financializer news A weblog highlighting financial topics making news in the international media.

fumio kishida: Unable to view this article This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software, according to The Japan Times. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites. Fumio Kishida, the incumbent prime minister, is being pressured to tweak the so-called honebuto guidelines to please Abe, who is the leader of the biggest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and holds influence over conservative LDP lawmakers. If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see out this support page. We humbly apologize for the inconvenience. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

power sources: Unable to view this article This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software, according to The Japan Times. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites. The government aims to speed up decarbonization and improve energy self-sufficiency, and the use of power sources with a high decarbonization effect, such as nuclear power, will be a key part of achieving that, according to the draft. If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see out this support page. We humbly apologize for the inconvenience. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

security software: And needless to say, as is usually the way with different schools of economic thought, many of their hypotheses disagree sharply with each other, according to The Japan Times. Unable to view this article This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software. Many different explanations are being advanced by economists and financial experts for the sudden massive surge in the price not just of fuel, but also food and most other products. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites. We humbly apologize for the inconvenience. If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see out this support page. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

small-modular reactors: Unable to view this article This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software, according to The Japan Times. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites. Small-modular reactors, known as SMRs, could produce as much as two to 30 times more waste than conventional atomic power plants in operation today, according to scientists including Allison Macfarlane, the former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in research published last week by the U.S. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see out this support page. We humbly apologize for the inconvenience. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

support page: Unable to view this article This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software, according to The Japan Times. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites. But the short-lived horror over the the worst attack on the seat of U.S. democracy since British troops burned the building in 1814 wasn't enough to shake the tribal political divisions that drove the insurrection. If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see out this support page. We humbly apologize for the inconvenience. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

investor exodus: And the local currency is near the strong end of its trading band against the dollar, suggesting capital outflows aren't a worry, according to The Japan Times. Major global banks and financial institutions, including Black Rock Inc. and Citigroup Inc., have maintained or grown their presence in the city. Yet more than a year after the crackdown began, signs of an investor exodus are hard to find. ; Shares in Hong Kong's exchange operator have doubled since the start of 2020, reflecting confidence in the city's ability to attract Chinese listings. Employment in the finance and insurance sectors rose in 2020 from a year earlier. For now, even as authorities enforce broad new powers to stifle dissent, they appear to have not yet crossed the financial industry's red lines. That comes even as surveys suggest growing concern among some expatriate executives about the crackdown's impact on civil liberties and rule of law, following the mass arrest of pro-democracy advocates and threats to the free flow of information under the sweeping National Security Law imposed by China in July 2020. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

spot market: The shift aims for LNG-fired power generation to fall by roughly half this decade, creating upheaval for Japanese utilities as well as suppliers from Qatar to Australia to the U.S. ; The stricter guidelines will see Japanese imports drop by a third by the end of the decade, according to traders and analysts, according to The Japan Times. It will force domestic utilities to abandon long-term LNG deals, which have been the backbone of the nation's imports, while increasing dependence on the more turbulent spot market. The country, the world's top LNG importer, called for more renewables such as wind and solar to replace natural gas in a revised plan released last week. The move will further dampen Japanese LNG buyers' appetite to sign long-term deals that extend beyond 2030, which could leave them more exposed to short-term price dynamics if demand ends up higher than targeted, said Saul Kavonic, an energy analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG. The policy was a surprise to suppliers around the world. Until recently, Japan had been touting the super-chilled fuel as a cleaner alternative to coal. Natural gas once widely seen as the bridge to a green future has been falling out of favor with some governments as they boost efforts to slow climate change and the cost of renewables drops drastically. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

