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Bitcoin 'whales' pulling cryptocurrency strings

Bitcoin, the star of the cryptocurrency world, is widely seen as a freewheeling tool as open as the internet itself.
But analysts have cast doubt on the veracity of that perception, highlighting that the bulk of bitcoin is in fact heavily concentrated in the hands of a powerful few.
Some 1,000 bitcoin holders — out of a total 11 million — hold some 35.4 percent of currency, according to BitInfoCharts.
These bitcoin “whales” — a word popularly used for big money players in financial markets — “literally control the currency”, said Bob McDowall, an expert in cryptocurrencies.
They can “dictate monetary policy, which is normally the function of a central bank or a government”, he said.
Unlike central bank-issued denominations, virtual currencies are produced, or “mined,” by banks of computers solving complex algorithms and freely traded online.
The other key difference with typical currencies is that the number of bitcoin in existence can never exceed 21 million.
There are currently some 17 million bitcoins in circulation.
Bitcoin’s surge in value from a few cents to a peak in December 2017 of $19,500 turned some of its first investors into billionaires.
The BitInfoCharts study also found that the top 10 account holders held 5.96 percent of the bitcoins.
Experts cautioned that the statistics should be taken with a pinch of salt, however, as several individuals could be behind a single account and one person could hold several accounts.
‘Whales’ with power?
In a 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday, the 100 biggest bitcoin transactions out of 200,000 accounted for 24 percent of the money volumes — an unimaginable level of concentration compared to other markets.
“In the currency market for example it’s such a huge market with so many transactions in a day that a pure actor can’t have any influence on a market,” Craig Erlam, an analyst for Oanda, a currency trading platform, told AFP.
Big bitcoin players, by contrast, can hold a lot of sway over the market.
To try and prevent excessive falls in the value of the currency, observers believe that the “whales” may be checking with each other first before putting in major orders, leading to suspicions of fraud in this unregulated market.
US authorities in May opened a criminal investigation into possible market manipulation of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, suspecting traders of “spoofing” — putting in false orders and quickly withdrawing them to move the currency.
But Aaron Brown, former director of AQR Capital Management, who runs a bitcoin fund, said the role of “whales” is being exaggerated.
He admitted that a coordinated sale of bitcoin by the biggest accounts could cause the value of the currency to plunge but said that the risk was theoretical and that major historical investors in the currency have a strong sense of community.
Since the end of 2017, the concentration of bitcoins has decreased, according to a study by Chainalysis, a think tank.
Several long-term investors have sold their bitcoins and a new type of player has entered the scene — speculators, who tend to hold fewer bitcoins but carry out more transactions.
“The supply of bitcoin available for trading has increased by 57 percent since December 2017,” the Chainalysis study found. — AFP

China's ZTE dives 39% at resumption of trading in Hong Kong

Shares in Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE collapsed 39 percent Wednesday as trading in the company resumed after it reached a settlement with the United States over its handling of a sanctions violation.
Dealing in the firm was suspended in April after Washington said it had banned American companies from selling crucial hardware and software components to it for seven years.
The decision came after US officials said ZTE had failed to take action against staff who were responsible for violating trade sanctions against Iran and North Korea. The company was fined $1.2 billion last year for those violations.
The move in April put the company’s future in doubt and it became a key issue in a wider trade spat between Washington and Beijing.
But last week the two sides reached a deal to replace the sanctions with a $1 billion penalty, plus another $400 million in escrow to cover possible future violations.
Shenzhen-based ZTE will also be required to change its entire board of directors and hire outside legal compliance specialists who will report to the US Commerce Department for 10 years.
While the firm’s future was ensured, it dived 39.22 percent to HK$15.56 during Hong Kong morning trade, while it also plunged by its 10 percent daily limit to 28.18 yuan in Shenzhen.
“While the nightmare is now over, ZTE will likely have to deal with many changes,” analysts Edison Lee and Timothy Chau at Jefferies wrote in a note. “We expect significant near-term selling pressure and a volatile stock price.”
The ZTE settlement came days after Beijing reportedly offered to ramp up purchases of American goods by $70 billion to help cut the yawning trade imbalance with the United States — moving part-way towards meeting a major demand of US President Donald Trump.
Trump has demanded a $200 billion reduction in its trade deficit with China over two years.
Despite the settlement, there was no sign Trump had veered from plans to impose billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese imports to punish Beijing for its alleged theft of US technology and know-how.
“The US agreement with ZTE with fine and change of management, in other words, is a political deal,” said analyst Dickie Wong at Kingston Securities.
“If the US didn’t ‘free’ ZTE in this way, US companies would find it very difficult in any moves in China, including decisions on mergers and acquisitions,” Wong added.
Citi analyst Bin Liu warned in a note that the firm  “should have a significant loss” in its full-year earnings because of the penalty as well as the impact of its management changes.
Despite several US lawmakers’ warning against easing sanctions on ZTE, citing national security concerns, Trump said earlier last month that he was looking at alleviating the tough sanctions on ZTE “as a favour” to Chinese President Xi Jinping. — AFP

