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

branch manager: Following an internal investigation, Nomura found a former branch manager in Kyushu mishandled private information that Wash House Co. was considering a stock split, Bloomberg reported earlier this month, according to The Japan Times. Nomura arranged the coin-laundry operator's initial public offering in November, a deal in which the former branch chief was involved. The nation's biggest brokerage submitted a report to the Financial Services Agency this month acknowledging that it violated local laws and detailing steps to improve how it handles corporate information, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. As part of efforts to strengthen compliance, Nomura plans to boost monitoring of sales activities at its 158 domestic retail outlets, the sources said. Kenji Yamashita, a Tokyo-based spokesman for Nomura, declined to comment. It will also introduce training for branch managers to undergo before working on IPOs to remind them that they are prohibited from commenting about the companies after the listings, they added. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

european commission: On Tuesday, the key market gauge advanced 71.74 points, according to The Japan Times. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 4.65 points, or 0.29 percent, at 1,614.37, after gaining 6.81 points the previous day. The 225-issue Nikkei average lost 94.68 points, or 0.47 percent, to end at 20,130.41. Sellers gained the upper hand after the tech-heavy U.S. Nasdaq composite index dived in New York on Tuesday on the news that the European Commission has fined Google Inc. a record 2.42 billion for breaching European Union antitrust rules, brokers said. Tokyo Electron and other tech stocks took a beating, weighing on the overall market, said Mitsuo Shimizu, equity strategist at Japan Asia Securities Co. But the Tokyo market's downside was supported by the yen's weakening against the dollar, they said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

voting rights: These days, attention is focused on the roles played by major shareholders such as institutional and foreign investors, whose exercise of their voting rights sway the approval of management proposals, according to The Japan Times. In this situation, individual shareholders should also take their roles seriously. In the past, what often drew people's attention to such meetings was the presence of sokaiya racketeers who owned a few shares in the companies so they could attend and extorted money from the management in return for not making any trouble. These people mostly remain mute at the meetings of the companies whose shares they have bought, except when the firms are embroiled in well-publicized scandals or management troubles. However, they should realize that shareholders meetings are not just annual ceremonies but provide good opportunities for them to evaluate the management of the firms and prod them to improve their performance. Most of these shareholders are believed to own stakes in the companies either for dividend payments or capital gains when the shares go up. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

currency outflows: While they could have faced a maximum of three years under Chinese law, there was no escaping China's warning to foreign casino operators that see the country's richest citizens as their most lucrative target market, according to The Japan Times. The crackdown on Australia's largest listed operator was China's broadest enforcement of a law that bars the promotion of gambling on the mainland as authorities seek to halt hundreds of billions of dollars of currency outflows. A Shanghai court on Monday convicted 19 Crown Resorts Ltd. current and former staff of illegally promoting gambling on the mainland, handing out prison sentences of as long as 10 months. The convictions coincide with a planned new wave of Asian casinos, from Japan to Australia, that are poised to make a fresh push to attract business from China. It's more like a warning that they can't be engaging in that kind of activity on the Chinese mainland. That makes it a lot more important that they make it clear what the rules are, said Colin Hawes, associate professor at the law faculty of the University of Technology Sydney who specializes in Chinese corporate law. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

exchange market: On Friday, the key market gauge rose 22.16 points, according to The Japan Times. The Topix, including all first-section issues, finished up 0.87 point, or 0.05 percent, at 1,612.21, after climbing 0.96 point the previous trading day. The benchmark Nikkei 225 average gained 20.68 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 20,153.35. Buying outpaced selling for most of the day, supported by purchases of small-capitalization issues, but the market's topside was capped in the absence of major buying incentives, brokers said. Market players focused on individual issues in thin trading, said Akira Tanoue, senior investment strategist at Nomura Securities Co. In addition, investors gained few clues from the foreign exchange market, where the dollar-yen pair moved narrowly around late Friday's levels, they said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

