https://www.scmp.com/rss/21330/feed Peter Guy is a financial writer and former international banker en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com A joke about Canadians is that they hate rich people — but if they become rich, then they say they hate poor people. Such is the “culture of envy” that flourishes in a country based on political correctness. The British Columbia government has embarked on a misguided investigation into local and foreign money laundering and their effects on the local economy, particularly in casinos and real estate. It is actually racist speak for: let us find a way to blame Chinese money for the greater... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3014224/money-laundering-crackdown-just-way-blame-chinese-cash-vancouvers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3014224/money-laundering-crackdown-just-way-blame-chinese-cash-vancouvers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jun 2019 15:00:25 +0000 Hand-wringing over the inevitable demise of Hong Kong’s freedoms and rule of law ignores the fact that you have enough freedom – to do business. And that’s all you really need because Hong Kong has been and always will be, primarily, a place for making money.  Hong Kong’s political and economic conflict originates from a historic anomaly: being run as a free and liberal society by a relatively unrepresentative government. No other place has survived such a contradictory state. You either end up... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/3001371/hong-kong-and-will-be-free-enough-do-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/3001371/hong-kong-and-will-be-free-enough-do-business?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Mar 2019 03:00:09 +0000 Sooner or later, everybody’s kingdom must end. And Hong Kong witnessed that in 2018 with the passing of a generation of major business and cultural figures. At their peak, they made Hong Kong the centre of Chinese capitalism – until mainland China emerged. Their passing and what they’ve left behind will determine Hong Kong’s future.  The passing of Walter Kwok Ping-sheung, former chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties, marked the end of an era for Hong Kong’s original property tycoons. It started... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2181286/end-era-hong-kong-steps-down-face-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2181286/end-era-hong-kong-steps-down-face-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jan 2019 06:30:30 +0000 It is hard to dispel the worry that there must be another financial crisis brewing as long as investment bankers believe that financial discipline and regulation only get in the way of profitable returns and great bonuses. It’s rare in investment banking for an entire department to complain or mutiny because it’s usually easier to move to another bank than to reveal discontent. So it was a surprise that The Financial Times revealed in September that HSBC investment bankers claimed in a memo that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/2171874/investment-banking-practices-unwise-loans-emphasis-derivatives-risk-another?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/2171874/investment-banking-practices-unwise-loans-emphasis-derivatives-risk-another?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Nov 2018 19:02:06 +0000 Technology spins off its own vicious contradictions that confound the management abilities of its billionaire founders. As if the scandal involving the inappropriate use of user data by third parties is not challenging enough, Facebook has confirmed that it is tracking users’ behaviour to rate their trustworthiness. Only a few years ago, Chinese internet users were warned by Western critics against naively, or ignorantly, acquiescing to their home-grown tech companies’ and government’s internet... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2164277/what-next-facebook-and-google-if-they-dont?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2164277/what-next-facebook-and-google-if-they-dont?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Sep 2018 19:02:34 +0000 There are only two economic reasons to own a business. One is to grow it, the other is to sell it. Anything in between invites indecision and ossification through slothful management. One exception is the Hong Kong Chinese family business, a kind of economic monarchy. Many conglomerates grew out of local property development and trading businesses whose skill sets don’t necessarily reflect the outside world. The primary rule of succession is: no matter how cumbersome it has become, the business... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2156571/ck-group-transitions-li-ka-shing-victor-li?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2156571/ck-group-transitions-li-ka-shing-victor-li?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Jul 2018 04:00:00 +0000 The venality of Hong Kong’s government-protected cartels recently reached a crescendo as government officials like Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan staunchly defended property developers and taxi licence owners from much needed reform.  Hong Kong has become the land that economic time forgot, where the outdated practices of monopoly-entrenched dinosaurs are defended by government officials. Dogmatic beliefs in a free market that are actually failed-and-rigged markets continue... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2144018/micro-flats-and-crackdown-uber-hong-kong-show-monopolies-win?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2144018/micro-flats-and-crackdown-uber-hong-kong-show-monopolies-win?