A banker's woe: Chinese wealth may get harder to snag for global bankersThe Saigon Times Daily An investor watches a board showing stock information at a brokerage office in Beijing, China October 8, 2018 – PHOTO: REUTERS HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - News of a foreign wealth manager being denied exit from China last week is raising concerns for global private banks, as they seek to tap trillions of dollars of wealth offshore in the face of Beijing’s growing curbs on overseas investments and outflows. The banker, a Singapore-based member of UBS wealth management business, was prevented from leaving Beijing and asked to meet local officials this week. Her identity is not known yet. Although the purpose of the meeting is not publicly known, the news still led several banks including UBS, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered and BNP Paribas to ask private bankers to reconsider travel to China, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The Swiss bank on … [Read more...] about A banker’s woe: Chinese wealth may get harder to snag for global bankers
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Foreign bankers reconsidering local partnerships
More than a decade after Vietnam tried to increase the efficiency of local banks without disrupting the human capital and knowledge embedded in existing structures, under a policy of “strategic partnerships”, divestitures of minority stakes in important local banks by several foreign investors last year put an end to the hotly-debated policy. Despite the shifts in mission among these foreign lenders, with their long-term commitments reportedly remaining unchanged, consecutive divestments by foreign banks in a single year raised many questions, especially when the easing of restrictions on foreign bank ownership and the positive track taken towards resolving bad debts added to the dynamism in Vietnam’s banking sector over recent years. Illustrative photo Different tastes Vietnam has seen a growing number of foreign banks withdraw from its under-banked economy, the latest indication that all might not be as well as bankers often claim. Last July, the … [Read more...] about Foreign bankers reconsidering local partnerships
France’s Macron to name PM on first full day in office
PARIS — New French President Emmanuel Macron is set to name a prime minister and visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel on his first full day in office today. The 39-year-old centrist leader laid out his ambitious plans for France as he took power on Sunday, promising to restore France’s shattered self -confidence and help rebuild the flagging European Union. His choice of prime minister will be crucial for the first task, with the 46-year-old centre-right Edouard Philippe from the Republicans party seen as the favourite for the job. Picking him would send a clear signal that Macron hopes to attract other young modernisers from the Republicans to his new centrist party, Republic on the Move (REM), which will contest parliamentary elections in June. "If the prime minister comes from the right, Emmanuel Macron will be able to attack the parliamentary elections by dynamiting the right, in the same way he has done to the left," political expert Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet … [Read more...] about France’s Macron to name PM on first full day in office
France’s Macron takes power, vows to heal division, restore global status
The pro-EU centrist assumed power after winning a bitterly-fought campaign that divided the nation. Emmanuel Macron took power as president of France on Sunday, vowing to restore the country's status in Europe and the world and heal divisions in society -- a nod to the bitter campaign the pro-EU centrist fought to defeat a far-right leader. The 39-year-old former investment banker, unknown to the wider public three years ago and whose May 7 election marked a meteoric rise to power, was inaugurated leader of the world's fifth-largest economy in a solemn Elysee Palace ceremony. In his first words after taking office, he pledged to restore France's standing on the world stage, strengthen national self-confidence and heal divisions that the bitterly-fought campaign had opened up. Macron beat the National Front's Marine Le Pen in a May 7 run-off vote but the long campaign exposed deep divisions over France's role in Europe, immigration, and policies to revive a sluggish economy … [Read more...] about France’s Macron takes power, vows to heal division, restore global status
France’s Le Pen says best placed to face ‘new world’ of Trump, Putin
'I think I'm best placed to talk to this new world that's emerging, to talk to the Russia of Putin, to the United States of Trump.' Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said on Tuesday she was better placed than her rival, centrist Emmanuel Macron, to defend France's interests in what she called the "new world" of U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Le Pen, who rails against "uncontrolled globalization", hopes to channel the same nationalist, anti-establishment sentiment that propelled Trump to the White House and spurred Britain's vote to leave the European Union, and become the first woman to lead France. She bills Macron, a pro-European Union former investment banker, as a stooge of banks and the elite. "I think I'm best placed to talk to this new world that's emerging, to talk to the Russia of Putin, to the United States of Trump, to talk to the Britain of (Prime Minister Theresa) May ... to talk to the India of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi," … [Read more...] about France’s Le Pen says best placed to face ‘new world’ of Trump, Putin