capita gdp: The current 16,676 per capita GDP level is already higher than Brazil's when adjusted for purchasing power, according to a Bloomberg analysis of International Monetary Fund data, according to The Japan Times. Importantly, this rise has translated into tangible benefits. Thanks to economic reforms put in place by late leader Deng Xiaoping from the '70s that set off rapid industrialization and urbanization, the China miracle is set to continue with per capita GDP seen rising to 64th out of 166 countries by 2022, up from being the 133rd-poorest in 1992 on par with Haiti and with over half its population living on less than 2 a day. The Chinese live six years longer on average and have full access to electricity, less than 2 percent of the population live under the global poverty line and the average calorie deficit has been cut by more than half, according to World Bank data going back to 1992. The country's ongoing shift from a manufacturing-based economy to a services-driven one will likely play a part in this, as may the recent end to its one-child policy. Over the next five years, China's per-person economic growth will see it bypassing the likes of Mexico and oil-rich Azerbaijan, putting it just shy of Argentina. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

nestle shares: Loeb owns about 40 million shares and some options in Switzerland-based Nestle, according to an investor letter released Sunday after Bloomberg first reported the activist stake, according to The Japan Times. The fund intends to encourage management to pursue change with a greater sense of urgency by selling Nestle's stake in L'Oreal SA, increasing leverage for share buybacks and reviewing its portfolio, among other suggestions. Previously, Third Point has focused much of its recent activism in Japan, where investments have included Seven & I Holdings Co. and Sony Corp. Despite having arguably the best positioned portfolio in the consumer packaged goods industry, Nestle shares have significantly underperformed most of their U.S. and European consumer staples, Third Point wrote in the letter. Nestle owns about 23.2 percent of cosmetics giant L'Oreal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, a stake with a market value of about 27 billion. It is rare to find a business of Nestle's quality with so many avenues for improvement. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

lawmakers meeting: The outlook for a deal wasn't good Saturday, as lawmakers meeting in Springfield for a special legislative session remained deadlocked with the July 1 start of the new fiscal year approaching, according to The Japan Times. That should alarm everyone, not just those at the Capitol, said Brian Battle, director at Performance Trust Capital Partners, a Chicago-based investment firm. S&P Global Ratings has warned the agency will likely lower Illinois' creditworthiness to below investment grade if feuding lawmakers fail to agree on a state budget for a third straight year, increasing the amount the state will have to pay to borrow money for things such as building roads or refinancing existing debt. It isn't a political show, he said. One day everybody will wake up and say What happened Why are my taxes going up so much ' Here's a look at what's happening and what a junk rating could mean WHY NOW Ratings agencies have been downgrading Illinois' credit rating for years, though they've accelerated the process as the stalemate has dragged on between Republican Gov. Everyone in Illinois has a stake in what's happening here. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

countries industries: We are at a time when the winners and the losers of these global transformations are being decided and there are good reasons to believe that big business has drawn the short straw, according to The Japan Times. New partnerships, alliances and strategies are needed to counter a strong reaction against globalization There is a need for an updated strategy and tactics for Japanese companies in the New World Order. Irrespective of what they would want us to believe, politicians are not at the forefront of this change; as usual and somehow normal, they seek to adapt and survive. More than ever, the outward and export-oriented political blocs, countries and industries such as Japan and the European Union should mobilize and act. Trans-Atlantic solidarity and cooperation, the fight against climate change, the attitude toward free trade all these topics have found the United States and Europe on opposite sides of the argument and have informed the realist conclusion of the German chancellor. Angela Merkel's recent statements in a nutshell, We have to fight for our own future ourselves represent an acknowledgement of the reset of the post-World War II global order. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

saudi arabia: But Qatari officials didn't budge from their previous insistence that they won't sit down with Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to negotiate an end to the crisis while under siege, according to The Japan Times. I can assure you that our situation today is very comfortable, Qatari Ambassador to the U.S. Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani said. Given 10 days to make a decision, Qatar did not immediately render judgment on the specific concessions demanded of the tiny Persian Gulf nation, which include shuttering Al-Jazeera and cutting ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar could continue forever like that with no problems. As the United States stepped back from any central mediating role, all sides seemed to be settling in for a potentially protracted crisis. Asked whether Qatar felt pressure to resolve the crisis quickly, he said Not at all. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