US launches another trade case against China

US President Donald Trump’s Commerce Department on Tuesday announced another trade action involving Chinese imports, with producers of steel propane tanks accused of dumping and unfair subsidies.
It is the latest in a series of disputes the Trump administration has taken up against Beijing, the largest of which are the looming 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods amid complaints the country is stealing US technology.
The frictions with the Asian giant, as well as the latest conflict will allies like Canada and the European Union have threatened to spill over into a global trade war.
The latest complaint, lodged by US manufacturers in Ohio and Tennessee, argues that China is dumping and unfairly subsidizing the steel cylinders, which allegedly land on the US market at below cost, creating unfair competition for US companies, including two that filed a complaint with the Commerce Department.
The complaint says China subsidizes production by 55 to 109 percent through a variety of programs including taxes, grants and export credits for nearly $90 million in exports.
If Commerce determines the China provides the industry with unfair subsidies and is dumping the products, it will impose antidumping and countervailing duties to make the prices similar to US competitors.
The case also alleges dumping of the steel tanks by Taiwan and Thailand at lower rates.
Last year, the United States imported a little over $100 million in the propane cylinders from the three countries combined, according to the Commerce Department. — AFP

Nasdaq ends at record, Dow flat ahead of Fed decision

The Nasdaq finished at a fresh record Tuesday following strong gains by Tesla and some other tech companies, while the Dow treaded water ahead of a Federal Reserve decision.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.6 percent to close at 7,703.79, resuming its upward climb after notching three straight records last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped a hair to end the day at 25,320.73, while the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to 2,786.85.
Karl Haeling of LBBW described the investor mood as one of “cautious optimism” with low trading volumes ahead of Wednesday’s Fed announcement.
Investors are anticipating an interest rate hike from the Fed, followed by a European Central Bank decision Thursday that could mark the end of a bond-buying stimulus program.
“We have so many major events for the rest of the week. Most investors are sitting on the sidelines,” Haeling said.
Tesla Motors shot up 3.2 percent after announcing that it would cut nine percent of its staff in a push towards profitability. The electric-car maker said the move would not affect production workers or production targets of the Model 3 sedan.
Other large technology companies, including Apple, Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet, climbed between 0.5 and 1.0 percent.
Time Warner rose 0.1 percent and AT&T 1.0 percent ahead of the US judicial decision approving the mega merger between the two media companies. — AFP

