We need to find a fairer way of providing Goods and Services to the rest of the people on Earth.Cryptocurrencies and/or Gold Standard of money....maybe the answer to fight hyperinflation caused by too much printing of paper/fiat currencies by Governments and Central Banks all over the World. (https://nomorefiatmoneyplease.blogspot.com)
Ping An's Lufax close to raising funds at US$18b value
[BEIJING] Lufax, a Chinese peer-to-peer lender and broker, is close to completing a round of fundraising valuing the company at about US$18 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The company, which recently changed its name to Lu.com, is raising almost US$1 billion from the sale of a roughly 5 per cent stake, said one of the people, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Chinese and overseas investors participated in the fundraising, which received demand that was multiple times the amount Lufax was seeking, the person said.
China's finance sector is going through sweeping changes after years of government control, with new entrants such as Lufax and Baidu Inc. introducing innovation and lower-priced services. Lufax, run by former McKinsey & Co consultant Gregory Gibb, started four years ago and is officially called Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange Co.
Lufax was valued at US$10 billion in March, when it raised US$500 million in a private placement.
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Representatives for Lufax and Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, its biggest shareholder, didn't immediately respond to e- mails seeking comment.
HSBC Amanah chief to head CIMB Islamic banking arm
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Malaysia's second-biggest bank by assets, said on Monday it had hired the former head of HSBC's Islamic arm to lead its Islamic banking operations.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
[KUALA LUMPUR] CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Malaysia's second-biggest bank by assets, said on Monday it had hired the former head of HSBC's Islamic arm to lead its Islamic banking operations.
Mohamed Rafe bin Mohamed Haneef, who was heading HSBC Amanah Malaysia Bhd, was appointed chief executive of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd and the Group Islamic Banking Division effective Jan 4 2016, CIMB Group Holdings said in a statement to the bourse.
The move sees Haneef, a 15 year Islamic finance vereran, taking the helm of one of the largest arrangers of sukuk or Islamic bonds at a time when the market seeks to expand into new markets and attract a wider range of issuers.
Mr Haneef will replace Badlisyah Abdul Ghani who resigned from CIMB Islamic in July, and CIMB Group has been looking for a suitable replacement since the resignation.
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The lender, the region's fifth-largest by assets, reported net interest income of 2.42 billion ringgit (S$783.57 million) for the third quarter through September - its highest since December 2013 - driven by growth in operating income.
Almost half of hedge fund firms plan 2016 fund launch: trade body
[LONDON] Almost half of hedge fund firms plan to roll out a new hedge fund by the end of next year despite regulations challenging how they market, the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) said on Monday.
The hedge fund trade body's study said 44 per cent of managers planned to launch a hedge fund by the end of 2016, with one third of US firms and half of UK managers preparing funds that will offer daily liquidity.
Managers with more than US$500 million were more likely to be preparing a new hedge fund than those with less than $500 million.
While UK and US-based firms were most likely to launch hedge funds, AIMA suggested more could be launched in the European Union (EU) in future due to rising interest from continental investors, particularly in Italy and Germany.
A strong pipeline of launches contrasts with a restrictive regulatory and challenging asset-raising environment in which several hedge fund firms have recently closed their doors. BlueCrest Capital Management earlier this month closed its US$8 billion hedge fund firm following pressure on fees, rising costs and lacklustre performance.
In Europe, in particular, hedge funds face strict marketing restrictions under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, which has forced 78 per cent of managers in the survey to change how they sell to EU investors.
Managers in the UK were the most concerned about the impact of regulation on their business, followed by those in North America.
China swap rate rises to one-week high as growth stabilizing
[SHANGHAI] China's interest-rate swaps climbed to the highest level in more than a week as better-than-expected economic data damped speculation the central bank will roll out more monetary stimulus to support growth.
Industrial production rose in November by the most since June and retail sales recorded the biggest gain of the year, according to reports released over the weekend, and Friday data showed the broadest measure of new credit more than doubled from October. A Bloomberg monthly China gross domestic product tracker advanced to 6.85 per cent, the best reading since June.
The cost of one-year swaps, the fixed payment to receive the floating seven-day repurchase rate, climbed two basis points to 2.33 per cent as of 4.54 pm in Shanghai, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It earlier rose to 2.34 per cent, the highest since Dec 3.
"The data came out fairly good, damping expectations of further loosening, such as reserve-ratio cuts," said Wei Taiyuan, an investment manager at China Merchants Bank Co in Shanghai. "Also, there's already ample liquidity in the financial system." The yield on sovereign debt due October 2025 increased for the first time in three days, adding four basis points to 3.04 per cent, National Interbank Funding Center prices show. The benchmark 10-year yield fell to 2.99 per cent on Friday, the lowest since October, according to ChinaBond data.
Ten companies' initial public offerings will lock up more than 3 trillion yuan (US$464 million) on Monday, according to a CFETS-ICAP International Money Broking Co estimate. The overnight repurchase rate on the Shanghai Stock Exchange jumped 148 basis points to 3.69 per cent, while the similar-term contract in the interbank market rose one basis point to 1.78 per cent.
Ringgit declines as China seen allowing weak Yuan with new index
Malaysia's ringgit fell to a three-week low as a new China index tracking the yuan against a basket of currencies spurred speculation the exchange rate will weaken.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's ringgit fell to a three-week low as a new China index tracking the yuan against a basket of currencies spurred speculation the exchange rate will weaken.
The move may put pressure on Asian currencies to depreciate as policy makers bid to keep exports competitive with the world's second-biggest economy by allowing their exchange rates to fall, and as the greenback strengthens amid a looming increase in US borrowing costs. The China Foreign Exchange Trade System, run by the central bank, published the index on Friday and it includes 13 other currencies. The dollar has a 26.4 per cent weighting.
"The market took the announcement as the People's Bank of China allowing for more weakness in the renminbi," said Andy Ji, a Singapore-based strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "That affected some of the regional currencies." The ringgit dropped 0.8 per cent to 4.3240 a dollar in Kuala Lumpur, taking its loss this month to 1.4 per cent, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. It earlier reached 4.3325, the lowest since Nov 20. The currency also declined as a protracted slump in Brent crude cuts government revenue for the region's only major net oil exporter.
The yuan index will "help bring about a shift in how the public and the market observe RMB exchange-rate movements," according to an announcement on CFETS website. The euro will have a 21.4 per cent weighting and the yen 14.7 per cent. China's currency dropped 0.3 per cent in offshore trading in Hong Kong, Indonesia's rupiah fell 0.9 per cent and the South Korean won declined 0.4 per cent.
Brent slumped another 1.4 per cent in Asia on Monday to US$37.39 a barrel, the lowest level since 2008 and below Malaysia's 2016 budget assumption of US$48. Malaysia derives about 22 per cent of government revenue from oil-related sources and a report in the New Straits Times last week cited Prime Minister Najib Razak as reiterating the nation will face a US$7 billion shortfall next year due to the drop in energy prices.
The decline in oil "will see further reductions in Malaysia's liquefied natural gas exports whose prices lag oil by around four months," said Khoon Goh, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd in Singapore, the most accurate forecaster of emerging Asian currencies in the four quarters ended Sept 30. "In addition, lower oil prices will make it harder for the government to achieve the 2016 deficit target of 3.1 per cent of gross domestic product." Sovereign bonds retreated, with the yield on the 2020 notes rising five basis points to an 11-week high of 3.86 per cent, according to prices from Bursa Malaysia. The cost to insure the nation's debt from default for five years fell eight basis points to 201 after last week's biggest rise since September, CMA prices show.