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Apr 2018 08:08:52 +0000 “Don’t take my words away from me,” cried Lenny Bruce, brilliantly portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the 1974 biopic, “Lenny”. In the 1960s, Bruce fought for his first amendment rights to tell profane and obscene jokes in his stand-up comedy act. It’s easy to forget that the right and choice to possess and express ideas, especially those which greater society and government despise, was a struggle even in the US, which enshrined their expression in a constitution. But, the line between the... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2137266/hong-kongs-fintechs-must-shake-their-traditional-shackles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2137266/hong-kongs-fintechs-must-shake-their-traditional-shackles?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Mar 2018 02:01:29 +0000 Cathay Pacific faces an Asian air war of attrition between price versus value. It is the central issue that will decide its leadership or survival. The new competitive dynamics have sucked in all airlines whether they like it or not. Competitive advantage is increasingly based on the price of a ticket rather than the value of service. Which one do future passengers truly care about? Asian airline competition has become more intense and unrelenting. National and budget airlines are restructuring... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2136745/cathay-pacific-case-study-how-most-companies-fail-long-run-if?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2136745/cathay-pacific-case-study-how-most-companies-fail-long-run-if?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Mar 2018 12:54:11 +0000 The recent international sell off and volatility in equities reveals weaknesses in clients’ portfolios, especially if you consider how financial advisers and investors have been lulled into a world of near permanent zero to low interest rates since the global financial crisis. Risk premiums were suppressed, and wildly distorted the pricing of equities and real estate. Over the last decade wealth managers have lamented how clients were either reluctant to take any risk or desperate to take too... https://www.scmp.com/business/money/stock-talk/article/2136241/realities-behind-stuttering-risk-risk-investment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/money/stock-talk/article/2136241/realities-behind-stuttering-risk-risk-investment?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Mar 2018 03:19:20 +0000 A government’s fiscal budget isn’t really a useful statement unless it is underpinned and driven by long term vision and strategy. So each year, Hong Kong’ budget is a series of ad hoc expenditures based on the current surplus rather than total reserves. It’s as primitive as a household budget. We’ve gotten so used to local terms like “goodies” and “sweeteners”, which are unheard of in real world public policy. They are poor intellectual substitutes for developing and funding long term policies... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2135640/hong-kongs-science-park-just-got-lions-share-budget-goodies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2135640/hong-kongs-science-park-just-got-lions-share-budget-goodies?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Mar 2018 10:14:54 +0000 In Robert Caro’s sweeping biography of President Lyndon Johnson The Passage of Power, he keenly observes how power works: “Power doesn’t always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals. When you have enough power to do what you always wanted to do, then you see what the guy always wanted to do.” That represents a singular understanding for any politician who is fearful to find himself powerless in his world in which power is the crucial... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2135200/why-vancouver-housing-back-cross-hairs-amid-new-china-risks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2135200/why-vancouver-housing-back-cross-hairs-amid-new-china-risks?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Mar 2018 02:45:30 +0000 Stuart Gulliver once told me that his legal background made him an ideal trader in capital markets because “it helped you to think quickly on your feet”. Tough decision-making and the pragmatic resolution of unusual challenges were regularly demanded of him during his tenure as the CEO of HSBC. Gulliver this week handed over control to John Flint, the bank’s former global head of retail banking. Mark Tucker, former CEO at Asian insurer AIA Group, assumed the role as HSBC chairman from Douglas... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2134634/if-stuart-gulliver-found-his-tenure-hsbc-arduous-its-going?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2134634/if-stuart-gulliver-found-his-tenure-hsbc-arduous-its-going?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Feb 2018 09:56:10 +0000 In Hollywood’s and China’s reluctant on and off again relationship, the predominant problem is determining the substance of the relationship. What are Chinese firms actually buying and how is it actually valued? Perhaps the source of reluctance for Beijing regulators occurred when they read the notorious account of Sony’s troubled 1989 acquisition of Columbia – Hit and Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood, by Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters. Guber presciently... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2134152/has-wanda-made-legendary-mistake-its-acquisition-hollywood-studio?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2134152/has-wanda-made-legendary-mistake-its-acquisition-hollywood-studio?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Feb 2018 23:30:45 +0000 Understanding what inspires or scares billionaires to build post-apocalyptic survival estates and retreats requires comprehension of what worries people at this level of wealth. It is no longer enough to protect their families from the usual security threats against rich people – robbery and kidnapping. Today, security includes end-of-days scenarios, whether or not you believe in the biblical or agnostic apocalypse. New Zealand has recently been highlighted as a beautiful retreat near the edge... