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Asia's Most Overworked Hope to Gain `Right to Rest' in Korea.

South Koreans work the longest hours in Asia, getting instructions from bosses well into the night and foregoing many of their allotted days off. Some relief could be on the way. Newly elected President Moon Jae-in pledged during the campaign to give people the “right to rest.” Moon promised to stop bosses from delivering orders through social media or mobile messages after hours (except when “unavoidable”), cut annual hours by almost 15 percent and provide alternate days off when public holidays fall on weekends. Koreans spent 11 hours a week using smartphones, tablets and laptops to work on weekends or after hours during the week, a 2015 survey by the Korea Labor Institute found. Experts say a better work-life balance would help relieve some of the country’s most chronic and pressing problems, including a fertility rate that ranks among the worst in the world, sluggish domestic demand and a female labor-participation rate far below that of men. Many are skeptical about the prospects ...
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Mason Baxter - Crowdfunding Not Suitable for All Startups

Mason Baxter explains why crowdfunding may not necessarily be the best way to fund a new business. Bloomberg News Asia -- Mason Baxter: Crowdfunding has come into its own as a viable way of sourcing capital for new or existing ventures and it’s easy to see why; entrepreneurs can pitch large groups of individuals for funds by posting a description of their prospective or existing business venture on an online platform. Individual investors can then choose to make contributions to the venture by pledging money towards it. It’s refreshingly simple and effective and, indeed, thousands of innovative start-ups have successfully tapped this method to either get started or to raise additional funding for expansion. Crowdfunding was the evolutionary response to tight credit markets following the great recession of 2008/09 that saw many banks restrict lending to new businesses while they struggled to rebuild balance sheets battered by sub-prime mortgage write downs. The concept stuck and has g...
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One Belt, One Road, One Man.

The pageantry permeating Beijing this week showed that China’s expansive vision for a new global economic order had another goal: Boosting President Xi Jinping’s grip on power at home. From fawning state media campaigns to the words of the man himself, the so-called Belt and Road Forum repeatedly stressed Xi’s centrality to infrastructure-and-trade initiative that brought about 30 world leaders to Beijing, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Communist Party chief claimed personal credit for the “project of the century,” unusual in a political system that stresses collective leadership. “This is the initiative I proposed in 2013,” Xi said at a round table discussion Monday featuring the leaders of the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. “This initiative stemmed from my observations and thoughts about the world’s situation.” Greater prestige may help Xi put supportive officials in place during a twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle that will det...
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Lazada Brings Alibaba's Biggest Bazaar to Singaporean Shoppers.

Alibaba’s bringing its teeming Taobao internet marketplace to Singapore. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Lazada Group SA are teaming up to sell select Taobao products direct to shoppers in the affluent island-state, striking their first partnership since the Chinese company took control of Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce operator a year ago. Lazada is launching a dedicated website that links directly to Alibaba’s largest shopping platform, said Alexis Lanternier, chief executive officer of Lazada Singapore. To start with, the new site will add 400,000 Taobao products that aren’t available now to an existing lineup of about 5 million products, he said. It’s another small step abroad for Alibaba, which has ambitions to expand beyond a slowing Chinese home market. The company and Lazada are now preparing to deepen their operations in the fast-growing region, anticipating Amazon.com Inc.’s entry in 2017. The Southeast Asian company has been expanding its delivery network and exploring n...
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Asia Stocks Set to Follow U.S. Selloff; Bonds Gain.

Asian equities futures pointed toward losses after U.S. stocks fell the most since Donald Trump’s election as reflation trades that bolstered the dollar and Treasury yields faltered. Futures on benchmark gauges in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong indicated declines of at least 0.8 percent when trading begins. The S&P 500 Index sank more than 1 percent for the first time since Oct. 11, with the selloff deepening in the final 30 minutes of trading after Reuters reported North Korea would pursue an acceleration in its nuclear program. Treasury yields tumbled and the dollar slumped for a fifth straight day. Oil retreated and gold held gains. Financial shares sank and volatility soared amid the biggest drop for U.S. stocks since the November election as concern grew that pro-growth policies won’t sail through Congress. Trump met with House Republicans Tuesday morning to rally support for the repeal of Obamacare as investors look for signs that his plans to cut corporate taxes and boos...
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China's Bankers Are More Confident in Economy, PBOC Survey Shows.

China’s bankers and corporate leaders are more confident in the economy than any time since 2014, a central bank survey shows. A gauge of banker confidence in the economy rose to 64.9 in the first three months of this year, according to the quarterly People’s Bank of China survey of about 3,200 banks and 5,000 enterprises nationwide. That was the highest reading in three years. Confidence among entrepreneurs climbed to 61.5, a two-and-a-half year high. Anything above 50 suggests respondents are optimistic. The good vibes come after the economy accelerated in the fourth quarter of last year as a credit-fueled rally in smokestack industries gained momentum. Outstanding credit at year-end was equal to about 258 percent of gross domestic product, up from 160 percent in 2008, Bloomberg Intelligence estimates. The stronger economic performance is giving policy makers more maneuvering room as they try to rein in leverage and bubbles without derailing growth. In a third survey tracking u...
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Mason Baxter to Offer Subsidies to Disadvantaged Students.

Mason Baxter says it is to begin offering bursaries to underprivileged students as part of a revamped corporate responsibility program. SHANGHAI -- Mason Baxter announces that, as part of an update to its corporate social responsibility program in 2017, it will begin making a number of bursaries available to underprivileged and disadvantaged students who are attending or planning to attend universities in Shanghai . The Shanghai, China -based broker-dealer adds that, as an expansion on the plan, it will offer internships and, possibly, full-time, permanent employment to students demonstrating exemplary performance in their studies. Mason Baxter's Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, says he regards the company's corporate social responsibility program as an extremely important investment. "There's little doubt that the investment management and financial services industry can be highly lucrative. It generates wealth, contribut...
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