Focusing on the BGC business traveler

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

By Zsarlene B. Chua

INTERNATIONAL budget hotel chain, ZEN Rooms, has introduced ZEN Homes — its solution to what the company sees as a current lack of affordable accommodations in one of the country’s most prominent central business districts, Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig.

“Until now, there were simply zero professional affordable options for travelers in BGC — only luxury hotels and amateur Airbnbs,” Nathan Boublil, ZEN Rooms cofounder and global managing director, told BusinessWorld in an e-mail interview late-December 2017.

The dearth of options, he said, puts travelers in a tight spot: luxury hotels are expensive and while amateur Airbnbs are “clearly more affordable, it is not the most reliable or the safest options.”

“[Airbnbs are] not even necessarily cheap as there are no economies of scale on the service,” he explained.

So, in order to provide a more affordable and reliable option, ZEN Rooms has introduced serviced apartments which can cost as low as P2,000/night all-in and includes facilities like pools, gyms and fully functional kitchens.

“ZEN Homes [has] the service level of a mid-range hotel and is cheaper than an Airbnb. We are able to achieve such low prices thanks to the economies of scale of managing many units and hotels (unlike amateur Airbnbs who cannot spread their cost across units),” Mr. Boublil said.

Located at the ICON Plaza and Forbeswood Parklane, ZEN Rooms currently operate 70 “homes” and plans to introduce 50 more by the first quarter of 2018.

ZEN Rooms, a budget hotel brand backed by Rocket Internet SE of Germany, was founded in the middle of 2015 by Nathan Boublil and Kiren Tanna, who built FoodPanda.com in 2012 — also backed by Rocket Internet — which has become the largest food delivery service in Asia.

Unlike budget hotel brands which typically construct properties from the ground-up, ZEN Rooms operates by taking over existing rooms in already-built buildings such as condominiums or hotels and re-branding them and furnishing them with all the fixtures of a hotel: a front desk, a restaurant, etc.

The serviced apartments are also bigger spaces — from 40 square meters for studio rooms to 60 square meters for apartments which can house four people. And because of the added amenities, Mr. Boublil said guests stay for around one week on average.

“Professionals having meetings in BGC would have to stay in Makati and then commute. Amateur Airbnbs is often not an option for them given the lack of reliability and planning needed to check in/out,” he said of the rationale behind the apartments.

“Given this lack of budget hotels that we could possibly franchise and work with, we decided to create the offering ourselves from scratch, by taking apartment units under management and operating them,” he added.

ZEN Rooms first introduced the service in Makati in the first quarter of 2017 and decided to replicate it in BGC during the last quarter of the same year, noting that since opening in BGC, its current customer demographics are skewed towards professional/business travelers (60% profession and 40% leisure.)

“Given the excellent customer satisfaction ratings, we are now growing our ZEN Home division fast, benefiting travelers and real estate owners — and essentially turning into the largest budget serviced apartment business in the Philippines, in addition to our budget hotel franchise,” he said.

ZEN Rooms entered the Philippine market in 2016 and is now currently operating more than a thousand rooms in 10 cities nationwide. In Asia, the company is currently operating more than 5,000 rooms in over 35 locations including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Arundhati Roy: the literary canary in India’s coalmine

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

NEW DELHI, INDIA — She may have returned to publishing fiction after a two decade hiatus, but Indian writer Arundhati Roy says she has no plans to sheath her polemical sword anytime soon in a world where the vulnerable are still being “smashed.”

Sitting in a café in the bowels of Old Delhi’s labyrinthine streets on a chilly winter’s afternoon, the 56-year-old still simmers with the kind of fiery political rhetoric that has made her one of her homeland’s harshest modern day critics.

“I would find it very hard to live with myself in this country if I didn’t talk about what was going on,” she says.

“Not only in India but all over the world, an economic system is being created that is driving people apart,” she adds.

“I’m writing about how this system is actually smashing up the vulnerable in this country.”

Roy has spent much of the year publicizing her new novel — The Ministry of Utmost Happiness — a sprawling and lavish tale published in June.

But inevitably conversations stray onto the kind of political issues she is now equally well known for: Kashmir, Maoist insurgents, environmental activism, and the rising communal tensions in modern day India.

The novelist and the polemicist is a duality she has worn for 20 years and she’s not going to stop now. The new book’s dedication after all reads: “To, The Unconsoled.”

FAME AND ACCLAIM
After years of struggling to find her voice, penning television and movie screenplays in Mumbai, the daughter of a Syrian Christian from Kerala and a Hindu Bengali burst onto the scene in 1997 with her debut novel The God of Small Things.

The story of twins Rahel and Estha and their traumatic childhood in Kerala was a publishing sensation, selling more than six million copies worldwide, scooping up the Booker Prize and turning Roy somewhat uncomfortably into a darling of the global literary set.