earnings report: The annual financial statement, which includes an earnings report, is required by law to be filed with an auditor's opinion within three months from the end of the fiscal year, according to The Japan Times. Toshiba's auditor has refused to sign off on the financial statement and earnings report as the two sides have been unable to agree on when Toshiba recognized its massive losses related to Westinghouse Electric Co., which filed for bankruptcy protection in March. The struggling Tokyo-based firm said it gained approval from the regulator, the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, to extend the new deadline to Aug 10. The company expresses its sincerest apologies to its shareholders, investors and all other stakeholders for any concerns or inconvenience caused, Toshiba said in a statement. We will fully cooperate with our independent auditor and will make our utmost efforts to submit the financial report, but the auditing process is expected to take some time, Tsunakawa told a news conference later in the day. Toshiba President Satoshi Tsunakawa said the Westinghouse's bankruptcy protection requires a special accounting procedure, which will continue by the end of July. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

european defense: New French President Emmanuel Macron, who threw his weight behind a common European defense during his election campaign, called the steps historic and said leaders were meeting Europe's security challenges, according to The Japan Times. The conclusions that were adopted a few moments ago in defense are up to the job. It comes as tensions with Moscow and an inward turn in Washington have pushed Europe's governments to confront years of division over military cooperation. We must consider the historic nature of this, Macron told a news conference during an EU summit. Although the leaders' statement did not detail the size of the defense fund, the European Commission has said it would put forward at least 1.5 billion 1.69 billion a year from the bloc's budget for research and the purchase of assets. Modest by U.S. standards, the measures could nevertheless revitalize Europe's inefficient defense industry, allow the EU to send more peacekeepers to flash points and send a message to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that the bloc wants to pay for its own security. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

firmness thanks: On Thursday, the key market gauge fell 28.28 points, according to The Japan Times. The Topix, including all first-section issues, closed up 0.96 point, or 0.06 percent, at 1,611.34, after shedding 1.18 points the previous day. The benchmark Nikkei 225 average gained 22.16 points, or 0.11 percent, to end at 20,132.67. For most of Friday, the key market indexes showed aimless movements at levels slightly above the previous day's closing levels. There was no factor prompting active selling, said Tomoaki Fujii, head of the investment research division at Akatsuki Securities Inc. Although selling to adjust positions prior to the weekend weighed on the market, Tokyo stocks maintained their firmness thanks to the yen's relative weakness, brokers said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

group bid: The person said Jeter, a 14-time All-Star shortstop, met with MLB and Marlins officials in New York and provided an update on his efforts to raise the needed money, according to The Japan Times. The person said multiple other groups remain in the mix to purchase the team. The person described the status of the Marlins' sale talks to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team isn't discussing the negotiations publicly. Jeter's group bid about 1.3 billion to buy the Marlins from Jeffrey Loria. Jeter continued his pursuit of the franchise after former Florida Gov. A similar bid was submitted by a group led by Massachusetts businessman Tagg Romney, son of former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

kepler observatory: The multimillion-euro undertaking could eventually even lead to the detection of extraterrestrial life, it added, according to The Japan Times. A committee of the European Space Agency ESA meeting in Madrid, green-lit the mission on Tuesday, meaning it can move from a blueprint into construction, the university said in a statement. The PLATO mission will address fundamental questions such as how common are Earth-like planets ' and is our solar system unusual or even unique ' the University of Warwick, whose scientists will take part in the project, said on Wednesday. When the candidate project was first announced three years ago, its cost was estimated at some 600 million 668 million . With 26 onboard telescopes, PLATO will join NASA's Kepler observatory in a dedicated search for exoplanets revolving around stars other than our sun. Of these, 30 are less than twice the size of Earth and orbiting within the so-called habitable zone of their star not so close that water evaporates and not so cold that it freezes. Kepler has so far found more than 3,400 confirmed exoplanets. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