BSP looks at further easing of FX rules

WORK is under way for fresh easing of foreign exchange restrictions, with changes being prepared by the central bank meant to simplify the entry and withdrawal of investments.
“It is about further liberalization of investment rules… Basically it is similar to what we did for external debt — we want to make it easy for investments to come in,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. told reporters recently.
Last month, the BSP announced that banks will no longer have to seek central bank approval to convert foreign currency-denominated loans to peso.
The central bank has been relaxing restrictions on currency conversion as part of overall government efforts to improve the ease of doing business. Such changes are also meant to encourage the public to transact with banks rather than informal channels.
Mr. Espenilla declined to give details, but said the latest wave of easing will tweak the “administrative requirement” of reporting investments and will simplify the process for repatriating investments held by foreign businesses.
He said the BSP has been soliciting bank comments on the planned changes.
Foreign direct investments reached $2.175 billion in the first quarter, 43.5% more than the $1.516 billion the Philippines got in 2017’s first three months on the back of sustained confidence in the country’s growth prospects.
More flighty foreign capital also entered the country as of April with $6.396-billion inflows outweighing $5.395 billion in withdrawn portfolio funds, according to latest available BSP data.
The central bank has been liberalizing foreign exchange rules since 2007.
Significant changes include a higher limit for over-the-counter dollar purchases at $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for companies.
Dollars acquired through Philippine lenders may likewise be kept as dollar deposits with the banks concerned.
Mr. Espenilla has cited the need to pursue reforms on currency trading rules, saying that stiff registration requirements set back in the 1970s were necessary at a time dollars had to be “rationed” given limited supply.
But liquidity has improved since then, with banks now well-armed with cash to service both peso and dollar transactions. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Banks get more time for detailed real estate reports

THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) has pushed back the implementation of tighter standards for banks in reporting real estate loans and project financing agreements.
The central bank issued Memorandum No. M-2018-019, signed on June 11 by BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier, which “rationalized” deadlines for lenders in submitting more detailed reports on project finance and real estate exposure. This pushed back the implementation of tighter rules originally set for this quarter.
Through Circular 976, signed in October 2017, the central bank required more detailed data from universal, commercial and thrift banks to enhance oversight on the volatile real estate sector at a time of continued double-digit credit growth. The circular also covers rural banks that are subsidiaries of big lenders.
These measures add to existing rules limiting the property exposure of banks, which include a cap on real estate loans equivalent to 20% of total loan portfolio net of interbank borrowings, as well as stress test limits that assume a 25% write-off in outstanding property debts.
The latest rules require banks to report details of real estate loans covering mid- and high-end housing units, as well as socialized and low-cost housing within a month after the end of every quarter starting 2018.
Full implementation has been pushed back to the third quarter, with loan data on solo basis (parent bank) due Oct. 19 and consolidated loan reports of banks and their subsidiaries due on Nov. 13.
Extensions were also given for big banks in reporting project finance deals. The BSP has set July 31 as the new deadline for the pilot run covering credit handed out in the first and second quarters while “live implementation” has been pushed back to Oct. 19 covering project funding as of end-September on solo basis.
Consolidated project financing reports for banking groups are due Nov. 13.
More detailed information on banks’ real estate exposure is meant to help the BSP make “a comprehensive assessment of the quality of bank loans and vulnerability of banks on risks arising from these exposures.”
The central bank has been closely monitoring the property market since the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. The latter particularly was triggered by widespread mortgage defaults in the United States which developed into a bank industry-wide crisis that, in turn, damaged financial institutions worldwide.
In April, however, the BSP eased lending ceilings imposed on banks by allowing construction firms implementing major infrastructure projects to have a separate borrowing limit as they secure funding from banks and quasi-banks, in order to support the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure development program of the current administration. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Planned tax amnesty gaining ground in House Ways and Means committee

