US-China audit fight: Armageddon averted?

Pan Kwan Yuk

Pan Kwan Yuk is Emerging Markets reporter, based in New York. She joined the FT in 2004 and has worked as UK reporter, US markets reporter, Paris correspondent, and companies reporter covering the leisure industry. She speaks Cantonese Chinese and French and is learning Mandarin.

US-China audit fight: Armageddon averted?

May 17, 2013 12:59am by Pan Kwan Yuk

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Remember the tiff between US and Chinese regulators over accounting regulatory standards? You know, the one that resulted in the SEC charging the Chinese affiliates of the Big Four audit firms (plus BDO) with violating US securities law after the five firms allegedly refused to turn over audit work related to nine Chinese companies being investigated for potential accounting fraud?

Well, after a 10-month stand off, it looks like some progress is finally being made to avoid an accounting Armageddon that could have led to the wholesale delisting of Chinese companies on US stock exchanges. Continue reading »

Tags: accounting, Chinese companies listed overseas, PCAOB, SEC, US listings Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

PEs in LatAm – how profitable?

May 14, 2013 7:03pm by Pan Kwan Yuk

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There’s been no shortage of private equity interest in Latin America. Beyondbrics has written plenty about the trend (for example, here and here).

But what about those returns? How good of an investment has LatAm been for PE investors? It’s a tricky question given that both individual firms and industry associations are reluctant to give out returns data to the media. Continue reading »

Tags: Latin America private equity, private equity Posted in Global, LatAm | Permalink

Petrobras in $11bn mega bond offering [updated]

May 13, 2013 10:30pm by Pan Kwan Yuk

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By Pan Kwan Yuk and Samantha Pearson

UPDATE: It’s official. Petrobras has succeeded in raising $11bn on Monday, making it the biggest emerging markets issue EVER.

Final pricing came in slightly lower than initial guidance thanks to strong demand from investors. Yields for the six-tranche issue ranged from 2.14 per cent for the three-year notes, to 5.76 per cent for the 30-year bonds. The total size of the issue can still increase as underwriters has a so-called “greenshoe option” to sell 5 per cent more of the bonds to Asia investors. See original BB post after the jump. Continue reading »

Tags: Brazil bonds, LatAm bonds, Petrobras Posted in Brazil, LatAm | Permalink

EMs: waiting for the yen

May 10, 2013 8:35am by Pan Kwan Yuk

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The yen is at a four-year low against the dollar, having broken through the key Y100 level. But those hoping that a falling yen would spark a rush of Japanese money back into emerging markets assets may have to wait.

The move by the Bank of Japan to unleash an unprecedented wave of aggressive monetary easing should in theory boost appetite for EM assets. Lower domestic yields and higher inflation, the argument goes, would push Japanese investors into EM.

But five weeks on, not many Japanese yen appear to have arrived on the EM shores. Continue reading »

Tags: fund flows, weak yen Posted in Global | Permalink

Xinyuan Real Estate: developing in the US with a US look

May 9, 2013 11:00am by Pan Kwan Yuk

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Xinyuan Real Estate is making bold moves into the US property market, backed by its ready access to China’s monied classes. But in its latest project, it is surprisingly keen to play down its Chinese roots. Continue reading »

Tags: China property, Corporate watch, property Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

[snap]: Fitch ups Mexico rating to BBB+

May 8, 2013 8:10pm by Pan Kwan Yuk

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The love for Mexico just keeps on coming.

Fitch Ratings on Wednesday lifted Mexico’s foreign currency debt rating – the one that really matters – from BBB to BBB+.

The change, which puts Fitch’s rating on par with Moody’s, comes as centrist President Enrique Peña Nieto forges ahead with the most ambitious reform proposals in decades. Continue reading »

Tags: credit ratings, Mexico economy Posted in LatAm, Mexico | Permalink

Mexico telecoms reform: almost there

May 1, 2013 12:30am by Pan Kwan Yuk

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It’s not quite a done deal yet. But it’s getting there.

Mexico’s Congress on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in support of a sweeping reform bill that could break open the country’s telecommunications and broadcasting sectors and introduce more competition in the two tightly-held markets.

But while the Senate voted 108-3 to approve the bill (which has already been passed by the lower house), a number of constitutional changes included in the reform package still need to be approved by two-thirds of Mexico’s 31 state legislatures before it can become law. Continue reading »

Tags: America Movil, Carlos Slim, Mexico telecoms, telecoms reform, Televisa Posted in LatAm, Mexico | Permalink

Santander vs BBVA – a tale of two LatAm loan markets

Apr 29, 2013 9:00pm by Pan Kwan Yuk

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Spain’s two leading lenders, Banco Santander and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, have long looked to Latin America for growth – and more recently to repair troubled balance sheets at home.