Many favorably compared her at the time to South Asia heavyweight writers like Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth. But those hoping for a swift series of fiction follow ups were disappointed.

Instead she turned herself into something resembling India’s moral conscience, churning out essays on a broad range of topics that riled the country’s elite and — when it came to her harsh criticism of India’s treatment of Kashmir — even earned her a sedition charge.

“I get into so much trouble so many times and I keep promising myself I won’t write another (essay),” she explains. “But it comes from a place where just keeping quiet just doesn’t seem to be an option.”

Her essays, she says, are written with a “kind of pacy restlessness.”

But the new novel afforded her an opportunity to write more cautiously and slowly.

“When I write fiction I’m the exact opposite. I’m just completely relaxed, completely take my time.”

Started some 10 years ago, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness absorbs many of the leftist political subjects she has written about, forming “part of the foundation” of the book.

Copies of Arundhati Roy’s novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness are stacked up at a book store in New Delhi. — AFP

Among the vast cast are Maoist guerrillas and Hindu nationalist mobs, a transgender community struggling against poverty and prejudice in Old Delhi and a love story set against the backdrop of the Kashmir’s long-simmering insurgency.

‘CONSTRUCTED CHAOS’
Compared to her widely acclaimed debut, the reviews for her belated follow-up are more mixed, with some saying the work is long and chaotic.

It is a criticism Roy partially accepts, but brushes off.

“I know a lot of people describe it as chaos, but that chaos is constructed,” she explains.

She expects her readers to spend time exploring the new book.

“It’s looking at the story as though it’s a big city like Delhi,” she says. “You can’t really just read The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, you have to get to know it, like you get to know a city: walk through big roads, small roads, courtyards, barren places.”

Politics comes fairly easily to Roy, but fiction less so.

“It took me a lot of time to recover from The God of Small Things,” she admits. “Not just because of the worldly success, but to write something that I dredged up from some place that was quite deep.”

It is unlikely she will shelve her polemical pen anytime soon.

Roy says under the stewardship of Hindu nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi, India is at its most polarized place in years.

She reels off a list of ills, from protesters recently blinded by police shotgun pellets in Kashmir, to the ongoing prejudice against India’s “untouchable” castes and rising fundamentalism.

“There are mobs running around wanting to burn down cinema halls, there are mobs of huge mustachioed men celebrating sati,” she fumes, referencing the historical but extinct tradition where a widow would throw herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre.

Critics of Roy’s essays say they can be hysterical and narcissistic. But Roy is unrepentant, seeing herself as a much needed canary in the coal mine.

“It can’t go on like this,” she warns. “Something will arise either out of complete destruction or some kind of revolution. But it can’t go on like this.” — AFP

Schroder’s faux pas

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

For all the ink Isaiah Thomas received in returning to the court after a seven-month absence, the National Basketball Association matches on tap the other day were largely forgettable. For longtime followers of the pro scene, it’s telling that only a set-to between two lottery-bound teams saved the schedule from being a total laugher, with the outcome in doubt until the very last second. And the Suns won in grand fashion, overcoming a 12-point Hawks lead with four minutes and change left in the contest to protect home court by the slimmest of margins.

That said, the match truly stood out for one thing: the questionable decision by Dennis Schroder to go for two points in the Hawks’ last offensive set even though they were down by three. Ignorance couldn’t have been the excuse; he knew there were only six and a half ticks remaining on the clock, which was why he let the leather roll near quartercourt off an inbounds pass following two made free throws by the Suns’ Devin Booker. Judging from the way he sprinted to the basket after picking the ball up, however, a trey wasn’t in his mind at all. Never mind that those around him were ready to take the pass and launch from beyond the arc.

Not surprisingly, Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer was livid in the aftermath. He didn’t have any timeouts left to call, so he had to rely on Schroder to exercise good judgment — as expected of all points guards — in order to devise, on the fly, a play that would send the contest to overtime. As things turned out, all the play did was get them close. And for fans, his bizarre decision is further highlighted by his teammates’ incredulous looks at the buzzer.

Brain farts are, admittedly, nothing new in the NBA. In fact, they occur more often than conventional wisdom would dare admit; due to a variety of reasons that include pressure and fatigue, even the best of the best fall prey to lapses in judgment. Nonetheless, Schroder’s misstep was startling and pronounced, its modest effect on league standings aside. The Hawks could have further built on the momentum of three victories in their last four outings; instead, they absorbed disappointment.

If there is any silver lining, it’s that the setback managed to cement the Hawks’ bottom-of-the-barrel position, which should augur well for them come the 2018 draft on the assumption that they continue their losing ways. Considering Schroder’s faux pas, it’s safe to say they will.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

Women suing Google for pay disparity narrow proposed class

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

WOMEN suing Google, Inc. of systemically paying male employees more than their female counterparts added a plaintiff and narrowed the definition of the proposed class in an amended lawsuit filed Wednesday.