A TECHNICAL working group (TWG) of the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means committee hopes to finalize the general tax amnesty bill this week, before it is presented to the entire panel for approval when Congress resumes session late next month.
“We will have the third TWG meeting this week (hopefully the last) to come up with a substitute bill for consideration of the mother committee,” House Ways and Means committee Chairman Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua of Quirino said in a mobile phone message on Tuesday.
He declined to give details of specific issues being discussed, saying only that the TWG has been consolidating the suggestions of all affected sectors.
The measure — filed as House Bill No. 7105 — seeks to impose an eight percent tax on the net worth of those applying for amnesty covering taxable year 2017, or P10,000-10 million depending on the type of taxpayer, in exchange for immunity from civil, criminal and administrative penalties. The measure also includes relaxation of bank secrecy to allow the Bureau of Internal Revenue to check the bank accounts of those seeking amnesty in order to verify their declarations during the amnesty period.
The Senate version, Senate Bill No. 942, offers a five percent tax.
The Department of Finance (DoF) hopes to implement the general tax amnesty program before yearend.
Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said on Monday that the government is ready to offer tax amnesty following the sale of a local tobacco manufacturer found to have evaded taxes that is now paying the correct levies.
“We have already established our strong commitment to collect taxes. May credibility ang government,” Mr. Diokno told reporters, adding that he is confident that the measure could be implemented this year.
The general amnesty follows Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, that slashed personal income tax rates but either added or raised tax rates on several items, besides removing value added tax exemptions of a number of sectors.
The government is looking at up to four more tax reform packages, with the entire effort designed to help fund an P8-trillion infrastructure development drive until 2022, when President Rodrigo R. Duterte ends his six-year term. The reform program is also designed to shift the tax burden away from the poor and increase collections besides.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee has estimated that TRAIN and the package that includes both the planned general tax amnesty and an increase in the motor vehicle users charge to yield some P124.9 billion in additional collections this year.
The amnesty itself is designed to bring more taxpayers into the system.
Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito G. Lambino II said it helps that state tax collectors have lately been surpassing their targets.
“So far, our revenue performance has been very good. In fact our revenues have exceeded targets. So in terms of being able to finance our spending program, ok pa naman,” Mr. Lambino said in an interview last week.
“But the expectation was really that the amnesty would enhance revenues. The committee is still working, we don’t know what the final components will be.”
The Bureau of Internal Revenue collected P827.91 billion in the five months to May, exceeding its P803-billion goal for that period by 3.1%, while the Bureau of Customs topped its P50.628-billion target for the same period by 3.9%, raking in P52.601 billion.
Overall tax revenues are targeted at P2.677 trillion this year, while total state revenues are programmed at P2.846 trillion. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

