http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/22/china-banks-lending-leasingfirms-idUSL3N0TS2RE20150122

Chinese banks pile up risks through loans to financial leasing firms

Wed, Jan 21 2015

By Engen Tham

SHANGHAI, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Chinese banks scrambling to meet capital adequacy rules have stepped up lending to financial leasing companies in the past year as they move away from traditional corporate loans that require them to set aside more funds as provisions.

Under global regulations known as BASEL III introduced last year, China’s biggest banks have to increase their capital as a percentage of their assets. To help free up funds to meet the rules, banks are looking for ways to cut provisions for some loans – even if they have to lend to companies leasing ships, tractors and building equipment in some of China’s most vulnerable sectors. Continue reading →

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/23/caterpillar-china-special-rep-idUSL3N0IT1SV20140123

Posted by YEO Wei Lin, Year 3 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

ZHENGZHOU, China, Jan. 23 (Reuters) – Asia’s top mergers and acquisitions bankers gathered two years ago at the swanky Island Shangri La in Hong Kong to celebrate the top deals of 2012. As the transactions were being toasted, one was unraveling.

Advisers on Caterpillar Inc’s $677 million purchase of ERA Mining Machinery Ltd picked up an award for cross-border deal of the year. The purchase was billed as a coup for Caterpillar, the world’s top maker of tractors and excavators. ERA was the holding company for Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical & Electrical Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd, one of China’s biggest makers of hydraulic coal-mine roof supports. Siwei would help Caterpillar gain traction in the world’s largest coal industry. Continue reading →

Should Employers Offer Financial Incentives for Whistleblowing

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/will-deener/20100321-Whistle-blowers-find-more-corporate-fraud-7567.ece

Posted by CHEN Tiancheng, Year 4 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

Should Employers Offer Financial Incentives for Whistleblowing

It is well known that many employees do not blow the whistle for fear of repercussions if they do (from harassment to dismissal and various poor treatment in between). So should we offer incentives to employees to follow a whistleblowing procedure, in order that health and safety breaches and other illegality can be promptly brought to employers’ attention and swift remedial steps taken? Continue reading →

http://www.icij.org/project/luxembourg-leaks/big-4-audit-firms-play-big-role-offshore-murk

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

Global accounting giants are prime architects of the offshore money maze – and supporting characters in an array of offshore scandals

For more than a decade, tax gurus at PricewaterhouseCoopers helped Caterpillar Inc., the U.S. heavy equipment maker, move profits produced by its lucrative spare-parts business from the U.S. to a tiny subsidiary in Switzerland. Continue reading →

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/22/thousands-of-huawei-workers-respond-to-internal-anti-fraud-campaign/?_r=0

Posted by Valerie NG, Year 3 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

Thousands at Huawei Came Forward in Push Against Fraud, Founder Says

By PAUL MOZUR and SHANSHAN WANG

JANUARY 22, 2015 9:07 AM January 22, 2015 9:07 am  Comment

HONG KONG — In a rare media appearance, Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, said on Thursday that the company recently carried out a campaign aimed at cutting back fraud in the company. Mr. Ren said that 4,000 to 5,000 employees had come forward to admit to various improprieties as part of a “confess for leniency” program that the company set up last year, according to an interview that was streamed live from the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The biggest enemy we’ve run into isn’t other people, it’s ourselves,” he said. As part of the program, Huawei told employees that it would be lenient with them if they came forward before Dec. 31 of last year to admit to any violations of company policy throughout their career, according to an employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was discussing company affairs without permission.

Violations admitted by the employees included small misdemeanors, fraudulent reporting of financial information to the company, and even bribery and corruption. Any cases uncovered after the deadline will be transferred directly to the Chinese authorities, according to the employee. Continue reading →

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/s-p-to-pay-nearly-80-million-in-settlements/?_r=1

Posted by SEAH Hui Ting, Year 3 undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

S&P to Pay Nearly $80 Million to Settle Fraud Cases

Standard & Poor’s, the credit rating agency blamed for helping inflate the subprime mortgage bubble, has settled accusations that it orchestrated a similar fraud years after the bubble burst. Continue reading →

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2015/01/351_171136.html 

Justice or economics?

5 January 2015

Korea Times

By Andrew Salmon

It’s that time of year again: The time of year to recover from lingering hangovers; to implement those pesky new year’s resolutions; and to, er, parole or pardon the depressingly long roster of corporate criminals. Voices have been rising in the ruling party and the administration for the president to exercise her right to grant paroles and/or pardons to these white-collar wrongdoers. And there are a lot of them ― almost a “Who’s Who” of Korea Inc’s elite.

Tycoons attending the boardroom behind bars include (deep breath): SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and his younger brother, both serving raps for embezzlement; CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun for embezzlement, breach of trust and tax evasion; LIG Group Chairman Koo Bong-sang, for defrauding investors; Tongyang Group Chairman Hyun Jae-hyun for a billion-dollar-plus fraud; Taekwang Group Chairman Lee Ho-jin for embezzlement and breach of trust; and ex-STX Chairman Kang Duk-soo, for embezzlement and accounting fraud. Continue reading →

Police arrest Kalimantan palm-oil tycoon Budiono Tan

12 January 2015

The Jakarta Post

The West Kalimantan Police have arrested palm-oil tycoon Budiono Tan, who allegedly misappropriated 1,535 land certificates of oil-palm farmers in Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

The businessman, who runs a plantation through PT Benua Indah Grup (BIG), was caught on Friday night in West Jakarta after being sought for five years. Continue reading →