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2133724/fatuous-folly-super-rich-and-their-plans-escape-apocalypse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2133724/fatuous-folly-super-rich-and-their-plans-escape-apocalypse?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Feb 2018 09:06:11 +0000 Few investors study history. And the ones that do, dismiss the lessons as being irrelevant for the current market. Predicting China’s upcoming economic collapse is a popular contrarian viewpoint, but it is not so easy to generate a convenient scenario if you look at data that is driving global inflation fears. Credit is like a “ghost in the machine” for banks. It moves through their balance sheets and, ultimately, the markets without senior managers and traders knowing about the cumulative risk,... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2133610/whats-greatest-risk-chinas-economy-look-no-further-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2133610/whats-greatest-risk-chinas-economy-look-no-further-its?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Feb 2018 10:00:15 +0000 Easy come, easy go. That’s the only way to describe the end of easy returns selling low volatility for years after recent sharp market declines and high volatility. Selling volatility in a market that had been steadily rising was one of those sure things made easier by information and execution technology and exotic products such as leveraged and unleveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs). The popularity of alternative risk premium products has steadily grown in response to nine years of negative... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2132914/hidden-problems-and-greed-explain-why-these-etfs-mysteriously?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2132914/hidden-problems-and-greed-explain-why-these-etfs-mysteriously?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Feb 2018 10:02:57 +0000 Hoping for a magic formula to save an entrenched and traditional monopoly from the onslaught of a technology that won’t disappear or relent only deepens a problem.  Last December, the South China Morning Post reported that the Association for the Rights of Liberty Taxi Drivers threatened to launch a judicial review against the government if it actually adopts the Consumer Council’s suggestions to legalise ride hailing firms like Uber in Hong Kong, claiming that such a move would hurt the taxi... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2132506/why-shabby-taxis-rule-hong-kong-streets-and-uber-cant-get-break?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2132506/why-shabby-taxis-rule-hong-kong-streets-and-uber-cant-get-break?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Feb 2018 03:15:45 +0000 “The mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardise it,” said Hal the computer to the astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The artificial intelligence (AI) race has taken on the portentous public relations spectre of the Soviet-USA race to the moon, or to build the first atomic bomb. Periodic announcements of milestone achievements confuse many because few understand what it means for an algorithm to pass a test reading literature. The dominance of big American tech companies-... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2131903/biggest-limitation-artificial-intelligence-its-only-smart?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2131903/biggest-limitation-artificial-intelligence-its-only-smart?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Feb 2018 03:57:08 +0000 Peter Guy Peter Guy We live in troubled times. A sense of crippling anger and abandonment grows. People feel powerless to shape the forces that command their lives. In this setting, young people- the generation of millennials – are reshaping the financial world through technology and especially cryptocurrencies. In a recent Reuters interview, Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) urged “extreme caution” about buying cryptocurrencies. “I do hope when the fever has gone away,... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2131560/how-cryptocurrency-uprising-against-todays-flawed-financial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2131560/how-cryptocurrency-uprising-against-todays-flawed-financial?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Feb 2018 07:08:36 +0000 Economic history turns in cruel cycles. A decades-old problem (familiar to many in Hong Kong) has finally peaked in Canada, as real estate critics and citizens who cannot afford to live in Vancouver are demanding every kind of restrictive policy against foreign buyers to control prices. But the emerging political and economic policies of the New Democratic Party-Green Party provincial government in British Columbia could actually worsen housing affordability and business development. While the... https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/2130885/vancouver-too-tough-doing-business-other-being-ideal-retirement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/2130885/vancouver-too-tough-doing-business-other-being-ideal-retirement?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Jan 2018 03:59:14 +0000 “Making America Great Again” means returning American banks to the land of greater profits and returns. President Donald Trump and the US Federal Reserve intend to reintroduce proprietary trading to US banks. These banks are eager to return to what was once a source of huge profits even though it generated plenty of controversy after the global financial crisis and was eventually closed by the Volker rule in 2010. But the landscape of proprietary and quantitative trading have been reshaped... https://www.scmp.com/business/money/markets-investing/article/2130577/banks-should-throw-towel-proprietary-trading-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/money/markets-investing/article/2130577/banks-should-throw-towel-proprietary-trading-after?