Indonesia asks businesses to hold more rupiah to curb weakness

JAKARTA — Over the past couple of decades, Indonesian companies have developed a tried and tested strategy to cope with the periodic plunges in the rupiah: retain dollars to protect their profits.
But their behavior can add to downward pressure on the currency, exacerbating problems for policy makers in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, especially given its relatively open nature compared to neighbors with more restrictive currency regimes.
The rupiah has been one of Asia’s worst performing currencies this year and hit its lowest level since late 2015 at one point last week after being caught up in an emerging market sell-off.
Bank Indonesia (BI), the nation’s central bank, has taken various measures to try to boost rupiah use and it is once again prodding firms to sell dollars.
But companies surveyed by Reuters are maintaining US currency holdings and only meeting minimum hedging requirements.
Many companies say that with a lot of their costs in dollars and their revenue largely in rupiah, they can’t risk getting caught by a slide in the local currency. They also point out that hedging can be very expensive.
Vidjongtius, the president director of Indonesia’s biggest pharmaceutical company, Kalbe Farma, said that every percentage of rupiah depreciation raised its production costs by 0.35%.
Having “cash on hand” dollars has been a strategy for Kalbe for a long time because “hedging with a banking product is relatively more complex and sometimes hard to monitor, plus there is a cost for that,” he said.
The pharmaceutical industry is particularly exposed to exchange rate risks as its raw materials are mostly imported and it only exports a small part of its production.
CAPITAL OUTFLOWS
New BI Governor Perry Warjiyo told a media gathering on Wednesday last week that forcing exporters to keep earnings onshore for longer or making companies convert dollar holdings was not currently an option under Indonesia’s laws.
That is in contrast to tougher foreign exchange systems in existence in places like Malaysia, which since 2016 has made exporters convert 75% of their earnings into ringgit.
Indonesia is also vulnerable because, unlike some countries in the region, it runs a current account deficit. In addition, foreigners own nearly 40% of the government’s bonds, so its currency can be hit by outflows from the bond market.
Mr. Warjiyo said there was a misperception among some companies about the cost of hedging and some alarmism over how low the rupiah might go.
He has pledged to communicate more on hedging and to provide “a rational expectation” of where the rupiah is heading after he cited market talk suggesting it could pass 16,000 per dollar. It currently trades around 13,900.
Some market participants have begun to urge policy makers to reconsider Indonesia’s liberal rules on capital movement.
In a parliamentary hearing last week, Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, chief executive of Bank Mandiri, one of the largest banks in the country, suggested that after the period of volatility passes, the rules be changed to accommodate some sort of capital management.
“A softer approach would be to give exporters an incentive. So if they convert (earnings in dollars) to rupiah, maybe the tax on their deposit can be reduced,” he said.
If BI goes down that kind of road it would be the latest in a series of incremental steps it has taken in recent years to try to pressure companies into embracing the rupiah.
In 2012, it ordered exporters to receive their payments through local banks, in the hope that some of the money would stay in the country and be converted into rupiah.
Two years later, the central bank made it mandatory for companies with liabilities in foreign currencies to hedge a quarter of their short-term foreign currency exposure.
And in 2015, BI moved to enforce rules that mean all domestic transactions should be in rupiah, outlawing, for example, landlords charging rents in dollars.
But this all clearly isn’t enough to make a big difference.
And company executives say that hedging doesn’t always make sense.
Dendy Kurniawan, chief executive of Indonesia AirAsia, which gets about half its revenue in rupiah and half in dollars, said if, for example, the rupiah fell five percent and it cost six percent to hedge it was pointless to hedge. “It does make more sense if the rupiah falls really deeply,” he said.
Jahja Setiaatmadja, president director of Indonesia’s Bank Central Asia, said banks typically only took 20-25 basis points of profit margin for a simple foreign exchange hedging product, but because it was priced off the rupiah interbank market it could carry a 5.95% rate for a one-year contract.
It’s not only exporters, but also companies with little or no dollar earnings that hold onto the American currency.
Animal feed company Charoen Pokphand Indonesia, which mainly sells domestically but imports some raw materials, has sought to limit its dollar exposure by buying local corn and limiting its foreign debt, director Ong Mei Sian said.
The company holds dollar cash in addition to hedging short-term interest payments, though does not fully hedge principal debt and long-term dollar needs, he said. — Reuters

Malaysia wants to be friendly, not indebted, to China, says Mahathir

TOKYO — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday his country will remain friendly with China, which invested billions of dollars during the previous Najib Razak government, but will not be “indebted to China.”
Mr. Mahathir, in Tokyo on his first foreign trip since winning a shock election last month, sought to revive the idea of an East Asia economic group which he said would be useful in the face of China’s surging economic power.
“We have to deal with China whether we like it or not. We should deal with it as a group,” Mr. Mahathir told an international seminar in Tokyo.
Mr. Mahathir said he was not against pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, but he said the TPP should be renegotiated so smaller economies like Malaysia can compete against giants China and the United States.
Mr. Mahathir said the ideal would be a broad trade pact such as the East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC), which he proposed during his previous term in office. “Yes, I am still in favor of EAEC,” he said. “In the past, of course, we were not able to do this due to the objections of America, but now America seems to become isolationist again so it is not in a position to demand that we cannot form EAEC.”
Mr. Mahathir, 92, returned as premier last month after a stunning election victory over Mr. Najib, promising to stamp out corruption and lower living costs.
His decision to visit Japan first was seen by some analysts as an example of the government’s desire to put some distance between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
The new government has said that some Chinese companies are possibly linked to the graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) that contributed to Mr. Najib’s downfall. Mr. Mahathir made no reference to 1MDB in Tokyo.
Speaking at a news conference, Mr. Mahathir referred to the Chinese investments and projects during the Najib era which he believes will leave Malaysians with billions of dollars in debt.
“That was his particular way of conducting friendship with China,” Mr. Mahathir said.
“We will be friendly with China, but we do not want to be indebted to China.”
The new government is reviewing a $14-billion local rail line to be built by Chinese companies, and has already withdrawn from a high-speed rail project with neighbour Singapore.
Mr. Mahathir said he hoped to begin a new national car project to follow Proton, the company founded in 1983 during his first term but has struggled in recent years.
Geely bought 49.9% of Proton last year, marking the Chinese automaker’s first push into Southeast Asia.
Malaysia had the skills and technology needed to design and produce the new car, Mahathir said, but he added that some car parts were very expensive and could be sourced from other countries, including Japan. — Reuters

