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Corporate Governance

JD governance overhaul becomes more urgent

16 Nov 2018

The $35 bln Chinese web retailer is expected to post another fall in quarterly profit. Its shares are down by nearly half this year. A rape allegation against boss Richard Liu has left a cloud over JD. Walmart and other big backers have good reason to urge him to loosen his grip.

Mark Zuckerberg pushes wrong kind of independence

15 Nov 2018

Facebook’s CEO is setting up an external committee to police fake news and hateful content after more revelations about how he and others dealt with Russian meddling. But outsourcing decisions won’t fix Facebook’s culture. Removing Zuckerberg as chair would be a good first step.

China’s impact investing is an expat project

15 Nov 2018

Global institutions want to extend ESG criteria to the PRC. But domestic share owners simply expect returns. Meanwhile, reliable information is scarce, investors and companies talk past each other, and there are other governance priorities. For now it’s looking like a luxury.

Pharma upset derails remake of Samsung’s heir

15 Nov 2018

Jay Y. Lee championed the $20 bln Samsung BioLogics as a new engine of growth at the South Korean conglomerate. Now the arm faces delisting for breaking accounting rules ahead of its IPO. Such a punishment would be harsh but also fit with Seoul’s new resolve to rein in tycoons.

Chinese phenom Pinduoduo has some explaining to do

15 Nov 2018

The $19 bln favoured e-commerce site for frugal “aunties from Wuhan” is inflating its top line and understating its costs, alleges short-seller Blue Orca. If true, the charges are damning and threaten PDD’s superlative as the fastest-growing internet seller on the planet.

PG&E woes show climate is clear and present danger

14 Nov 2018

The California utility may be to blame for the wildfire that’s claimed 48 lives. Its value has halved and it may run out of cash. The planet’s warming is already worsening fires, floods, and water scarcity. Yet most investors and companies still treat it as a longer-term risk.

Snap shareholders deserve little sympathy

14 Nov 2018

Some are suing the social-media firm for misleading them before its IPO about competition from Instagram. Now U.S. watchdogs are conducting a probe. Bad conduct deserves punishment. But investors willingly bought stock with no rights in an immature company with lots of rivals.

Wall Street can be effective forest-fire fighter

13 Nov 2018

The Camp Fire is California’s most deadly and destructive ever. Such conflagrations, worsened by climate change, cost the Golden State some 6.5 pct of GDP last year. A new financing tool can make forests more resilient – and protect everything from water to air to livelihoods.

Nissan’s U.S. worries go beyond possible tariffs

9 Nov 2018

The $38 bln auto giant had another disappointing quarter as U.S. and European sales slid further. Its bottom line was salvaged by growth in China, strength that may not last. Most carmakers fear trade barriers, but Nissan also needs to design cars Americans want to buy.

Cloud-software IPO deserves an equivocal “yes”

6 Nov 2018

Qualtrics wants a valuation of more than $4 bln in its upcoming offering. The firm is larger, more profitable and growing faster than recently listed rival SurveyMonkey. But its undemocratic, double-barreled supervoting stock limiting outsiders’ say should give investors pause.

Korean conglomerate accentuates the discount

30 Oct 2018

Nearly six years after selling a controlling stake in Coway to a private equity shop, Woongjin is buying it back with a partner for $1.5 bln. News of a return to its original steward erased 25 pct of the appliance rental company’s value. It’s a reminder of just how sprawl can scare.

Metal tycoons test India’s new era of governance

26 Oct 2018

The Ruia family’s $7.4 bln offer to pull Essar Steel from bankruptcy is a brazen attempt to stop ArcelorMittal's winning bid. Creditors will do better with the former owners, but it makes a mockery of a young insolvency code and undermines the fight against errant moguls.

Strange solar deal puts sunlight on market mayhem

24 Oct 2018

Hanergy Mobile Energy wants to buy out Hong Kong-listed Hanergy Thin Film at a $27 bln value and take it public in mainland China. The same man behind the mess that has left the target’s shares frozen for years controls the parent. It hardly makes these market structures shine.

One alternative to tainted Saudi cash: Qatar

23 Oct 2018

As Riyadh’s investment shindig opens, the Khashoggi affair has cast a pall on the kingdom as a source of funds for Western startups, infrastructure and the like. Qatar is smaller and blockaded, but rich. If the world needs a vision fund, it could just as easily come from Doha.

India holds back a currency bazooka

5 Oct 2018

The rupee is the worst performer in Asia this year, and doubts about the integrity of local shadow lenders are weighing it down further. A decision to keep rates steady acknowledges monetary policy won’t help much. Still, the central bank has a bigger weapon: diaspora bonds.

China is feeling the aftershocks of 2008, again

28 Sep 2018

Wall Street’s implosion taught Beijing to rue reliance on a rival. Yet officials, gloating over U.S. failures, neglected reform. Despite a decade trying to wean itself from American consumers, cash and currency, complacency has left China exposed to bad policies in Washington.

Musk suit could uncover Tesla’s true value

27 Sep 2018

The U.S. securities regulator wants Elon Musk removed as CEO and director, saying he lied about a plan to take the $53 bln electric-car maker private. His exit would leave Tesla much depleted, but also more rationally valued – if it can motor past a looming liquidity crunch.

Alibaba at last tackles taboo governance topics

27 Sep 2018

The Chinese online titan published its first ESG report, spotlighting awkward partnership and mainland ownership structures. It's a big step given that such thorny matters usually get short shrift. Accountability questions remain, but Alibaba is heading in the right direction.

Chinese IPOs bring casino trading to New York

18 Sep 2018

U.S. markets are getting a taste of mainland volatility. News app Qutoutiao more than doubled on its first day before plunging on the second; carmaker Nio has also see-sawed. Small floats and untested models are partly to blame, but erratic behaviour will hamper future debuts.