9 May 2013, Thursday

Administrative law

Herald case: Lawyers told to file submissions on propriety of procedure issue

Capital markets

AirAsia X’s core shareholders disposing of own shares in planned IPO

Censof plans to boost market capitalisation

HB Global categorised as PN17

Malaysia Airports Holdings down after report on klia2 delay

Food and beverage

F&N plans to strengthen Asian presence

General election

Major reforms likely deferred till October or November

Facts and figures on GE13

Investment

Goldman Sachs made US$500 million arranging three bond sales for 1MDB

Obituary

Country’s first female envoy dies

Oil and gas

OGX sale extends Petronas buying spree

Property

IOI Properties anticipates spike in earnings for next three FYs

KLCC REIT rises on debut

Matrix Concepts hopes to attract more foreign investments to Sendayan TechValley project

ASIA

Data protection

Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia should ensure regime adequate to meet EU standards

Mergers and acquisitions

Sumitomo Mitsui takes up 40% stake in Indonesia’s BTPN

Private equity

KKR beats rivals Carlyle and TPG Capital in performance of funds

AUSTRALIA

Earnings

National Australia Bank joins ANZ and Westpac in reporting strong H1 result

Employment

Risks associated with ‘poaching’ employees from competitors

Employees should be adequately versed in laws that apply to sexual harassment

EUROPE

Competition

European Commission’s revised guidance on dawn raids

Insurance

ING accelerating preparations for European IPO

NEW ZEALAND

Capital markets

NZ$1.7 billion raised from sale of Mighty River Power shares

Competition

Commerce Commission’s case against Air New Zealand reaches key stage

UK

Earnings

StanChart suffers drop in Q1 operating profit

Intellectual property

Designers to enjoy same level of protection that prohibits distribution of pirated DVDs and films

Investment

Tie-up with Indonesia’s Bakrie brothers a ‘terrible mistake’, says financier Nat Rothschild

Sport

Legendary manager of Red Devils stepping down

Reaction to Ferguson's retirement

Man U’s US$3 billion brand will survive

Successor shouldn’t try to emulate retiring coach

Scotsman is lead contender for Old Trafford throne

US

Employment

Tour bus guide unlawfully fired after complaining about working conditions on FB

Intellectual property

Employer’s rights in a patent on employee’s invention

8 May 2013, Wednesday

Capital markets

Small and mid-cap stocks getting more attention

Fundraising activity expected to pick up

Commodities

Board hopes to have 5,000 ha under kenaf cultivation by 2015

Construction

Contractors for klia2 may not meet June deadline

Earnings

Fraser & Neave’s Q2 net profit down 49%

Media Prima reports higher net earnings

Gaming

Multi-Purpose Holdings remains top pick

General election

Malaysia's position as one of SE Asia’s largest economies under threat

Added incentive for PM to make good on pledges

What the results mean to the parties and electorate

How economics and business may be affected

Insurance

General insurance industry registered 8.2% growth in gross premiums to RM15 billion in 2012

Negligence

Bukit Antarabangsa landslide victims settle suits with developer and Syabas

Oil and gas

Petronas takes up 40% stake in Brazilian offshore oil field

No proposal yet to list Borsig on Singapore Exchange

Property

Positive sentiment post-GE13 likely to buoy sector

UOA attributes new sales record to strong take-up of new projects

Social media

Police investigate postings on networks

Telecommunications

Telekom Malaysia committed to returning RM700 million to shareholders

ASIA

Intellectual property

Film piracy hurting interests of Indonesian filmmakers

Technology

Increasing number of innovators looking to Asia

CANADA

Employment

A wayward email can cost employers and employees time and money

Employer successfully defends claim for constructive dismissal

Employee too 'hasty' in resigning without properly assessing job changes

Intellectual property

Supplier alleges Reebok subsidiary’s hockey bag infringes on its design and patent

SINGAPORE

Property

Court’s decision on first lawsuit resulting from cooling measures will have important significance

Wealth management

Singapore starting to overtake Switzerland as world’s top private banking hub

UK

Banks

HSBC posts bigger-than-estimated increase in Q1 profit

Returns depend on ability to keep cutting costs

US

Banks

Setback for Bank of America as judge opens door for AIG to pursue US$7 billion fraud claim

Biotechnology

Rich valuations of companies not just staving off potential acquirers, but also activist investors

Capital markets

Dow closes above 15,000 for first time; S&P 500 ends at another record high

Media

Walt Disney’s results beat Wall Street expectations

Technology

Electronics contractor Foxconn to develop own products

Google Glass raises questions of road safety, privacy

7 May 2013, Tuesday

Autos

Auto parts sector key loser if excise duties on imports abolished completely

Capital markets

Property companies, banks and firms that have government ties may also gain from poll outcome

Felcra Holdings IPO unlikely to top that of Felda Global Ventures

General election

PM could face leadership challenge as early as October or November

Fight’s just beginning

Infrastructure

Development of multi-billion rail infrastructure projects should gain traction

Intellectual property

Countries with strong IP frameworks and protection experience the greatest innovation, creativity and economic growth

Islamic finance

CIMB Islamic’s hopes for the future

Mining

Regulatory headwinds for Lynas have ‘significantly diminished’

ASIA

Infrastructure

CIMB affiliate CapAsia buys into Margautama Nusantara

Intellectual property

Intellectual Property Appellate Board rules in favour of Jaguar UK

Mergers and acquisitions

Foreign lenders closely watching Indonesian central bank ruling on DBS-Danamon deal