Property firm Revolution Precrafted expands to Ecuador’s mid-income market

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
REVOLUTION Precrafted Properties, Ltd. continues its global expansion with its entry into Ecuador, banking on the strong demand for housing in the middle-income segment in the country.
The property-tech firm said in a statement that it has recently awarded a franchising agreement to Ecuador-based Innovation LLC. Under the deal, Revolution Precrafted will be supplying mid-priced to luxury residential units in the country.
“This franchise agreement with Innovation LLC is a strategic move for the company. It allows us to tap into huge South and Central American land bank. This supports our goal of extending our reach to at least 20 to 25 markets this year,” Revolution Precrafted founder and Chief Executive Officer Jose Roberto R. Antonio was quoted as saying.
The company said Innovation LLC is finalizing agreements with real estate developers in Ecuador’s capital city, Quito, and other surrounding cities. Both parties expect to announce development deals in the coming weeks.
Mr. Antonio added that the company is targeting projects in Guayaquil, one of Ecuador’s largest cities. Guayaquil is also known as a gateway to Pacific beaches and the Galapagos Islands.
Citing data from Ecuadorian real estate groups, Revolution Precrafted said that there is strong demand coming from the mid-market segment in the country, particularly for housing priced from $70,000 to $150,000, with an average area of 117 square meters.
The company further noted that housing stock in Ecuador needed to be replenished, after the damages brought about by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in 2016.
“We want to support the economic development of Ecuador by providing design-driven residential units and for the middle-class residents and migrating expat community,” Mr. Antonio said.
Ecuador marks the 11th international market under Revolution Precrafted’s portfolio. The company has been rapidly expanding since its establishment in 2015, managing to establish its presence in Dubai through a partnership with Seven Tides International for The World Islands project. In Myanmar, Revolution Precrafted partnered with KT Group’s Okkyin project.
The company is also building more than 1,000 houses for Novo Development, Ltd. in the Caribbean, and 85 luxury resort villas in Okinawa Japan.
In the Philippines, the company has committed to supply prefabricated structures for Batulao Artscapes in Nasugbu, Batangas for $1.1 billion, and for Revolution Flavorscapes in Mexico, Pampanga for $350 million.
In total, Revolution Precrafted has closed deals valued at $7.2 billion.
To support the expansion program, Mr. Antonio said the company would be building six factories globally, or one for each region where it has presence. The first one is set to be constructed in Asia within the year.
Currently, the company’s projects are produced through a network of fabricators in different regions, depending on the location of the order.