trading desks: It's the government's most extreme step yet to rein in private businesses that regulators blame for exacerbating inequality, increasing financial risk and in the case of some tech titans challenging Beijing's authority. ; With losses in Chinese tech and education stocks now exceeding 1 trillion since February, the questions reverberating across trading desks from Shanghai to New York are where regulators might strike next and whether markets are properly discounting regulatory risk, according to The Japan Times. Property-management and food-delivery companies were among the biggest losers on Monday after Beijing signaled tighter rules for both sectors. The crash in tutoring stocks that began on Friday spread this week across the tech sector and beyond, after authorities confirmed reports they would ban a swathe of the education industry from making profits. While some investors say the selloff has created buying opportunities, ongoing clampdowns on everything from internet platform operators to commodities producers and China's gargantuan real estate industry suggest plenty of room for more surprises especially for international investors as Xi's government shows less concern than its predecessors did about spooking foreign capital. Monday's rout underscored just how widespread that concern has become. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s sales desk summed it up this way in a note to clients Even when you think China risk is priced it can get worse. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

commission plans: And rarely, except in wartime, have market economies been subjected to the sort of rigid central planning that the Commission now proposes, according to The Japan Times. The program envisages three different carbon dioxide emissions-trading systems. On July 14, the European Commission presented a comprehensive package of measures aimed at achieving massive reductions in EU firms' and households' CO2 emissions in the short term in order to meet the 55% target by 2030 and make the bloc carbon neutral by 2050. ; Never before has the world seen a comparable effort to protect the environment. The Commission plans to expand the existing scheme, which already applies to the energy and chemical sectors and parts of basic industry, to shipping. Moreover, emissions certificates will no longer be allocated free of charge. The EU will also create a new, separate trading system for buildings and road transport. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

earnings power: The gauge, which marks its one-year anniversary on Tuesday, was up 59% at its February peak but has since seen more than 551 billion in market value wiped out amid Beijing's clampdown on the sector. ; That has reduced the gain to nearly 6%, compared to more than 40% for the MSCI World Information Technology Index and the Nasdaq-100 Index, according to The Japan Times. The measure also lags onshore peers the Chi Next Index is up 35% in the period. The Hang Seng Tech Index has been on a roller-coaster ride in the last 12 months. The underperformance highlights regulatory risks for one of the fastest-growing sectors of China's economy. The ongoing concern that medium-term earnings power may be dented by their data becoming more of a public good, and privacy becoming more of an issue, remains a headwind, said Joshua Crabb, portfolio manager at Robeco Hong Kong Ltd. Beijing's bold moves to rein in the nation's powerful tech firms such as Jack Ma's Ant Group Co. and Didi Global Inc. have sent global investors fleeing on concerns over China's tighter grips on data while relations with Washington remain difficult. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

land access: A cyberattack targeting key South African ports, according to The Japan Times. Events have conspired to drive global supply chains toward a breaking point, threatening the fragile flow of raw materials, parts and consumer goods, according to companies, economists and shipping specialists. ; The delta variant of the coronavirus has devastated parts of Asia and prompted many nations to cut off land access for sailors. Natural disasters in China and Germany. That's left captains unable to rotate weary crews and about 100,000 seafarers stranded at sea beyond their stints in a flashback to 2020 and the height of lockdowns. This is a perilous moment for global supply chains. We're no longer on the cusp of a second crew change crisis, we're in one, said Guy Platten, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

cyberspace watchdog: Officials from the CAC, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Natural Resources, along with tax, transport and antitrust regulators, began an investigation on-site at the company's offices, the cyberspace watchdog said in a statement. ; Regulators are weighing a range of potential punishments, including a fine, suspension of certain operations or the introduction of a state-owned investor, the people said, according to The Japan Times. Also possible is a forced delisting or withdrawal of Didi's U.S. shares, although it's unclear how such an option would play out. Regulators see the ride-hailing giant's decision to go public despite pushback from the Cyberspace Administration of China as a challenge to Beijing's authority, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter is private. Deliberations are at a preliminary phase and the outcomes are far from certain. It's hard to guess what the penalty will be, but I'm sure it will be substantial, said Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California. Beijing is likely to impose harsher sanctions on Didi than on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which swallowed a record 2.8 billion fine after a monthslong antitrust investigation and agreed to initiate measures to protect merchants and customers, the people said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

