Emerging markets

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (May 19): Nearly a third of rated nonfinancial companies in emerging markets would face heightened credit risks under a downside scenario in which, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggers a global recession and liquidity squeeze, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report on Thursday (May 19). The credit rating firm said under its baseline scenario, which assumed that commodity shocks and higher inflation and interest rates would result in lower global growth through 2023, the figure would be 8%. “Even if ceasefires are negotiated, sanctions on Russia will remain in place through next year at least. “The downside scenario assumes that a recession in Europe, potentially caused by a suspension of energy trade between Russia and Europe, triggers a global recession and severe liquidity squeeze and geopolitical risks remain high,” it said. Vice president/senior analyst Rachel Chua said most nonfinancial emerging market companies that the financial … [Read more...] about Moody’s: Russia-Ukraine conflict raises credit risks for emerging market companies

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Elodie Lamer and Nana Ama Sarfo of Tax Notes discuss the tax implications of golden visas and passports, which allow affluent foreigners to receive residency or citizenship in exchange for a minimum level of investment. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I'm David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International . This week: good as gold. The idea of immigration often conjures up black and white images of huddled masses on ships in New York Harbor. People seeking new opportunities to make their fortune. But what happens for people who've already made their fortune and don't have time to wait in line for the normal process? And what about the growing class of remote workers who don't need to be physically anywhere? This week, we're talking about golden passports with Tax Notes reporter Elodie Lamer and Tax Notes … [Read more...] about First-Class Tax Opportunities: Golden Visas And Passports

- A + A NEW YORK (May 19): Last fall, on the advice of a friend, Odosa Iyamuosa invested his life savings of US$4,000 in a cryptocurrency called Luna. The 28-year-old, who lives in Abuja, Nigeria, researched the coin himself online, and what he found seemed promising. Luna’s price was soaring, thanks to the success of another coin with which it was deeply intertwined, TerraUSD. Some of the crypto industry’s biggest names had already invested, including Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd, the high-frequency-trading firm Jump Trading, and venture investment arms of the exchanges Coinbase Global Inc and Binance. For Iyamuosa, it seemed like his best hope to get out of Abuja, where he says many jobs pay just US$2 a day, or less. He’d scraped together a little money selling knockoff Nike and Adidas sneakers to local buyers he found on Instagram. He wanted to increase his savings to US$16,000 and enroll in a data-analytics programme at a college in Toronto so he could get a job … [Read more...] about A US$60 bil crypto collapse reveals a new kind of bank run

- A + A NEW YORK (May 19): A benchmark ESG stock index has removed Tesla Inc, sparking a debate about which companies do — and don’t — pass muster with socially aware investors. Tesla has grown into a US$735 billion company on the back of its breakthrough electric-vehicle engineering. Its own carbon footprint is a small fraction of its peers, and its success in the market has pushed the industry overall away from gas-powered vehicles. But the other components of ESG — the social and governance risks — give investors pause. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk is an unconventional manager, prone to impulsive tweeting, and the company discloses very little information about its workforce or labour conditions. That split became material Wednesday after it emerged that Tesla was expelled from the ESG version of the S&P 500 Index. Musk responded by saying ESG is “a scam”. It added to an already bad day for the company, whose stock fell 6.8% amid a broad selloff in tech … [Read more...] about Tesla’s removal from S&P Index sparks debate about ESG ratings

SINGAPORE: The digital economy is expected to contribute 22.6 per cent of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and create over 500,000 jobs by 2025, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba. Dr Adham said Malaysia has placed priorities on expanding the adoption of digital consumer tools (e-commerce and digital payments); attracting, training, and retaining digital talent; fostering digital entrepreneurial ventures; providing fast fibre optics and mobile broadband Internet access; as well as coordinating innovation between universities, businesses and digital authorities. "The level of digital evolution helped cushion against the pandemic’s economic impact. For example, more digitally-evolved economies tend to derive a larger share of their GDP from high-tech sectors, where the workforce can shift to remote working more readily. "In addition, they tend to be better at delivering public services online due to superior infrastructure, experience … [Read more...] about Malaysia’s digital economy to contribute 22.6% to GDP, create half a million jobs by 2025

