Wed Aug 5, 2015 5:09pm EDT
How Toshiba delayed a $100 million loss with two words: ‘uncorrected misstatement’
TOKYO | BY NATHAN LAYNE AND EMI EMOTO
As more details emerge about years of accounts manipulation at Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp (6502.T), corporate governance experts say there needs to be more scrutiny of the role of the company’s auditors. Continue reading
Stock manipulation: Sapan Chemicals
5 August 2015
Moneylife
The share price of Sapan Chemicals was up 743%, in just about six months. On an average, there were just three-four trades per day Sapan Chemicals—earlier known as Suryadeep Salt Refinery & Chemicals Works—is into ‘development and marketing of software along with consultation for portfolio management’, according to its annual report. The Vadodara-based company, in its former and present avatars, has been pulled up several times by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for capital market violations. In August 2014, the regulator charged it with the creation of an artificial market and price manipulation through matched transactions in the scrip of Kelvin Fincap. The company got away with a minor suspension. This was not the first time. In May 2006, too, a prosecution was launched against the promoter, Rajendra Rathod, for fraudulent and unfair trade practices. Continue reading
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f435e00-375c-11e5-bdbb-35e55cbae175.html#axzz3hlGdUDJX
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/03/china-zhongwang-aluminium-report-idUSL5N10E01020150803
Aluminium products maker China Zhongwang hit with book-cooking and fraud allegations
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 02 August, 2015, 8:45pm
Eric Ng eric.mpng@scmp.com
Extruded products maker China Zhongwang says short seller’s claims are groundless and auditors have never cast doubt on statements
China Zhongwang Holdings, which raised HK$9.8 billion from an initial public offering in Hong Kong in 2009, is fighting allegations from an unknown short seller, Dupre Analytics, that chairman Liu Zhongtian and his family have been siphoning money from the company.
Zhongwang suspended its share trading on Friday after Dupre published the report and said in a stock exchange filing the allegations were “groundless”, adding its external auditors had never cast doubt on its financial statements since its listing.
In the 51-page report, Dupre said Liu and his family were committing “the largest and most complex China fraud ever uncovered” and have “systematically defrauded investors, [fabricated] at least 62.5 per cent of revenue since 2011 and likely skimming billions of [capital expenditure] from the delayed [production facility] in Tianjin”.
Related postings: Late audits halt trading in Morgan Stanley-backed stocks Tianhe Chemicals (1619 HK) and Sihuan Pharmaceutical (460 HK); Sihuan (460 HK) Updates on Audit Delay: Improper accounting treatment in consolidation trick of using MRAs (Market Research Agents) to exclude hidden sales and distribution expenses to artificially boost profits
China’s Sihuan Pharm reports long delayed earnings and accounting overhaul
PUBLISHED : Monday, 03 August, 2015, 10:11am
Jing Yangjing.yang@scmp.com
Sihuan Pharmaceutical released its long-delayed 2014 annual earnings on Monday morning, and major restatements of its financials involving its sales and marketing activities.
Sihuan, one of mainland China’s largest prescription drugmaker, reported net profits up 30 per cent to 1.7 billion yuan (HK$2 billion). The earnings were released four months later than required, as the company, backed by a Morgan Stanley private equity fund, had to rectify some of its accounting practices.