securities firm: On Wednesday, the key market gauge fell 91.62 points, according to The Japan Times. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 1.18 points, or 0.07 percent, at 1,610.38, after shedding 5.69 points the previous day. The 225-issue Nikkei average shed 28.28 points, or 0.14 percent, to end at 20,110.51. Stocks were directionless in thin trading, moving around the previous day's closing levels throughout Thursday. The impact of lower crude oil prices was not so strong because energy-related issues are not heavily weighted to the Tokyo stock market, an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said. Losses in energy-related issues affected by lower crude oil prices weighed down the market, whose downside was underpinned by active purchases of small-cap issues, brokers said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

government: In its May report, the government said that the economy is on a moderate recovery, while referring to delayed improvement in some sectors, according to The Japan Times. As personal consumption has been picking up, the government is seen removing the phrase, delayed improvement, from its basic economic assessment in the June report. The revision will reflect solid personal spending, the sources said. Economic and fiscal policy minister Nobuteru Ishihara is scheduled to submit the June report at a meeting of relevant ministers on Thursday. In the June report, the government is expected to paint a brighter picture of personal expenditures, the sources said. The synthetic consumption index, a gauge used by the Cabinet Office to track personal spending trends, stood at 105.5 in April, the highest level since April 2014, when Japan raised its consumption tax to 8 percent from 5 percent. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

investor sentiment: On Tuesday, the key market gauge advanced 162.66 points, hitting its highest closing level since Aug. 18, 2015, according to The Japan Times. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed down 5.69 points, or 0.35 percent, at 1,611.56, after gaining 11.18 points the previous day. The 225-issue Nikkei average lost 91.62 points, or 0.45 percent, to end at 20,138.79. Stocks came under pressure from selling to lock in profits after the Nikkei average jumped nearly 400 points in the three sessions through Tuesday, brokers said. It is natural for the market to come under profit-taking after its recent advance, said Ryuta Otsuka, strategist at the investment information department of Toyo Securities Co. Investor sentiment was battered by a halt to the yen's depreciation, they said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

israeli: The meetings are aimed at laying the groundwork for a resumption of negotiations for the first time in three years, according to The Japan Times. The United States officials and Israeli leadership underscored that forging peace will take time and stressed the importance of doing everything possible to create an environment conducive to peacemaking, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. Sitting down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kushner and other U.S. officials discussed potential next steps to make progress on Trump's goal of a genuine and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the White House said. Kushner, whose family has a long relationship with Netanyahu, met with the Israeli leader in Jerusalem for about 3 hours before heading to the West Bank city of Ramallah for a late-night meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. But Kushner enjoys some advantages that could allow him to make at least some progress. The Trump administration faces the same obstacles that have doomed previous attempts by a string of Republican and Democratic administrations deep disagreements over key issues such as borders, dueling claims to Jerusalem and the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

trade secrets: He will remain on the Uber Technologies Inc. board, according to The Japan Times. In a statement, Kalanick said his resignation would help Uber go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight. The company's board confirmed the move early Tuesday, saying in a statement that Kalanick is taking time to heal from the death of his mother in a boating accident while giving the company room to fully embrace this new chapter in Uber's history. The resignation came after a series of costly missteps by Kalanick and the fast-growing company that he helped found eight years ago. The San Francisco-based company is trying to reverse damage done to its reputation by revelations of sexual harassment in its offices, allegations of theft of trade secrets, and an investigation into efforts to mislead government regulators. Uber on Monday embarked on a 180-day program to change its image by allowing riders to give drivers tips through the Uber app, something the company had resisted under Kalanick. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

