Asia Pacific
Headlines
Cabe Malaysia Conference addresses shared global challenges
A number of issues facing the construction industry – the impact of the Hackitt report and future directives of UK legislation; the true value of sustainable buildings and standardisation of contracts – have been debated at a conference in Malaysia, illustrating the fact that many issues are not restricted by geography, but indeed are shared...
Vistra appoints Michael Sheahan as Alternative Investments Global Lead for Real Estate
Vistra, a leading global fund administration, trust and corporate services provider, today announced the appointment of Michael Sheahan as Alternative Investments Global Lead for Real Estate, effective immediately. In this role, Michael will lead the company’s global real estate (RE) business with responsibility for the development and execution...
HSA Advocates expands its Regulatory & Policy and Disputes Practice with new additions in the partnership collegium
HSA Advocates (“HSA”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Apoorva Misra as Partner and Shreshth Sharma and Nitish Gupta as Associate Partners in the Regulatory & Policy and Disputes practice. While the three partners will be based out of the firm’s New Delhi office, however, their responsibilities will not be restricted by geography. Apoorva...
Benelux law firm AKD keeps in step with growth of Asian market and expands Asian practice
Benelux law firm AKD expands its Asian practice with the arrival of Hyunju Park, Kaori Ishikawa and Xian Kong. Hyunju focuses on the Korean market, Kaori on Japan and Xian on China. Erwin Rademakers, AKD’s managing partner, who is also responsible for the firm’s Asian practice, explains: “The business sector in Korea, Japan and China is growing...
Rachika A Sahay joins HSA Advocates as Partner in the New Delhi office
Rachika A Sahay joins HSA Advocates as Partner to further strengthen the Projects, Energy and Infrastructure and Corporate practices. She will be operating out of the firm’s New Delhi office. Rachika has over a decade of experience in handling a broad range of deals in the energy sector. She also has diverse experience in handling corporate transactions...
Finance
Afghans worry about the return of Shia fighters from Syria’s civil war
ALIREZA QANBARI has still not told his parents the truth about what he did when he left Afghanistan for Iran. The 23-year-old is happy for his father to believe he worked as a labourer. In fact, he fought with an Afghan militia recruited by Iran to help prop up the government in Syria’s civil war. With the war now dying down, Afghan fighters are starting...
The president of the Philippines wants to rename his country
RODRIGO DUTERTE, the perpetually disgruntled president of the Philippines, is unhappy about the name of his country. “I want to change it someday,” he remarked earlier this month in one of his customary rambling speeches. “No particular name yet but, sure, I would like to change the name of the Philippines, because the Philippines is named after...
Japan says transgender people must be sterilised
SHOULD TRANSGENDER people be sterilised before they are recognised? Earlier this year Japan’s Supreme Court decided that the answer is yes. Takakito Usui, a transgender man (ie, someone who was born female but identifies as male), had sued over a requirement that, to be officially designated a man, he has to have his ovaries and uterus removed (as...
Air strikes on Pakistan may win Narendra Modi India’s election
THE STARTER’S gun has been fired on the biggest democratic exercise on Earth: an Indian general election. The Election Commission has set out a schedule for the country’s 900m-odd eligible voters to select a new parliament, in seven stages, with results due on May 23rd. The process, despite electronic voting and an increase in polling stations,...
Thailand’s generals plan to remain in charge, whatever voters say
“WE WILL TAKE good care of the price of rice in the market,” declares Uttama Savanayana, the leader of the Palang Pracharat party, to a sweating crowd of farmers in Thailand’s north-east. The party, which supports the ruling military regime and is staffed by several of its former ministers, such as Mr Uttama, was founded last year. It will carry...
Legal
After Fintech, Singapore eyes Legaltech status
Singapore, a haven for disruptive fintech firms, is aiming to shake up Asia's legal sector next The Lion City will host Southeast Asia's first legaltech accelerator from April. The city-state's initiative aims to groom legaltech startups as well as incubate new business models or services conceived by law firms. Singapore's law academy has launched...
China updates New Industry Catalogue
PRC reduces regulatory procedures for foreign investments following its 2016 reforms. China creates a nationally applicable “negative list” for foreign investment, which opens up more industries for multi-national companies.Foreign Investments Filing Administrative Rules will be updated and published soon by the Ministry of Commerce to clarify...
