Asia Roundup
China Targets Offshore Billions in Biggest Crackdown in Decades
Chinese authorities have threatened three popular brokers with at least $330 million of penalties, vowed stricter controls for banks and quietly ramped up pressure on the country’s richest people and the vehicles they use to hold overseas assets, Bloomberg reported.
The shift has ramifications for everything from Hong Kong’s stock market – buttressed by demand from mainland China – to the hordes of law firms, financial advisers and investment funds that help Chinese citizens manage their money overseas.
Sembcorp Expands Vietnam Singapore Industrial Parks Network with Four New Projects in Vietnam
Sembcorp Development, through its Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) joint venture with Becamex IDC, has received investment approvals to develop four new VSIPs, according to the Singapore company’s statement.
The approvals were granted during the state visit of To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Vietnam, to Singapore, and were witnessed alongside Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore.
Software Sector Faces AI Speed Bump as Debt Matures, Says CI GAM
Software companies and their private equity investors will face mounting strains as debt redemptions swell in coming years, Bloomberg reported, citing Canadian investment manager CI Global Asset Management.
“It’s going to pressure the PE returns because enterprise valuations are going to be lower,” said Geof Marshall, who leads the firm’s fixed income team and private markets group, at a media roundtable in Sydney. “The big speed bump is AI.”
Around $386 billion of syndicated software loans will mature in 2028 and 2029 combined, compared with about $80 billion this year, according to estimates by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Indonesia Roundup
Indonesia’s Surprisingly Good GDP Has Analysts Doubting the Data
Economists are increasingly doubting Indonesia’s robust growth narrative under President Prabowo Subianto, with the skepticism spilling over into a rare public debate over the reliability of the country’s economic data, Bloomberg reported.
At a forum over the weekend in Jakarta, some of the country’s best-known economists openly questioned the credibility of the most recent data, which showed an unexpected 5.6% jump in gross domestic product, and warned it overstates the health of the economy.
The event, hosted by Alliance of Indonesian Economists, was highly unusual in Indonesia, where economists rarely hold public press briefings to dispute data.
Early last year, Acrostics Asia connected the savings rate, layoff numbers, mortgage defaults and banking ratios to infer that Indonesia’s economy was likely weaker than what the official data showed.
EY-Parthenon Advises Bank SMBC Indonesia on $1.1 Billion Loan Divestment to BTN
EY-Parthenon was the exclusive financial advisor to Bank SMBC Indonesia on its $1.1 billion pension loan divestment to Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), according to the advisor’s LinkedIn post.
For BTN, the acquisition will enable the bank to expand its retail business portfolio, on top of its mortgage business.
Acrostics Asia is an independent credit intelligence provider that delivers forward-looking insights across Asian sovereigns, private credit and restructurings.