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:37:23 +0000 Much has already been written about Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah’s failure to declare illegal structures in her house and the perplexing and staunch defence assumed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. A more profound explanation lies in how Hong Kong people do business and government leaders, especially those in the generation over 50 years old, seem to be willing to compromise principles for the sake of facilitating an agenda. Post-1997 Hong Kong governance is a... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2129900/teresa-cheng-saga-shows-why-it-sad-reflection-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2129900/teresa-cheng-saga-shows-why-it-sad-reflection-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Jan 2018 10:29:28 +0000 In Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, Charlie Sheen’s character asks Gordon Gekko over a lavish lunch at “21” about his investment strategy. Gekko, deliciously played by Michael Douglas, adroitly answers, “You do good, you get perks, all kinds of perks.” For decades, regulators have been trying to gain control over the transparency and nature of research and entertainment expenses being buried in transaction costs. This month’s roll-out of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID II) is... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2129462/will-europes-regulatory-push-transparency-accelerate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2129462/will-europes-regulatory-push-transparency-accelerate?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Jan 2018 04:41:17 +0000 Give a trade war a chance, I say, paraphrasing John Lennon. We are hurtling towards one, especially if you consider the grievances of some American technology companies concerning the lack of a fair playing field, and the accusation that intellectual property theft is prevalent in China. Look at the backdrop that Donald Trump is building, and it couldn’t come sooner because China and the US need to settle their grievances. The Obama administration allowed China to roll forward on trade. It may... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2128193/does-it-take-trade-war-settle-disputes-and-disagreements?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2128193/does-it-take-trade-war-settle-disputes-and-disagreements?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Jan 2018 09:20:37 +0000 Ten years after the global financial crisis, the sanctions and convictions – or lack thereof – against those responsible still seem outrageous to the general public. You will have been disappointed if you were seeking social justice, outraged to see that opportunity exists after some financial organisations have been exonerated. In December, HSBC announced it was being released by the US Department of Justice from a 2012 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) that allows it to avoid criminal... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2127823/its-time-regulators-started-clawing-back-illicit-returns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2127823/its-time-regulators-started-clawing-back-illicit-returns?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jan 2018 08:37:45 +0000 Hong Kong’s property developers are promoting the trend of “co-living” space as the new, wonderful and inevitable lifestyle for young people seeking to enter Hong Kong’s impossibly expensive real estate market. This exposes a deep, exploitive fault line between the standard of living being imposed by private developers on the public. They threaten the health of Hong Kong’s young workforce and make attracting foreigners impossible into a new, knowledge economy. Co-living would be the driving... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2127192/hype-aside-whats-mental-effect-young-workforce-living-cramped-co-living?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2127192/hype-aside-whats-mental-effect-young-workforce-living-cramped-co-living?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Jan 2018 09:10:46 +0000 The changes to Hong Kong stock exchange’s listing rules last month seemed reluctant and timid, considering how profound the consequences are likely to be. The dilemma facing Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) for years was about more than being arbitraged against other stock exchanges over dual-class shares and losing the listing business of world-class mainland tech companies. The deeper malevolence is that there are no rational reasons for management or owners of a listed company to... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2126801/hong-kong-must-take-lead-tech-listings-or-forever-play-catch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2126801/hong-kong-must-take-lead-tech-listings-or-forever-play-catch?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jan 2018 05:32:29 +0000 Facts don’t change people’s minds, emotions do. And emotions are running high in Hong Kong among young people insecure about their future, especially where their careers are concerned. I meet many of them. A new year should bring more enlightened and positive attitudes. And unlike others, Hong Kong’s graduates in 2018 have to be set to navigate China’s confusing policies. The Chinese government’s official position contradicts itself speaking of the need for internationalisation by allowing... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2126283/hong-kongs-future-lies-hands-its-new-globally-networked?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2126283/hong-kongs-future-lies-hands-its-new-globally-networked?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Dec 2017 05:42:16 +0000 You’ve got to make the most of life. And it’s all about taking risks. But decisions have consequences. Those three short sentences embody the choices made by investors and government leaders at the end of 2017 and as we head towards 2018. “Trump derangement syndrome” is still chronic among some of the Americans who are still fighting their lost election. A sober analysis of US President Donald Trump’s policies and actions are important for understanding next year’s financial environment. The... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2125967/risks-taken-2017-and-their-consequences-are-set-haunt-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2125967/risks-taken-2017-and-their-consequences-are-set-haunt-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Dec 2017 06:14:56 +0000 When Cortez, the Spanish conquistador, landed in what is now Mexico, he boldly decided to burn his ships. It was a grandiose, strategic decision – the only way to urge his men to live the spirit of adventure. Li & Fung’s announcement on December 14 represents a transformational milestone for one of the pillars of Hong Kong’s economy – trade and supply chain management. The Hong Kong-based global supplier to some of America’s biggest retailers announced the sale of its sweater, furniture and... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2125583/outdated-li-fung-must-invoke-cortez-burn-its-ships-march-forward?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2125583/outdated-li-fung-must-invoke-cortez-burn-its-ships-march-forward?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Dec 2017 01:00:30 +0000 Bitcoin shows there is so much more to seduction than just showing up hungry. Over the Christmas holidays bitcoin (or cryptocurrencies) will shove aside family dinner topics as you or your relatives regale each other with real and virtual profits. Bitcoin continues to trend upward. Retail and institutional investors’ unrealised gains are also swelling. Fewer investors are exiting their investments. Mainstream media attention and word of mouth assure that the investor universe is expanding. The... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2125185/bankers-dont-care-if-bitcoin-bubble-longer-theres-money-be-made?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2125185/bankers-dont-care-if-bitcoin-bubble-longer-theres-money-be-made?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Dec 2017 03:45:15 +0000 The essence of smart business is being a crafty trader at the right time. Great deal makers know when to turn from buyer to seller, switching from offence to defence. Only Rupert Murdoch, the founder and patriarch, could have decisively executed News Corp’s sweeping US$66 billion deal with Disney. His decision is motivated by many factors, but it does say a lot about the pervasive and collective disintermediating influence in the media sector. Silicon Valley giants such as Amazon, Google,... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2124681/how-rupert-murdoch-solved-his-don-corleone-dilemma?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2124681/how-rupert-murdoch-solved-his-don-corleone-dilemma?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Dec 2017 01:01:19 +0000 The central question that private bankers ask their clients is: “What does your money mean to you?” It’s a fundamental moral issue at all levels of wealth. Revealing answers range from the odious (controlling the lives of your family members) to the visionary (saving the world). Eventually, bankers say, new wealth enjoys the luxury lifestyle for about five years before they start looking for some purpose in their lives. New and old Asian wealth have confused and conflated the meaning of charity... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2124215/look-closer-and-youll-see-charitable-foundations-are-often-not-about-giving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2124215/look-closer-and-youll-see-charitable-foundations-are-often-not-about-giving?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Dec 2017 00:01:31 +0000 As a journalist, I love to witness people being burned at the stake. The spectacle never gets boring. The theme that represents the “stake” and the type of heresy may change. But the cheering crowd never fails to congregate – especially on the internet. But like any witch hunt, the fervour and process grows to a point where anyone who questions any part of the entire process is seen as the enemy and cast into the well. If you sink you are innocent. If you float, you must be a witch and must be... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2123711/men-positions-authority-are-dire-need-rules-appropriate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2123711/men-positions-authority-are-dire-need-rules-appropriate?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Dec 2017 13:37:08 +0000 Artificial intelligence attracts attention because it is vastly overrated and overhyped, sensationalised as the next future shock and spectre. High profile technologists have been warning about the upcoming apocalypse or a dystopia where humans are enslaved by computers. Elon Musk warned about the possibility of war being instigated by AI: images of shell shocked humans huddling in bunkers, surveying the remains of our razed cities while hunter-killer terminator robots relentlessly seek to... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2123249/humans-will-probably-lose-war-machines-so-lets-change-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2123249/humans-will-probably-lose-war-machines-so-lets-change-business?