Proposals to make free movement of data a principle of EU law expected this autumn
Ansip said proposed new EU legislation to tackle unnecessary restrictions on where data can be stored are likely to be published this autumn.The proposals will also look to make it easier for businesses to move their data between rival cloud providers and ensure that public sector bodies can access data held by authorities in another EU country to help...
New advertising standards in the UK to take tougher stance on gender stereotypes
The new standards will be drawn up by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), according to a new report on gender stereotypes in advertising (64-page / 5.4MB PDF) published by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the watchdog that oversees compliance with UK advertising rules.The CAP will also look to "clarify standards that reflect the ASA‘s...
UK government urged to avoid data transfers 'cliff edge' at point of Brexit
In a new report, a House of Lords committee warned that trade and security could be impacted if the flow of data is disrupted at the point of Brexit.To enable data to flow between the UK and EU post-Brexit, the EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee urged the UK government to seek a so-called 'adequacy' decision from the European Commission, which would recognise...
Deals
Investcorp launches in India with acquisition of IDFC Alternative’s Private Equity and Realty Businesses
Entry in to India expands footprint of direct investments into Asia Investcorp a leading global provider and manager of alternative investment products, today announced the launch of its operations in India with the imminent completion of its first deal, the acquisition of the Private Equity and Real Estate investment management businesses of IDFC...
China, Japan overseas M&A push to extend in 2019
China’s economic growth slowdown to drive dealmaking abroadJapanese companies may continue to seek large foreign dealsCompanies in China and Japan will continue their pursuit of overseas acquisitions this year amid the economic growth slowdown and geopolitical uncertainty, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Ready availability of capital will...
Japanese groups invest £4.2bn in the UK and Ireland between 2013 and 2017, reveals new M&A report by Livingstone
Transaction values in UK and Ireland reached £978m from Japanese group acquisitions in 2017230 middle market companies acquired across the globe by Japanese groups – up 13% from 2016 Global increase in total transaction values globally to £15.9bn in 2017 –up 15% Europe continued to experience high buyer interest from Japan in 2017, with average...
Japan heading for biggest M&A spree in the U.S.
Japan is on track this year for its biggest acquisition spree in the US as advisers tell chief executives to pounce on deals while Chinese companies are hampered by trade war tensions. The advice of bankers and lawyers to accelerate US-targeted deals has intensified over recent months in line with both the surge in trade war rhetoric and the perception...
Asia-Pacific predicted to continue to dominate M&A activity In H2 2018
Intralinks has issued its Deal Flow Predictor for the fourth quarter of 2018. In the second half of the year, growth in the global number of announced deals will resume (after a first-half pause) at roughly 7% year over year. The strongest growth in announcements will come from technology (Intralinks calls this the TMT sector because tech includes...
Acq Lite
Watch: Taeyeon teases 'Four Seasons' music video
March 19 (UPI) -- South Korean singer Taeyeon is giving fans a glimpse of her new music video. The 30-year-old K-pop star, born Kim Tae-yeon, shared a clip Tuesday of the video for her new solo single "Four Seasons." The "Four Seasons" teaser features a close-up shot of Taeyeon before showing the text "Did I love you?" The preview switches to a scene...
Watch: Wendy Williams living in sober house due to past with cocaine
March 19 (UPI) -- Wendy Williams says she's living in a sober house due to her past issues with cocaine. The 54-year-old television personality discussed her living situation and struggle with addiction during Tuesday's episode of The Wendy Williams Show. "For some time now, and even today and beyond, I have been living in a sober house," Williams...
Kit Harington sought therapy after Jon Snow's death on 'Game of Thrones'
March 19 (UPI) -- Game of Thrones star Kit Harington sought therapy following his character's death in the Season 5 finale. The 32-year-old British actor, who plays Jon Snow on the HBO series, said in the new issue of Variety the highly-publicized plot point fueled his neuroses and led to a dark time in his life. "My darkest period was when the show...
Watch live: Google to make gaming announcement at GDC 2019
March 19 (UPI) -- Google is set to make an announcement relating to video games at the 2019 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The internet giant will showcase what they call their vision for the future of gaming during a special key note address that will be livestreamed on YouTube starting at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. Google's announcement...
James Corden to host 2019 Tony Awards
March 19 (UPI) -- James Corden of Late Late Show fame is set to host the 73rd annual Tony Awards which take place on June 9. Corden was announced as the host on Tuesday on the official Twitter account of The Tony Awards. "We're over the moon!" the tweet said. The late night comedian previously hosted The Tony Awards in 2016. The ceremony, which awards...