party oversight: They're looking for ways to stay in cryptocurrency, even if it means testing their luck in lesser-known parts of the ecosystem that may or may not incur the wrath of Beijing. ; While plenty of miners have fled China, these cryptocurrency diehards are betting they can continue to thrive under Communist Party oversight by shifting into lesser-known tokens and decentralized storage technologies with names like Filecoin, Swarm, Silicoin and Chia, according to The Japan Times. It's a high-risk wager at a time when Xi Jinping's government is ramping up scrutiny of energy-intensive industries and anything that could pose a risk to financial stability. But attendees of the event in Chengdu, China, were clear about why they turned up in the middle of a government crackdown on Bitcoin mining. Filecoin is a grey area business that hasn't yet caught regulators' attention, said Tom, who works for a Shanghai-based firm that makes mining machines. Despite the steady drumbeat of headlines on China's cryptocurrency crackdown, the mood at the Chengdu Marriott Hotel Financial Center was generally upbeat. Like many of the people interviewed for this story, he asked not to use his full name given the sensitivity of the topic in China. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

policy agenda: The office website of Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy says he is the Nation's Doctor note the capitalization providing Americans with the best scientific information on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury, according to The Japan Times. With the nation gorging on politics, this mission statement becomes an invitation to political advocacy. Many people, finding insufficient satisfaction in just doing their jobs, grasp for the prestige and excitement of becoming political performers. Murthy advocates a whole-of-society effort to stop what he calls an infodemic of health misinformation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a housing policy the eviction moratorium and Murthy, too, has an expansive policy agenda. So, a category of speech is comparable to an infectious disease something government should urgently eradicate. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

chinese billionaire: It was Mark Zuckerberg, bobbing up and down on a hydrofoil surfboard, clutching an American flag and exuding all the confidence of a man worth 130 billion. ; The contrast between the social media mogul's July 4 Instagram video and the day's big event in China could hardly have been starker, according to The Japan Times. Regulators in Beijing had just hours earlier banned Didi Global Inc.'s ride-hailing service from app stores, delivering their latest hammer blow to an entrepreneurial elite that once seemed destined to challenge Zuckerberg and his U.S. peers at the top of the world's wealth rankings. But this wasn't the flamboyant Chinese billionaire who disappeared from public view eight months ago. The age of unfettered gains for China's ultrarich now appears to be coming to an abrupt end. Shares of their flagship companies sank by an average 13% during the period the first time in at least six years that they've recorded declines when the broader Chinese equity market was rising. Even as the world's 10 wealthiest people added 209 billion to their net worth in the first half of 2021, China's richest tycoons in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index saw their combined fortunes shrink by 16 billion. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

cybersecurity review: A chill has settled over global finance after a fortnight in which China first cracked down on its Uber-like Didi Global Inc. within days of a U.S. trading debut, followed swiftly by the State Council announcing closer scrutiny of all offshore listings, according to The Japan Times. On Saturday, a cybersecurity review was proposed for companies with data on more than 1 million users before they seek to list in foreign countries. ; The warning signs had been flashing for a while. Deals are being shelved and investors are nursing heavy losses. As underwriters totted up a record 1.5 billion in fees last year from helping Chinese firms with initial public offerings offshore, relations between China and the U.S. were at a low ebb. Simultaneously, Chinese President Xi Jinping stepped up oversight of big technology firms, partly to secure the treasure trove of data they control. In December, then-U.S. President Donald Trump signed a bill that could delist Chinese companies that don't meet audit inspection rules. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

show growth: While the PBOC said the move isn't a renewed stimulus push, the breadth of the 50 basis-point cut to most banks reserve ratio requirement came as a surprise. ; Data on Thursday is expected to show growth eased in the second quarter to 8% from the record gain of 18.3% in the first quarter, according to a Bloomberg poll of economists, according to The Japan Times. Key readings of retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment are all set to moderate too. The changing outlook was underscored Friday when the People's Bank of China cut the amount of cash most banks must hold in reserve in order to boost lending. The PBOC's swift move to lower banks' RRR is one way of making sure the recovery plateaus from here, rather then stumbles. But economists say the softening has come sooner than expected and could now ripple across the world. The economy was always expected to descend from the heights hit during its initial rebound and as last year's low base effect washes out. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