But while Santander has hitched its fortunes on Brazil — now its biggest market, accounting for 26 per cent of group profits last year — BBVA has focused on building up its operations in Mexico. Just last month it announced plans to funnel $3.5bn into its Mexico business over the next three years, and the country last year accounted for more than one-third of its global profits. Continue reading »

Tags: BBVA, Brazil banks, Brazil credit, Brazil-Mexico, consumer credit, Mexico banks, Mexico credit, Santander Posted in Brazil, LatAm, Mexico | Permalink

Rwanda and Costa Rica: riding the wave of cheap money

Apr 24, 2013 10:38pm by Pan Kwan Yuk

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What does Rwanda, a poor African country that has suffered a horrific war and genocide, have in common with Costa Rica, a Central American country of 4.5m best known for its beaches and high-quality coffee beans?

Answer: Both are the latest to benefit from the wave of cheap money looking for returns, by issuing debt at ridiculously low rates. Continue reading »

Tags: EM bonds, EM debt, FBfeed Posted in Costa Rica, Global, LatAm, Rwanda | Permalink

Brazil education: the deals keep coming

Apr 23, 2013 12:04am by Pan Kwan Yuk

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It is often said that you can’t put a price on education.

Not so in Brazil, where private sector education has become big business. The move on Monday by Kroton Educacional to acquire rival Anhanguera Educacional Participações in a R$5bn ($2.48bn) all stock deal is the latest in a wave of buyouts to hit the sector in recent years. Continue reading »

Tags: Abril Educacao, Anhanguera, Brazil education, Estacio, Kroton, M&A Posted in Brazil, LatAm | Permalink

Batista gets another lifeline – this time from BNDES

Apr 18, 2013 7:55pm by Pan Kwan Yuk

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Has Eike Batista’s “X” group of companies become too big to fail?

Judging by the amount of help that “Brazil Inc” has been throwing his way, one would be forgiven for thinking so. The latest to lend a helping hand? BNDES, Brazil’s development bank, which on Thursday approved a 10-year, R$935m ($464.6m) loan to Batista’s mining group, MMX Mineracao e Metalicos. Continue reading »

Tags: BNDES, EBX Group, Eike Batista, MMX Posted in Brazil, LatAm | Permalink

Big Pharma says Olá to Brazil

Apr 17, 2013 9:26pm by Pan Kwan Yuk

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By Pan Kwan Yuk and Thalita Carrico

Brazil’s burgeoning middle class might have helped propel the country to the top of the consumer league tables.

But as Brazilians have gotten richer, they are also succumbing in ever greater numbers to so-called diseases of affluence – namely obesity, diabetes and cancer. It’s a development that has not gone unnoticed among the world’s top pharmaceutical companies. Continue reading »

Tags: Brazil pharma, pharmaceuticals Posted in Brazil, LatAm | Permalink

EM private debt funds draw interest

Apr 16, 2013 12:16am by Pan Kwan Yuk

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To the growing list of ways for investors to play the emerging market growth story, add this: private debt funds.

Cordiant Capital, a Canada-based fund manager, is the latest to add to this small but growing sector with the launch of a $250m fund on Monday. Continue reading »

Tags: EM debt, EM fund managers, emerging markets, private debt funds Posted in Global | Permalink

Record week for EM bond issuance

Apr 12, 2013 8:30pm by Pan Kwan Yuk

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Whatever happened to the “great rotation“? Wasn’t 2013 supposed to be the year when investors finally took their cash out of bonds and put it to work in equities?

Judging by the record week emerging market bonds have had, EM equities bulls might have some waiting to do yet. Continue reading »

Tags: EM bonds, EM debt Posted in Dominican Republic, Global, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mexico, Turkey, Ukraine | Permalink

[snap]: Pegasus eyes biggest Turkish IPO in 2.5 years

Apr 10, 2013 8:15pm by Pan Kwan Yuk

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Pegasus Airlines, Turkey’s budget carrier, could raise as much as TL654.5m ($365.7m) when it launches its initial public offering on the Istanbul Stock Exchange later this quarter.

According to a preliminary offering circular seen by beyondbrics, Pegasus is looking to sell 32.1m shares, or nearly a third of the company, at a price range of TL17-TL20.40 ($9.50-$11.40) a share.

Should it succeed in hitting the top of its price range, it will be Turkey’s largest IPO in two and a half years. Continue reading »

Tags: IPOs, Pegasus, Turkey airline, Turkey IPO Posted in Europe, Turkey | Permalink

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Pan Kwan Yuk

US-China audit fight: Armageddon averted?

PEs in LatAm – how profitable?

Petrobras in $11bn mega bond offering [updated]

EMs: waiting for the yen

Xinyuan Real Estate: developing in the US with a US look

[snap]: Fitch ups Mexico rating to BBB+

Mexico telecoms reform: almost there

Santander vs BBVA – a tale of two LatAm loan markets

Rwanda and Costa Rica: riding the wave of cheap money

Brazil education: the deals keep coming

Batista gets another lifeline – this time from BNDES

Big Pharma says Olá to Brazil

EM private debt funds draw interest

Record week for EM bond issuance

[snap]: Pegasus eyes biggest Turkish IPO in 2.5 years

BB: time to register

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