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Dec 2017 03:16:05 +0000 As a descendant of 19th century Chinese railroad builders in Canada, I understand Robert Kuok’s respect for the long-suffering men and women who migrated to far away lands where they were outsiders and blazed a path for future generations and helped build entire economies. His book, “Robert Kuok, A Memoir” is an absorbing journey, whether you recognise his assertions. As one of the world’s richest men Kuok’s revelations and relationships provide a high level insight into the past and future of... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2122669/how-establish-independent-government-institutions-confucian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2122669/how-establish-independent-government-institutions-confucian?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Dec 2017 12:11:16 +0000 When you open the crack of the door sometimes you can see forever into the future. Recently, the Post reported that Beijing financial regulators said that the 49 per cent restriction on foreign ownership at securities firms, futures companies and fund houses would increase to 51 per cent before being completely lifted in three years. For insurance companies the cap would rise to 51 per cent in three years from 50 per cent, and would be removed in five years. Foreign banks requested the change... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2122424/it-or-not-foreign-banks-will-eventually-leave-hong-kong-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2122424/it-or-not-foreign-banks-will-eventually-leave-hong-kong-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Dec 2017 05:15:00 +0000 Uber Technologies’ saga of tribulations and violations continues to sprawl despite the former CEO, Travis Kalanick stepping back. The new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is fighting a rearguard action while new problems surface. It is a sign of deeper problems with the structure of over valued, private tech companies that should have been pushed into a public listing earlier. Unethical management behaviour ranging from sexual harassment to ignoring service failures have caused them to be banned from... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2121630/uber-waited-too-long-ipo-and-now-it-faces-difficult-sell?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2121630/uber-waited-too-long-ipo-and-now-it-faces-difficult-sell?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Nov 2017 10:59:42 +0000 I am often asked who was the most brilliant entrepreneur and what’s the most bulletproof business model I have ever seen. I instantly say Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis. Other entrepreneurs might identify and solve a difficult problem. But, Freud realised started an industry for an unsolvable and chronic human condition – unhappiness. He built an entire clinical school and practice of psychoanalysis, where patients pay for lifelong treatment trying to come to terms with their... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2121236/hong-kongs-co-working-space-services-are-weak-compared-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2121236/hong-kongs-co-working-space-services-are-weak-compared-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Nov 2017 05:45:35 +0000 When lofty aspirations meet the real world of competing sovereign interests the reality is that being a global superpower requires a delicate weaving of soft versus hard power with influence and dominance at multiple levels comprising military, political, economic and technological. And a few recent cracks in the plans for hegemony highlight the complicated road to infrastructure based influence faced by China. Last week, according to an SCMP report, the government of Nepal appears to have... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2120597/nepal-and-pakistan-pulling-plug-belt-and-road-plans-casts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2120597/nepal-and-pakistan-pulling-plug-belt-and-road-plans-casts?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Nov 2017 22:45:30 +0000 When a Hong Kong government cabinet secretary mocks my ideas on how to reduce poverty and improve equality on a television show it is worth examining whose version of economic reality we are living in. I recently participated in a Channel News Asia panel interview about economic inequality in Hong Kong with Dr Law Chi-Kwong, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, and three other guests. All the panellists agreed that Hong Kong is very market-driven. But in residential property, market failure,... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2120219/hong-kongs-property-cartel-pushing-wealth-inequality-brink?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2120219/hong-kongs-property-cartel-pushing-wealth-inequality-brink?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Nov 2017 23:00:25 +0000 “We [the rich] don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes,” said Leona Helmsley, a notorious New York heiress who was sentenced for 16 years for federal income tax evasion in 1989. That explains why rich people wish and possess the means to avoid taxes (legally or illegally) using offshore jurisdictions and havens. But, revealing the tax plans of the global oligarchy doesn’t fully explain the significance of the “Paradise Papers.” The Paradise Papers represents 13.4 million files at 1.4... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2119536/hong-kong-should-rebrand-itself-low-tax-haven?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2119536/hong-kong-should-rebrand-itself-low-tax-haven?