Asia Roundup
Blackstone Talks on $4 Billion New World Deal Stall Over Control
Blackstone’s talks with New World Development have hit a roadblock because the billionaire family that runs the cash-strapped Hong Kong developer is reluctant to give up control, Bloomberg reported.
Blackstone has proposed injecting about USD 2.5 billion into a special‑purpose vehicle to become the largest shareholder of New World, while the Cheng family would invest USD 1 billion to USD 1.5 billion. Talks have slowed recently as the family explores deals with other investors without ceding influence.
Vietnam is Booming, but Foreign Cash is Fleeing from Stocks
Vietnam is on the cusp of joining the emerging-markets club and stocks have notched their biggest rally in years, but foreigners have been sellers and say investing is handicapped by tariff risks, ownership limits and one firm's dominance of the index, Reuters reported.
Foreign investors are leaning toward other markets, worried that Vietnam’s growth, in part due to trade re-routed from China, is at risk from fickle U.S. trade policy and of the contribution that developer-to-carmarker conglomerate Vingroup has made to the market gains.
Hin Leong Oil Tycoon OK Lim Gets Jail Term Cut in Appeal
The founder of failed oil trading firm Hin Leong Trading, 84-year-old Lim Oon Kuin, had his jail term cut by four years after a partially successful appeal against his conviction and sentence in a criminal case, CNA reported.
The Singapore High Court rejected his appeal against conviction but allowed his appeal against his sentence of 17-and-a-half years. Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said this sentence, when considering his age and the fact he was unlikely to reoffend, was crushing, even with remission. She reduced it to 13-and-a-half years.
The patriarch was convicted in a trial of cheating HSBC and abetting forgery. The case involved two bogus transactions for the sale of oil with China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation and Unipec Singapore, and the submission of forged documents that led HSBC to disburse millions of dollars in loans to Hin Leong.
This amounted to at least USD 111.7 million, based on the three charges that the prosecution went ahead with out of the more than 100 charges that Lim faced.
Indonesia Roundup
Fitch Revises Indonesia’s Outlook to Negative
Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Indonesia’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Negative from Stable and affirmed the IDR at ‘BBB’, according to its statement on 4 March 2026.
The Outlook revision reflects increasing policy uncertainty and erosion of Indonesia’s policy mix consistency and credibility amid growing centralisation of policymaking authority. This could weaken the medium-term fiscal outlook, undermine investor sentiment, and put pressure on external buffers.
Government revenue weakened in 2025 due to subdued tax collection, near-complete reversal of the planned 1pp VAT rate increase, permanent diversion of state-owned enterprise (SOE) dividends (0.4% of GDP) to the new sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, and tax refunds that might prove to be temporary.
Acrostics Asia wrote on 1 March 2026:
📒 Quick Take: Jakarta’s Third Rail
Indonesia has been borrowing more to fund President Prabowo Subianto’s spending plans and the cost of servicing this growing debt is a key factor to watch for investors.
Indonesian officials often emphasize that the nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio – which reached 40.46% at the end of 2025 – is still low compared with regional peers. While the debt load seems manageable relative to GDP, the interest payments could become a bigger burden for Indonesia, especially if state revenue is not keeping pace with the increase in borrowings.
Indonesia Petrochemical Giant Declares Force Majeure on Iran War
Indonesian petrochemical maker Chandra Asri Pacific has declared force majeure, citing disruption to feedstock shipments through the Strait of Hormuz following the outbreak of the Iran war, Bloomberg reported.
The Jakarta-based company notified customers of the disruption in a 2 March notice, saying the duration of the force majeure remains uncertain.
“We are closely monitoring the evolving situation between the United States and Iran and have implemented precautionary measures to safeguard operational resilience across our business units,” it said in a statement. “As part of these measures, we will adjust operating levels (run rates) at our plants.”
Indonesia Freezes $859 Million in Shares in Mirae Asset Insider Trading Probe
Indonesia’s financial regulator has frozen IDR 14.5 trillion (USD 859 million) worth of shares as part of an investigation into alleged insider trading and stock price manipulation linked to Mirae Asset Sekuritas Indonesia, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group, Jakarta Globe reported.
Officials from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the National Police also searched the company’s office in Jakarta’s Sudirman Central Business District on Wednesday as part of the ongoing capital market crime investigation.
Indonesian financial authorities suspect manipulation of information during an initial public offering process, insider trading, and fictitious transactions involving several affiliated entities and nominee accounts.
The series of transactions allegedly drove the share price of Berkah Beton Sedaya to surge by about 7,150% between 2020 and 2022.