Network Archives

North and South Korea prepare to negotiate directly after years of mistrust

"North and South Korea will sit down to their first talks for years on Sunday, confronting decades of mutual distrust in an apparent search for some positive end to months of soaring military tensions. The working-level discussions in the border truce village of Panmunjom are intended to pave the way for ministerial-level talks in Seoul on Wednesday. The talks came about after an unexpected reversal on Thursday from North Korea which suddenly dropped its default tone of high-decibel belligerence and proposed opening a dialogue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNorth and South Korea prepare to negotiate directly after years of mistrust

China media warns Philippines of ‘counterstrike’ in South China Sea

"China's state media warned that a 'counterstrike' against the Philippines was inevitable if it continues to provoke Beijing in the South China Sea, potentially Asia's biggest military troublespot. A front-page commentary said that the Philippines had committed 'seven sins' in the South China Sea. These include the 'illegal occupation' of the Spratly Islands, inviting foreign capital to engage in oil and gas development in the disputed waters and promoting the 'internationalization' of the waters, said the commentary. The Philippines has called on the United States to act as a 'patron', while ASEAN has become an 'accomplice,' said the commentary." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina media warns Philippines of ‘counterstrike’ in South China Sea

China, Russia Begin Naval Drills In Sea Of Japan

"Six weeks after South Korea and the US flexed their naval muscles in a joint naval exercise, a mere month after China protested over joint Japan-US naval drills, and amid growing US tensions with the Russians, a Chinese fleet consisting of seven naval vessels departed Qingdao to join in Sino-Russian naval drills scheduled to begin this weekend. The eight-day exercise is expected to be conducted at the sea area and airspace of the Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan with the Chinese fleet. A total of 18 vessels, one submarine, three fixed-wing planes, five carrier-based helicopters and two teams of special forces from the two countries will participate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina, Russia Begin Naval Drills In Sea Of Japan

The Man Who Lost $2 Million an Hour!

"Last year, he lost about $19.4 BILLION! What a terrible year. And this year, it’s not getting any better. So far he’s lost another $10.3 billion. That’s a total loss of $29.7 billion in less than two years. But, according to Forbes, he’s still worth about $4.8 billion … so there’s no need to feel sorry for this 'poor' guy. He only has himself to blame. He’s the one who made such bad investment decisions. Last year, he made news around the globe when he said: 'I will be the world’s richest man.' He was the world’s 7th richest man. After losing a big chunk of his fortune last year, today, he’s not even one of the top three richest Brazilians." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Man Who Lost $2 Million an Hour!

You’re Not That Important

"Americans like to think that they’re the world’s most-important consumers. While that’s true now, our reign is coming to an end. Here’s the news: By 2015, Asia will have more consumers than all of the West combined, reclaiming its spot as #1 for the first time in 300 years, largely thanks to the emergence of China and its rapidly rising middle class. With anemic economic growth in the U.S. and many developed euro zone countries now slipping back into recession, multinational retailers have been angling for expansion elsewhere — and they are now targeting increasing numbers of consumers from emerging and frontier markets." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYou’re Not That Important

ECB Suspends Cyprus Government Bonds as Collateral

"Cyprus’s local-currency issuer rating was lowered to restricted default by Fitch Ratings yesterday after the nation completed an exchange of government bonds for longer-dated securities. The bond exchange is part of commitments under a 10 billion-euro ($13 billion) bailout that saved Cyprus’s financial sector from collapse in March. Under the rescue program, deposits above 100,000 euros are taxed after an initial plan with a levy on deposits of less than 100,000 euros was rejected by parliament. Banks using such bonds to obtain funding will have to tap their national central banks’ Emergency Liquidity Assistance programs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingECB Suspends Cyprus Government Bonds as Collateral

Kyle Bass: If China Doesn’t Change, ‘Full-Scale Recession’ Sometime Next Year

"'The compounded annual growth of bank assets as measured by the China Banking Regulatory Commission has been 30.8%,' Bass wrote. 'To give some perspective, a 30.8% compounded annual growth of credit in the U.S. equivalent over 5 years would be an expansion of $33 trillion. This rate of credit growth is three times the total credit system growth experienced in the U.S. at the peak of the bubble in 2006... The debt-to-equity ratios of Chinese companies are exploding as they funnel new capital, not into yield returning investments, but into the black holes on their balance sheets that have been created by a slowing growth environment.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKyle Bass: If China Doesn’t Change, ‘Full-Scale Recession’ Sometime Next Year

China’s central bank ready to unveil deposit insurance

"The central bank released the China Financial Stability Report 2013 on 7 June, saying that a consensus has been reached on the establishment of a deposit insurance system and that the system may be launched and implemented at a suitable time. Sources say China will set up an insurance fund and the maximum coverage for each bank account will initially be set at Rmb500,000. With the absence of a deposit insurance system, the state has actually taken on the responsibility to guarantee deposits in banks, which can easily lead to slack risk management and excessive speculation of commercial banks in seeking profits, the central bank report said." Continue reading →

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Loan Practices of China’s Biggest Banks Raising Concern

"Text message solicitations began arriving on the mobile phones of many of China’s wealthy last month, promising access to lucrative wealth management products with yields far above the government’s benchmark savings rate. The offers are not coming from fly-by-night operators but some of China’s biggest banks. They are raising huge pools of cash to finance a relatively new and highly profitable sideline business: lending outside the scrutiny of bank regulators. The complex way they go about making off-the-balance-sheet loans is at the heart of China’s $6 trillion shadow banking industry, which the government is now trying to tame." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLoan Practices of China’s Biggest Banks Raising Concern

Mastercard and Visa Start Banning VPN Providers

"There’s an unwritten rule that Mastercard and Visa don’t accept file-hosting sites that have an affiliate program and PayPal has thrown out nearly all cyberlockers in recent months. It now turns out that these policies have carried over to VPN providers and other anonymizing services. Before the weekend customers of the popular Swedish payment service provider Payson received an email stating that VPN services are no longer allowed to accept Visa and Mastercard payments due to a recent policy change. The new policy went into effect on Monday, leaving customers with a two-day window to find a solution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMastercard and Visa Start Banning VPN Providers