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Nov 2017 10:51:14 +0000 Investors have not considered the historical quagmire that has plagued many technology companies – the risk of migrating from their existing to a completely new technology platform. It’s almost impossible to quantify and judge if a young or old firm can make it; even the most experienced venture capital firms can’t determine the outcome of a big bet on the future. On Friday Razer – a US and Singapore-based, gaming hardware and software developer – priced its IPO at HK$3.88 per share, with a... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2119316/tech-start-leaders-have-wow-ipo-audiences-so-can-razers-tan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2119316/tech-start-leaders-have-wow-ipo-audiences-so-can-razers-tan?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Nov 2017 07:45:00 +0000 Remember that uncomfortable feeling when you discovered that you weren’t as liberal as you thought you were? Like the time you might have uttered the cliché: “Some of my best friends are gay, but I wouldn’t want my son or daughter to marry one? Like how Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn confronted their own latent prejudices in Stanley Kramer’s brilliant 1967 comedy Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Hong Kong’s leaders have waded into a potential public relations disaster, or victory - depending... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2118441/gay-games-hong-kongs-moment-show-our-citys-inclusivity-are-we-ready?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2118441/gay-games-hong-kongs-moment-show-our-citys-inclusivity-are-we-ready?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Nov 2017 02:00:15 +0000 Bitcoin is dead. Long live bitcoin. Its ardent supporters are behind the struggle between an array of government and private cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin proponents are as vociferous as Morpheus in The Matrix. After they’ve taken the “red pill,” bitcoin evangelists have seen the truth and heeded their calling. The range of opinions is both wide and emotional: the cryptocurrency will either change the world, or it’s the biggest fraud ever. Since China banned private ownership of bitcoin, rumours... https://www.scmp.com/tech/e-commerce/article/2118072/cryptos-will-live-because-ideas-cant-be-killed-global-war-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/e-commerce/article/2118072/cryptos-will-live-because-ideas-cant-be-killed-global-war-over?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Nov 2017 03:28:32 +0000 “It’s not really money unless you use it,” as the old Cantonese saying goes. The same can be said about government power and authority. Last week, we witnessed this conundrum in action. Hong Kong’s stock market operator and the regulator have decided, under certain conditions, to allow companies with dual-class shares to list on the city’s bourse, according to the South China Morning Post’s reports. That’s not surprising, given that it’s a competitive requirement in today’s technology-driven... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2117504/refusal-establish-start-board-competitive-setback-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/2117504/refusal-establish-start-board-competitive-setback-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Oct 2017 23:32:02 +0000 The “Great Game” over oil and energy dominance is being played out in Asia’s energy markets. While US President Donald Trump plays a reactive, tactical game to “Make America Great Again” through unilateralism, China, Russia and Japan have their eyes on the long game. They are reshaping the global balance of power with bold, multilateral energy infrastructure plans and near-completed projects. The Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recreation of the New Silk Road has attracted enormous attention as a... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2117072/petroyuan-may-supplant-petrodollars-russias-oil-and-gas-replace-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2117072/petroyuan-may-supplant-petrodollars-russias-oil-and-gas-replace-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Oct 2017 05:21:34 +0000 “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible, ” said Frank Zappa. The American rock activist’s work was characterised by nonconformity and free-form improvisation. His thought can just as easily apply to the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s contrarian, ambitious and some suggest authoritarian vision that he laid out at the Communist Party’s 19th congress last week. But, it is only contrarian to foreign observers. “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” necessarily means a pragmatic... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2116492/xis-congress-speech-offered-few-clear-signs-and-clues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2116492/xis-congress-speech-offered-few-clear-signs-and-clues?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Oct 2017 01:03:44 +0000 Hong Kong’s recent budget creates its own unconventional version of Freakonomics: the morality of how bureaucrats imagine the city works versus the economics of how it actually works. Despite pumped up welfare and social spending, the government’s failure to address structural economic and marketplace reform will only mean that the quality of living and competitiveness standards will only worsen. The government can easily spend more billions when it has control over reserves that are almost a... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2115453/hong-kongs-budget-wont-fix-core-problems-dominant-cartels-and-lack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2115453/hong-kongs-budget-wont-fix-core-problems-dominant-cartels-and-lack?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Oct 2017 12:15:15 +0000