http://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-regulator-alleges-misleading-research-1421616733

Hong Kong Regulator Alleges Misleading Research

SFC Pursues Actions Against Moody’s, Citron

ENDA CURRAN And RICK CAREW

Updated Jan. 18, 2015 4:34 p.m. ET

Hong Kong’s securities regulator is turning up the heat on what it considers to be misleading stock research. In recent months, the Securities and Futures Commission has pursued separate actions against U.S. ratings firm Moody’s Investors Service Inc. and a California-based short seller for releasing what it claims were misleading reports on Hong Kong-listed companies that sent their stock and bond prices tumbling.

The regulator’s actions against Moody’s and the head of Citron Research are rare instances of a developed-market regulator taking on a ratings firm or a research analyst for the content of their reports. In short selling, which is legal in Hong Kong and some other countries such as the U.S., an investor sells borrowed shares in hopes of buying them back later at a lower price, pocketing the difference. Continue reading →

http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Economy/Auditing-companies-to-get-an-international-watchdog

Woof-woof: Auditing companies to get an international watchdog

16 January 2015

Nikkei Report

TOKYO — Financial authorities of 51 nations and regions in the West, Asia and Middle East are planning to set up an organization to supervise auditing corporations by 2017. The authorities hope that reinforced supervision will ensure confidence in auditors. Distrust in auditing firms has been mounting since 2001, when U.S. energy giant Enron suddenly went belly up. A series of accounting fraud scandals has followed. Continue reading →

http://www.scmp.com/business/money/article/1681719/hong-kong-banks-caught-boiler-room-money-laundering-schemes

Posted by Sean CHUA Kian Shun, Year 4 undergrad at the School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University

Thailand and Philippines based “boiler rooms” laundered cash worth hundreds of millions of US dollars through Hong Kong’s banking system over the past decade, according to incriminating documents released online by aggrieved investors now angling for financial settlements with boiler room kingpins – and the banks that helped them. Continue reading →

http://www.afr.com/p/national/asic_to_crack_down_on_miners_dodgy_hJB4HlCfGCv3KBrNfLWsfL

ASIC to crack down on miners’ dodgy overseas assets

PUBLISHED: 13 JAN 2015 00:04:00 | UPDATED: 13 JAN 2015 07:08:04

Over a third of companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, predominately mining and resource companies, have significant operations or assets located across Asia, South America and Africa. Photo: Reuters

The Australian Financial Review

BY PATRICK DURKIN

The corporate regulator plans a ­crackdown on mining companies ­promoting risky offshore assets, insider traders, financial planners and ­investors being duped by misleading advertising.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is concerned Australians could be sucked into ­investing in companies listed on the ASX but mainly operating overseas that do not meet Australian ­corporate-law ­standards.

ASIC plans to review a significant proportion of important corporate ­documents, including prospectuses which raise money from Australian investors, despite the companies’ ­operations being based predominately in emerging markets, including China.

Over a third of companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, predominately mining and resource companies, have significant operations or assets located across Asia, South America and Africa, leaving Australian investors exposed to foreign corporate corruption and poor legal protections.

The high-profile collapse of ­Chinese-based timber harvester Sino-Forest Corporation, which traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and now faces allegations of fraudulently inflating its assets and earnings, heightened ASIC’s concerns local investors could be burnt by poor practices overseas. Continue reading →

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2005/09/12/national/accountants-face-kanebo-fraud-charge/#.VLn7htH9lsA

Posted by AMY Chan Wen Yi, Year 4 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

Prosecutors are set to charge several certified public accountants at a Japan unit of the PricewaterhouseCoopers group with collaborating with executives at Kanebo Ltd. in an accounting fraud that has humbled the once premier cosmetics and textile company, according to investigative sources. Continue reading →

Posted by NG Sin Ying, Year 4 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21635978-some-13-years-after-enron-auditors-still-cant-stop-managers-cooking-books-time-some

Some 13 years after Enron, auditors still can’t stop managers cooking the books. Time for some serious reforms

NO ENDORSEMENT carries more weight than an investment by Warren Buffett. He became the world’s second-richest man by buying safe, reliable businesses and holding them for ever. So when his company increased its stake in Tesco to 5% in 2012, it sent a strong message that the giant British grocer would rebound from its disastrous attempt to compete in America. Continue reading →

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2014/12/how-oil-prices-will-reveal-financial-foul-play.html?s=print

How oil prices will reveal financial foul play

Suzanne Edwards

22 December 2014

Houston Business Journal Online

As oil prices force upstream oil and gas companies to make some hard decisions, investment advisers will be tested on how well they hedged against companies that may have over-reported their production and reserve amounts, said Tom Ajamie, managing partner at Houston-based Ajamie LLP. “Now as oil prices have fallen, you’re going to see who had too much debt,” Ajamie said. “You’re going to see maybe who was inflating reserves and inflating prospects.” Continue reading →