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (May 19): Green Packet Bhd has missed the deadline to sell 305.25 million shares of G3 Global Bhd to its former group managing director Puan Chan Cheong for 15 sen per share or RM45.79 million, it said. The shares, which amounted to 12.36% in G3 Global, were converted from G3 warrants at an exercise price of 3 sen apiece or RM9.16 million. Puan, better known as CC Puan, resigned as group managing director of Green Packet, which he founded, on Jan 31, 2022. The stake was initially planned to be sold to CC Puan as the second of three tranches of G3 stake sale under a share sale agreement (SSA) inked between CC Puan and Green Packet in July last year. The deal entailed sales of 612.57 million G3 Global shares for a sum of up to RM91.89 million or 15 sen per share. It included a deadline for Green Packet to convert the warrants and sell the shares to CC Puan within four months from July 5, 2021. As such, Green Packet has re-emerged as a … [Read more...] about Green Packet misses deadline to sell G3 Global shares to former MD

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed lower today, hitting RM4.40 against the US dollar on global recession concerns, said an analyst. At 6 pm, the local note stood at 4.4030/4060 versus the greenback from Wednesday's close of 4.3960/3975. ALSO READ: Ringgit vs US dollar: What we need to understand SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said although the US dollar was not so much in demand due to global economic growth concerns, sentiments for emerging currencies, including the ringgit, remained weak, triggering a wide sell-off. The ringgit hit a record low on March 23, 2020 when it reached RM4.447. "The next move will depend on the economic reopening in China. If China opens up, the ringgit will likely strengthen as export channels will open up and will likely reverse the narrowing trade surplus that fell lower than consensus (estimates),” he told Bernama. ALSO READ: Move by Bank Negara not to peg ringgit seen as pragmatic "Although US yields are falling, … [Read more...] about Ringgit hits RM4.40 to US dollar on global recession concerns

In the course of writing eight books, Dan Pink has offered tons of easy, actionable tips to help readers become happier, more successful human beings. That's probably why many of them are bestsellers. But his latest covers a topic that's inherently a lot more gloomy than previous titles on intrinsic motivation and the power of crafty scheduling . His latest, The Power of Regret , is just what the title suggests. In it, Pink delves into the universal human emotion of regret , arguing that while it's not at all a pleasant feeling, it is both an inescapable and a useful one. My colleague Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviewed Pink for a full rundown of the book's lessons for business owners for Inc.'s What I Know podcast . For a quick example of how to leverage regret to improve your life, I point you to the latest newsletter of Pink's fellow author Steven Johnson . The no-fun exercise that will radically improve your life. In it, Johnson asks Pink … [Read more...] about The Most Unpleasant Success Hack That’s Still Worth Doing: Create a ‘Failure Resume’

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin As the world slowly adjusts to the post-pandemic new world order, the promise of unrestricted travel—being able to go where we please, without restrictions, to see new places, new people, and new experiences—feels tantalizingly close. The travel industry is steadily bouncing back from near-total devastation; a recent report from the World Travel & Tourism Council predicted the global travel sector is on track to reach $8.6 trillion this year, just 6.4% behind pre-pandemic levels. Now, those of us fortunate enough to have the means to travel are remembering the transformative power of new experiences. The only question that remains is: where will we choose to go, now that we can go? Will we seek places we have visited before, that offer us comfort and emotional sustenance? Or will we seek entirely new adventures, opening ourselves up to experiences we may have once been too frightened to seek out? After more than two years … [Read more...] about Berlin’s Fighting Spirit Proves It’s Still The Number One Post-Pandemic Destination For Artists And Creators

- A + A (May 19): Go First, India’s No. 2 airline, is planning to raise 36 billion rupees (US$464 million) through an initial public offering in July, as air travel recovers from the pandemic, according to a person familiar with the matter. Go First’s share sale comes as air travel is rebounding in the South Asian nation driven by pent-up demand as people emerge from one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks. India, the world’s fastest-growing major aviation market before the pandemic, expects local traffic to exceed pre-pandemic levels of 415,000 daily fliers within a year. Indian airlines are also adding capacity to capture a revival as international flights resume. The IPO will be crucial for debt-laden Go First, which is losing money and is planning to rely on proceeds from the share sale to repay debt and dues to creditors including Indian Oil Corp. Go First, previously known as GoAir, had obligations of about 81.6 billion rupees as of April last year, … [Read more...] about India’s Go First plans IPO in July as air travel rebounds