinor gains outsized market impact

Norway now supplies 30% of Europe's gas, and roughly two-thirds of Norway's exports last year were sold by Equinor.
Rakuten logged its fifteenth consecutive quarter in the red due to losses at its mobile service network unit.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

Rakuten logs 15th quarter of losses on mobile woes despite record financial unit profit

While its number of mobile subscribers rose to 6.48 million at the end of March, average revenue per user increased only fractionally.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about new actions to protect American workers and businesses from China's "unfair" trade practices, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 15, 2024

Who’s toughest on China? Biden’s tariff tactic ups ante as election looms.

U.S. president is seen to be trying to "outtrump Trump" to appeal to voters who worry about geopolitical competition or hold anti-China sentiments.
Japan's banks are benefiting from the Bank of Japan's policy shift and strong loan demand among their corporate clients.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024

Japan’s biggest banks forecast record profits as rates rise

The banks are benefiting from an earnings boost following the Bank of Japan’s policy shift in March.

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