broadcom ltd: Toshiba said in 2015 that it had overstated profits for seven years and paid a record fine, only to reveal this year that it would have to take a write-down in its nuclear business of more than 6 billion, according to The Japan Times. Toshiba is now racing to sell off assets, including its prized memory chip business, to cover the losses in its Westinghouse nuclear business and avoid the delisting. In a 25-page report, the U.S. firm details years of accounting troubles at the Japanese icon, clashes with accountants over financial statements, weak internal controls and management missteps that have put investors at risk of seeing their shares delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The leading bidders for the chips business are Broadcom Ltd. and a group led by Bain Capital LP and Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, and Toshiba aims to pick the winner this month. The firm detailed why it has advised against every director, naming six for participating in the board's audit committee or in top management during the scandals. The repeated revelations of the accounting irregularities at both the company and subsidiary levels have cast significant doubt over the effectiveness of the group's internal controls, as well as the internal financial reporting procedures and auditing systems in place to avoid the kind of problems that have occurred, wrote Shigemichi Yoshizu, an analyst at Glass Lewis. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

japanese companies: Young people in our country are well familiar with state-of-the-art technology, Conde told a seminar in Tokyo hosted by the Japan External Trade Organization, according to The Japan Times. Japan was the first nation that recognized us as a country since we became independent in 1958 from France, Conde said. Many people living in our country are under the age of 30. We therefore want to open a new page of cooperation with Japanese companies. Later in the day, Conde held talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, where the leaders agreed to boost economic ties between the two counties. Conde, elected president in 2010, is on a four-day visit to Japan that started Monday. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

afternoon session: On Friday, the key market gauge gained 111.44 points, according to The Japan Times. The Topix, including all first-section issues, closed up 10.03 points, or 0.63 percent, at 1,606.07, after climbing 7.95 points the previous trading day. The Nikkei 225 average advanced 124.49 points, or 0.62 percent, to finish at 20,067.75. Investors were relieved after key events, including the final round of France's parliamentary election on Sunday, were over, brokers said. Stocks maintained their firmness but their upward momentum stalled amid a lack of fresh incentives, said Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co. The Nikkei average briefly climbed over 140 points before the market's topside was somewhat capped in the afternoon session. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

blog post: To promote the move in 2014, he even penned a blog post for Forbes explaining the decision, according to The Japan Times. The number of transactions the New York-based firm has made since Zero. All co-founder Roger Wu had to do was obtain a digital wallet. The biggest thing is, are people willing to pay in bitcoin Wu asked. Even as the euphoria over bitcoin reached a fever pitch last week as the price surged to almost 3,000, slow transaction times and inertia are preventing it from achieving widespread usage. The reality is that most of our customers are other businesses and other businesses don't use bitcoin. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

cedric soares: Cristiano Ronaldo, coming off a tumultuous week off the field, set up Ricardo Quaresma's opening goal for Portugal, and Javier Chicharito Hernandez hit Mexico's equalizer just before halftime, according to The Japan Times. It's not the result we wanted, we had the game almost won, said Ronaldo, who was voted the man of the match. Portugal looked set for a late win when Cedric Soares scored with a deflected shot in the 86th minute, but Hector Moreno equalized for Mexico with a header in stoppage time. But we are not worried, there are two games left, we still have chances. The result left European champion Portugal and Gold Cup winner Mexico trailing host Russia in Group A. Russia opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over New Zealand on Saturday. There is no reason to be concerned, we have to think about the next match. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

side merkel: Friday morning in bed at his home in Ludwigshafen, in western Germany, with his second wife, Maike Kohl-Richter, at his side, according to The Japan Times. Merkel, Germany's incumbent chancellor who grew up in communist East Germany before being appointed by Kohl to her first ministerial post, said he changed my own life path decisively by reuniting Germany. The mass-selling newspaper Bild reported that Kohl died at 9.15 a.m. When a new spirit began to stir in eastern Europe in the 1980s, when, starting in Poland freedom was seized, when brave people in Leipzig, East Berlin and elsewhere in East Germany began a peaceful revolution, then Helmut Kohl was the right man at the right time, said Merkel, who was wearing black. Kohl, who was chancellor between 1982 and 1998, was the country's longest-serving leader. He stood fast to the dream and aim of a united Germany even as others hesitated, she said in a televised statement from Rome. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.