Green light expected within days

Real estate

Financial institutions on record spree of buying office buildings in Hong Kong

AUSTRALIA

Health

Cuba launches legal challenge to Australia’s tobacco packaging laws

Telecommunications

SingTel unit Optus wins additional 4G spectrum bandwidth for AUD649 million

EUROPE

Airlines

Lufthansa expects higher operating profit and revenue in 2013

Antitrust

EU sends Google unit formal list of complaints

Lawyer who helped revolutionise football’s transfer system turns sights on UEFA’s ‘breakeven rule’

May take five years for case to be dealt with

NEW ZEALAND

Capital markets

Government offering 686 million Mighty River shares in country’s biggest IPO

Competition

Commerce Commission cannot comment on air cargo proceedings against Air New Zealand

Air NZ could be fined up to NZ$10 million

Employment

Telecom employee justifiably dismissed

SINGAPORE

Financial markets

How a clubby, forex trading community was torn apart in a rate-fixing manipulation probe

Investment

Singapore companies may be spurred to raise investments in Iskandar

UK

Intellectual property

Damages for trademark infringement where no specific loss of profits can be shown

Media

BT’s £1 billion-plus bet on sports TV could take years to pay off

US

Corporate

Apple the only tech company to crack Fortune 500’s top 10; Facebook joins list for first time

Fortune 500 list

Oil and gas

Antero Resources prepares for IPO

6 May 2013, Monday

Accountancy profession

Accountancy action plan to address demand and supply of accountants and how the profession should be regulated

Capital markets

FBM KLCI surges in early trade

Hiring

Age groups reflect different type of human resources for employers

Insurance

Allianz expects to exceed projected growth rate

Investment

KL-Spore high speed rail to boost growth of Iskandar

Mergers and acquisitions

Financial institutions are getting more expensive

Takaful

Takaful Ikhlas to churn out higher earnings from new products and better distribution channels

ASIA

Capital markets

Sinopec unit and brokerage China Galaxy Securities launching Hong Kong IPOs today

China's New Century Hotel looking to raise up to US$300 million in Hong Kong's first REIT in two years

Retail

Not possible to do business in India without greasing palms

AUSTRALIA

Legal services

Newly formed Rockwell Olivier to list six years after Slater & Gordon

Telecommunications

Optus changes direction on growth strategy

US

Antitrust

General Electric wins approval to buy oilfield pump maker Lufkin Industries

Bankruptcy

Kodak's unwillingness to acknowledge products had fallen out of favour was its ultimate downfall

3 May 2013, Friday

Banks

Maybank among world’s 20 strongest

Capital markets

FBM KLCI down in early trade

72 million shares in Masterskill Education transacted in off-market deals

Trading of Hock Lok Siew will be suspended next Thursday

Employment

Projects in Iskandar Malaysia could generate more than half a million jobs in five to eight years

Food and beverage

Nestlé allocates RM200 million to boost liquid drink products

Nestle Malaysia shares expertise to help country become global halal hub

General elections

Foreign investors increasingly anxious about outcome

Election Commission has no power to investigate vote-buying claims

Insurance

Analysts positive on Tune Insurance-BMI deal

Mergers and acquisitions

Outbound investment at an all-time high

Oil and gas

Cendor now one of the biggest oil fields in Malaysia

Property

OSK Property acquires leasehold commercial land for RM15 million

Gasing Meridian allowed to seek damages from Bukit Gasing residents

Gabungan AQRS launching up to RM400 million worth of projects by early 2014

PR1MA and Prasarana plan affordable homes close to LRT stations

ASIA

Antitrust

China’s anti-monopoly law causing headaches for companies

Islamic finance

Indonesia’s plan to shift pilgrims’ savings into Shariah-compliant lenders may narrow gap with Malaysia

Retail

Western apparel brands scramble to address concerns about working conditions in Bangladesh

Last outpost of cheap labour

AUSTRALIA

Banks

Improving global markets help lift Macquarie’s annual profit by 17%

Employment

No valid reason for company to dismiss employees

Healthcare

Ramsay Health Care in talks to invest in China

Intellectual property

Consider ‘use it or lose it’ requirement when looking at organisation’s trademarks

EUROPE

Banks

Shareholders endorse UBS’s strategy and pay policies, dealing blow to activist investor

Separation would remove synergies between wealth management and investment banking

Competition

Regulators investigate French authorities’ €7 billion guarantee to carmaker Peugeot Citroen

Mergers and acquisitions

M&A should start to pick up in next two months

GLOBAL

Banks

Qatar National Bank tops Bloomberg Markets’ list of world’s strongest banks

Mergers and acquisitions

Corporate compliance top challenge for dealmakers

SINGAPORE

Capital markets

Asian Pay Television Trust plans to raise S$1.4 billion in IPO

Financial services

Temasek preparing to buy US$500 million stake in British financial data provider Markit

Gaming

Genting Singapore blames lower-than-expected profit on ‘stroke of bad luck’

Insurance

Central bank pressing ahead with development of new ERM requirements

UK

Banks

Royal Bank of Scotland expected to report first quarterly profit

Competition

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 introduces significant changes to UK’s competition regime

Dispute resolution

Importance of choosing which country’s law will govern contract

Health

Imperial Tobacco advances on news plain packaging plans are up in smoke

PM orders proposed law pulled from Queen’s Speech

Insurance

Legal & General wants to invest in more expansion in foreign markets

Intellectual property

Not a foregone conclusion sub-licences cease on termination of head licence

Tax

HMRC approved Goldman Sachs deal to avoid embarrassment

US

Real estate

Judge clears way for public to buy shares in Empire State Building

Technology

Lehman Brothers claims chip maker Intel breached swap agreement