masayoshi son: The deal follows the sale of Verizon Communications Inc.'s media division, the bulk of which is the original U.S. version of the Yahoo web portal, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc. for 5 billion. ; Yahoo Inc. was one of Son's early big investments, who built a 100 million stake in one of the original web startups in the mid-90s, according to The Japan Times. He subsequently formed the joint venture Yahoo Japan Corp., which over the years morphed into tech and e-commerce platform Z Holdings as Yahoo sold off its core assets. But it still has value in Japan, where the once-illustrious marquee just sold for 178.5 billion 1.6 billion . Z Holdings Inc., a unit of Masayoshi Son's Soft Bank Group Corp., agreed to buy the rights to the Yahoo name in Japan to replace an existing licensing agreement. While the Yahoo brand has fallen from favor on the English-language internet, it is a vital part of the Z Holdings portfolio, along with messaging app Line, fashion e-commerce outlet Zozo and mobile payment platform Pay Pay. The Yahoo Japan top page alone brought in almost the same number of users as You Tube. Yahoo brands made up four of the top-10 visited websites in Japan in 2020, according to a survey by Values Inc. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

non-discretionary spending: Cuts to non-discretionary spending are also part of the plan, according to The Japan Times. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is pushing for investment into green and digital technologies even as the government struggles under the developed world's heaviest debt burden. Under the plan, ministries get 3 to spend on projects in targeted areas including the environment and digitalization for every yen they're able to cut from other spending, according to documents released by the Cabinet Office Wednesday. ; The plan calls for cuts of 10% to discretionary spending, which totaled 14.9 trillion 135 billion last year across the country's ministries. The new budgeting mechanism is an attempt to square that circle by providing incentives for Japan's bureaucrats to cut costs while also funding the country's new growth projects. Analysts are skeptical the goal will be met, but the new budgeting incentives could at least help. Like many countries, Japan has adopted new targets for reducing greenhouse gases, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

year: Gone are the days when a long, lucrative career in finance and all the social capital that comes with it seemed appealing. ; But the real reason no one wants to work in banking isn't just the terrible hours and a generational awakening, according to The Japan Times. It's that, like banks themselves, the work isn't what it used to be. Post-pandemic life has been an opportunity for introspection. Sources of investment banking revenue have been the same for years. Slides that proposed companies for mergers have shown up in pitchbooks year after year. Bankers have been talking the same old book. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

challenge son: Son may relinquish the chief executive officer title and hopes to have an idea of who his successor will be at around 69, according to The Japan Times. For now, the 63-year-old CEO, unusually wearing reading glasses during his presentation, said he feels energized thanks to advanced medical technology. ; Coming up with a plan for who will succeed Son is Soft Bank's biggest challenge, according to Yuko Kawamoto, who just stepped down as director after one year on the job. Son, who has often indicated he plans to find his replacement in his 60s, may stay on as the chairman into his 70s, the billionaire told shareholders during their annual meeting Wednesday. She had been the first female board member for the conglomerate and shareholders approved the appointment of another, Koei Tecmo Holdings Co. Investors also asked about plans for more share repurchases and the possibility of taking the company private through a slow-motion management buyout. Chairman Keiko Erikawa, at the meeting. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