How FTIL lost face in the two years since NSEL crisis
Ashish Rukhaiyar
31 July 2015
Mint
Mumbai, July 31 — Shares of Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL) closed at Rs.541.55 on 31 July 2013, a level it has never reached in the two years since the Rs.5,574 crore settlement fraud at the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) came to light. FTIL holds 99.99% stake in NSEL. Continue reading
Bondholders cry foul on Castex Technologies’ FCCB move
Pranav Nambiar
1 August 2015
Financial Express
Castex Technologies, a subsidiary of auto component major Amtek Auto, on Friday passed a resolution calling for the conversion of its $200 million foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) into equity, despite bondholders writing to the company and the Securities and Exchange Board of India warning that the move is possibly the result of a manipulation of stock prices, report Pranav Nambiar, Pallavi Ail and Ankit Doshi in Mumbai. The bondholders have also requested Sebi and the exchanges for an investigation into the matter. Continue reading
Citic transparency falls short as Sino Iron swept under the rug
PUBLISHED : Friday, 31 July, 2015, 3:30pm
Shirley YamShirley.yam@scmp.com
Transparency is lost as acquisition of parent eradicates mandatory disclosure requirements relating to stalled Australian mining project
It has been a year since Citic Pacific’s acquisition of its parent Citic Group, which was billed as the “pioneer” move in China’s new round of state enterprise reform. So far Citic has announced reforms in a helicopter subsidiary to allow the hiring of a career manager instead of a party cadre as its chief %executive. This baby step, however, cannot compensate for the significant drop in its transparency following the acquisition. The new black box is called Sino Iron – a West Australian iron ore mining project that no one has any idea when fully fledged commercial operations will begin. Thanks to falling mineral prices and poor xecution, the project has become a money pit for investor Citic; a shame for state-owned construction company Metallurgical Corp of China (MCC); and a political embarrassment to the country. Analysts considered it a key mover in Citic’s value. Yet, there is now little to monitor. A comparison of Citic’s annual reports for the past two years is telling. In the 2013 report, chairman Chang Zhenming devoted four-fifths of his report to detailing lessons learned; turn-around efforts and the project’s bright future. In the latest report, Chang gave it only one line.
“We have made disclosures above and beyond mandatory requirements … the Sino Iron impairment was another example. It is important that our stakeholders, including minority investors and the public, feel that the lines of communication are always open with the company,” he said.
The truth is the HK$19.5 billion provision made is the only disclosure relating to the project’s financials in the 312-page report. Continue reading
http://www.wsj.com/articles/noble-groups-drawbridge-down-shorts-cross-moat-overheard-1438285613
Noble Group’s Drawbridge Down; Shorts Cross Moat — Overheard
July 30, 2015 3:46 p.m. ET
With Noble Group’s defenses down, the shorts stormed the castle.
Shares of Noble, the embattled Asian commodities trader, plunged 12% Thursday to a 6½-year low and drew a “trade with caution” warning from the Singapore stock exchange. Noble’s stock has taken a beating in the past few months, as questions have been raised over the sustainability of the company’s profits. Noble has denied accusations about how it accounts for profits, and has also pledged greater transparency. But those moves haven’t prevented investors from increasingly betting against the shares. Noble’s shares on loan, a measure of short interest, have risen above 9%, according to Markit. To fight that pressure, Noble has countered by aggressively buying back its own stock. That may have limited the damage over the past month or so. But under Singapore Stock Exchange rules, Noble can’t buy back stock in the two weeks leading up to its earnings announcement, which is scheduled for Aug 13. That no-trading “blackout” period started Thursday. It could be a long two weeks for Noble’s shares. Continue reading
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2015/07/202_183859.html
Updated : 2015-07-30 17:06
Daewoo’s $2.6-bil. fiasco
KDB, management, Deloitte share blame
Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) Wednesday disclosed an operating loss of 3.03 trillion won or about $2.6 billion on sales of 1.67 trillion won in the second quarter. This disastrous performance is the work of three incompetent parties ― the Korea Development Bank (KDB), the shipbuilder’s previous and current management and accounting firm Deloitte Anjin. As usual, the taxpayers are the victim. The state bank should take the biggest portion of the blame. As the controlling shareholder, it either failed to detect or condoned what has gone wrong with its “subsidiary.” Continue reading
http://asia.nikkei.com/Features/Accounting-scandal/Newfangled-tech-uncovered-old-fashioned-fraud
July 30, 2015 5:00 pm JST
Newfangled tech uncovered old-fashioned fraud
TOKYO — High-tech sleuthing helped experts recover deleted, old or otherwise buried emails that implicate former Toshiba presidents in years of systematic accounting fraud at the venerable electronics maker. Continue reading
AsianExtractor: Unearthing Accounting Fraud in Asia 