Tag: investments

US, EU companies say ANC legislation a cause for concern

European and US businesses with operations based in South Africa said legislation coming from the ANC was a cause for concern.

The compulsory black ownership element in the new broad-based black economic empowerment codes were weighing on US companies in SA.

American Chamber of Commerce SA executive director Carol O’Brien said they were struggling with compliance, given that their parent companies in the US did not “sell off ownership”.

O’Brien said the Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill, the Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill, the intellectual property policy paper and the Expropriation Bill were some of the other proposed laws alarming investors.

The French ambassador, Elisabeth Barbier, echoed her sentiments and said French businesses are worried about their investments too.

The American chamber represents 250 of the 600 US companies with operations in SA, such as General Electric and Google. A 2012 survey showed the 89 chamber members that participated invested R278bn in SA.

President Jacob Zuma’s announcement in his state of the nation address that foreigners would be limited to owning a certain amount of land was worrying, said O’Brien.

The Americans however welcomed Zuma’s decision to refer the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill back to Parliament. He cited inadequate public consultation as the reason.

Central Banks are buying stocks

The FT reports that “a cluster of central banking investors has become major players on world equity markets.”

The report, to be published this week by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), confirms $29.1tn in market investments, held by 400 public sector institutions in 162 countries, which “could potentially contribute to overheated asset prices.” China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange has become “the world’s largest public sector holder of equities”, according to officials, and we suspect the Fed is close behind.

Central banks around the world, including China’s, have shifted decisively into investing in equities as low interest rates have hit their revenues, according to a global study of 400 public sector institutions.

“A cluster of central banking investors has become major players on world equity markets,” says a report to be published this week by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (Omfif), a central bank research and advisory group. The trend “could potentially contribute to overheated asset prices”, it warns.

The report, seen by the Financial Times, identifies $29.1tn in market investments, including gold, held by 400 public sector institutions in 162 countries.

China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange has become “the world’s largest public sector holder of equities”, as the report argues is “partly strategic” because it “counters the monopoly power of the dollar” and reflects Beijing’s global financial ambitions.

In Europe, the Swiss and Danish central banks are among those investing in equities. The Swiss National Bank has an equity quota of about 15 per cent. Omfif quotes Thomas Jordan, SNB’s chairman, as saying: “We are now invested in large, mid- and small-cap stocks in developed markets worldwide.” The Danish central bank’s equity portfolio was worth about $500m at the end of last year.

 

 

Greenpeace employee loses millions in failed currency gamble

The know-it-alls, don’t know much about handling their own money.

Greenpeace has fired an employee who lost the environmental charity $5.47 million in a failed gamble on international currency markets, reports ABC Australia.

Greenpeace communications director Mike Townsley said the unnamed employee “went above his authority” in agreeing the deal with a broker who was meant to mitigate currency losses for the charity.