day: The Tokyo market got off to a mixed start, according to The Japan Times. The Nikkei rose on the strength of higher semiconductor-related stocks after the tech-heavy Nasdaq index rewrote its record high on Tuesday, while the Topix met with profit-taking after the previous day's sharp rally took back more than it lost Monday. The 225-issue Nikkei average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange inched down 9.24 points, or 0.03%, to close at 28,874.89, after rocketing 873.20 points Tuesday. ; The Topix index of all first section issues ended 10.39 points, or 0.53%, lower at 1,949.14, following a gain of 60.08 points the day before. Stocks weakened in the afternoon as investors sold on the rally, pulling down the Nikkei to around the previous day's close. The Nikkei was capped at around 29,000, as it has been for a while, Maki Sawada, strategist at Nomura Securities Co., said. The market then struggled for direction amid a dearth of new market-moving factors. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

ueno facility: Zoo director Yutaka Fukuda said the twin birth was a first for the Ueno facility, according to The Japan Times. When I heard the news that the second baby was born, I couldn't help but whoop, he told reporters. They were born in the early hours of Wednesday, the zoo said in a statement, adding that it had not yet confirmed the sex of the pair. ; Officials are currently doing their best to protect and observe the mother and babies, the statement added. One of the babies, weighing in at 124 grams, was placed in an incubator, spokesman Naoya Ohashi said in a news conference later. When pandas have twins, they usually only raise one, so we will be making sure the mother panda will breastfeed one while we keep the other in the incubator, Ohashi said. The mother panda is in good health, and carefully looking after the other baby, he added. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

bri projects: But until now we haven't offered a positive alternative that reflects our values, our standards and our way of doing business, according to The Japan Times. China's BRI is a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure project launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping involving development and investment initiatives that would stretch from Asia to Europe and beyond. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the United States would also push the other G7 leaders for concrete action on forced labor in China, and to include criticism of Beijing in their final communique ; This is not just about confronting or taking on China, the official said. More than 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate in BRI projects like railways, ports, highways and other infrastructure. In March, Biden said he had suggested to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the three-day G7 leaders' summit in southwest England, that democratic countries should develop their own rival plan. According to a Refinitiv database, as of mid-last year, more than 2,600 projects at a cost of 3.7 trillion were linked to the initiative, although the Chinese Foreign Ministry said last June that about 20% of projects had been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

caregiving: The program took aim at the government's kaigo hoken caregiving insurance system implemented in 2000 and to which everyone starting at age 40 contributes, according to The Japan Times. Although the problems inherent in the system have been discussed previously, the pandemic has exacerbated them, making them even more apparent since the well-publicized aging of Japanese society has yet to peak. Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, is running a series of special reports on how the pandemic is changing the world, and the May 23 installment was about senior caregiving services. Demand for services will increase over the next decade even as the caregiving insurance system collapses. One of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic is resident facilities, which became hotbeds of infection clusters early on, thus bringing to the fore one of the main purposes of the caregiving insurance system, which is to encourage and promote care at home, where seniors can be attended to either by family members or contracted home helpers. So far, media coverage has focused on the lack of caregivers owing to low pay and difficult working conditions. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

fintech officer: The environment the country is building enables these fintech players to find opportunities to see if their early ideas translate into real value in the long run, according to The Japan Times. Mohanty, who spent 17 years at Citigroup Inc. before taking the position at the central bank in 2015, is in the fintech role at a time when the industry is fast evolving. Such investments have risen from around 20 million in 2014 to a record 1.1 billion last year, and more is expected this year, Sopnendu Mohanty, the Monetary Authority of Singapore's MAS chief fintech officer, said in an interview. ; We don't have Silicon Valley, but we are trying our best, he said. The MAS' aspirations are central to Singapore's aim to fortify its position as a global financial center where incumbent banks and contesting tech firms compete to provide services to consumers and corporates, though it is also a gatekeeper of standards as companies roll out their businesses. He is also keen to expand a cross-border payments infrastructure, that has kicked off with Thailand allowing people in both countries to almost immediately move money via their mobile phones through government-backed systems. Mohanty has been involved with efforts like Partior the joint venture between JPMorgan Chase & Co., Temasek Holdings Pte. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. that's a new blockchain-based platform for payments, trade and foreign-exchange settlement. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.