Okada estafa cases dropped for lack of probable cause

By Dane Angelo M. Enerio
THE Office of the City Prosecutor of Parañaque City has dismissed for lack of probable cause the two separate estafa cases filed by Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment, Inc. (TRLEI) against Japanese gambling mogul Kazuo Okada and several other respondents.
Mr. Okada was the chief executive officer of TRLEI’s Okada Manila casino resort before he was sacked in June 2017 in connection to his alleged unauthorized consultancy payments amounting to $3,158,835.62 and his acquisition of defective LED strips worth $7,091,065.78 from his own supply company Aruze Philippines Manufacturing, Inc. (APMI). TRLEI charged him with two separate estafa complaints for the incidences.
Copies of the court’s resolutions obtained by BusinessWorld showed that Assistant City Prosecutor Romeo G. Bautista IV dismissed both estafa cases as no probable cause could be established to prove that Mr. Okada and his co-accused were guilty of committing their alleged crimes.
The $3-million case was dismissed in a five-page resolution dated May 11 that said, “all told, there being painful failure to establish probable cause that the respondents have committed the crime charged against them, the instant Complaint must be recommended dismissed.”
Aside from Mr. Okada, also charged in the case was Takahiro Usui, Okada Manila’s former chief operating officer and president, for allegedly being involved in the misappropriation of the funds.
The court also ruled that the case was intra-corporate, thus outside the court’s jurisdiction.
“A legal remedy may lie before appropriate forum/fora taking into consideration the intra-corporate nature of the instant Complaint; but definitely not before this very Office since it only receives complaints involving acts that are criminal in nature,” it said.
Mr. Bautista issued similar rulings on the $7-million case involving the allegedly defective LED lights, saying in a seven-page resolution dated May 18, “following a painstaking review of the pieces of evidence presented, this Office finds no probably cause to indict the respondents for the crime charged.” The court said the case was outside its jurisdiction as it was civil in nature.
Charged in the case were APMI, Mr. Okada, Kengo Takeda and Tetsuya Yokota.
Both resolutions said, “finding that there is no probably cause that the respondents have committed the crime charged against them does not altogether equate to a finding that the complainant has no other recourse against the alleged wrong done, given that what is before it only specifically concerns the alleged criminal act of the respondents.”
The Department of Justice (DoJ) vowed to investigate the alleged premature release of these court resolutions by a close companion of Mr. Okada as early as May 18 and sought for the inhibition of City Prosecutor Amerhassan C. Paudac from the case, citing bias.
Prosecutor Jorge G. Catalan, Jr., the DoJ’s head prosecutor, also recused himself from the cases after TRLEI’s request as he had been involved in a previous perjury case against Mr. Okada that eventually dismissed.

iPrice projects steady growth for local operations

By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo, Reporter
ONLINE shopping aggregator iPrice Group Sdn Bhd is bullish on its prospects in the Philippine market as demand for e-commerce in Southeast Asia continues to grow.
Matteo Sutto, chief marketing officer of iPrice, said the company expects steady growth for its business in the region, including the Philippines where its website has around 2 million monthly visitors.
“We are extremely bullish for all the seven markets where we currently operate. Philippines has historically been one of our top performing and fastest growing market and we have no reason to believe such growth will slow down,” he said in an e-mail interview.
He added that iPrice is expecting growth for both its users and e-commerce merchants with the expanding presence of big players in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region.
“With a total size of e-commerce market in SEA doubling in the past two years… expected to reach $90 [billion] in 2025 as per last Google-Temasek study, the presence of multiple big players/groups such as Alibaba, Tencent and Amazon in the region fighting for supremacy and, as a result of this, the rising cost of the alternative paid marketing channels like Google and Facebook, we couldn’t be more bullish about the role of price comparison and product discovery in the e-commerce landscape, for both users and e-commerce merchants,” he said.
iPrice operates in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Mr. Sutto said that iPrice had been posting triple-digit growth each year since it started in 2014.
The electronics and price comparison unit, in particular, has been growing more than three times yearly, he said.
Last month, the company announced that it had received funding from LINE Ventures, with participation from Cento Ventures and Venturra.
The company plans to use the new investment for improving user experience and high growth markets.
“We are planning to double down our investment in our highest growth potential markets, including Philippines, and keep on improving the user experience, especially in our two core verticals — fashion and electronics,” Mr. Sutto said.
The company previously said that it was on track to reach more than 150 million visitors this year because of the accelerating growth experienced in Indonesia.
iPrice Group is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and is an investment of the Asia Venture Group.

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