• San Francisco Superior Court Judge Mary E. Wiss dismissed the lawsuit last month, saying the proposed class, covering “all women employed by Google in California,” was too broad. The judge allowed the women to file an amended complaint

• The lawsuit claims that Google pays women less for equal or similar work and puts women on career paths with lower pay ceilings

• The amended complaint defines the class as women in more than 2 dozen specific job titles including software engineer, project manager and sales representative

• The complaint adds Heidi Lamar as a named plaintiff, who was employed by Google as a preschool teacher at Google’s Children Center from about July 2013 to August 2017

• She joins Kelly Ellis, who worked for Google from 2010 to 2014; Holly Pease, who performed a variety of managerial roles at two Google offices from 2005 to 2016; and Kelli Wisuri, worked as a sales communications specialist and “brand evangelist” from 2012 to 2015

• A copy of the amended complaint was obtained by Bloomberg News and couldn’t immediately be verified in the docket The case is Ellis v. Google, Inc., CGC-17-561299, Superior Court, San Francisco County, California — Bloomberg

Some like it hot

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

Foreign buying of local stocks is considered a sort of anomaly. Smart money is supposed to stay in its more developed home country, especially when the global stock rally is led by the first world. Why would they come to a volatile market such as ours? Well, emerging markets do have their appeal. Are these funds just parked and looking for a permanent place? Is the rally they engender meant to be short-lived?

Economists designate the temporary flow of outside funds as “hot money.” As in the movie with Tony Curtis regarding fugitives and gender benders, some investors like it hot.

“Hot money” is defined as fund flows from outside that seek temporary havens in search of high returns in the short run. Economic planners are uncomfortable with these motel-like guests that check in using probably fictitious names, do their thing, and then check out without staying for the breakfast buffet.

The ease with which such funds enter and exit the local bourse causes concern as they tend to inflate currency and stock values only to let them fall back in a hard crash when other investment opportunities beckon elsewhere. Critics of hot money liken such portfolio investors to those dealing with the oldest profession (after landscape architecture). The metaphors can get mixed. It is after all the customer looking for fleeting pleasure and not the host providing the opportunity that describes the so-called hot money. The heat (or friction, in this case the lack of it) in this economic application is provided by the customer. Hot money should not invite comparison then to temporary partnerships, but to parking space.

The term “hot” has overtones of desire. The expression, “having the hots” for somebody, uses the word in its slang meaning of physical, in this case fiscal, attraction. As in all things hot, the interest, as well as the interest rate, is short term. Portfolio investments can make money for the investor. But do they create jobs outside of the researchers that push certain stocks and fund managers that make money (or lose it) for their clients?

The critics of hot money prefer the longer staying funds invested in factories, call centers, manufacturing, casinos, and resort hotels. These are not really called “cool” money. Economists refer to this type of funds more drily as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). These amounts are used more handily to gauge the attractiveness of a country as an economic “hot spot,” though not in the sense of a troubled place that attracts foreign correspondents and travel advisories.

In the matter of FDIs, the November 2017 ASEAN Business and Investment Summit held in Manila, cites the Philippines as having registered the highest increase of 41.6%, from $5.6B in 2015 to $7.9B in 2016. The other gainers after the Philippines were Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Vietnam. This metric seems to be considered more reliable in terms of designating a hot economy.

The difference between hot money in local stocks and bonds, and finds going to FDIs can be likened to a tryst for the former and a long engagement (even marriage) for the latter. As one will note, the two need not be mutually exclusive. A date, even a hot one, can sometimes lead to a more permanent arrangement. Thus, hot money may be the introduction to a longer type of romance, beyond mere fleeting fascination in the economic sense.

There’s nothing wrong with designating certain economies, like we seem to be at this time, as “sexy.” The imagery of having some fiscal appeal may be a passing thing that generates enough allure to attract hot money. Is that so bad?

Achieving investment grade status, and even improving it, is apt to turn the once hot tomato into a respectable date. She can be introduced to the staid investors taking care of the retirement fund of public school teachers and municipal workers.

There is also a “ripple effect” when the country somehow gets into the radar screen of first world investors. The foreign interest goes beyond the stock portfolio and spills over to Philippine art auctions as well as local tourist destinations. The slogan then for the tourist industry of it being more fun here can be heated up — it’s hotter in the Philippines. And we’re not talking about the weather or the traffic.

Like the meteoric rise of a rock star attracting adoring crowds, an economy too can be hot… until it’s not.

A. R. Samson is chair and CEO of Touch DDB.

ar.samson@yahoo.com

China ride-hailer Didi buys Brazil’s 99 Taxis

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

BEIJING — Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing said on Thursday it had bought Brazil’s 99 Taxis, opening another front in the Beijing-based company’s global battle with Uber.

Didi, which claims to be the world’s leading mobile transportation platform with more than 450 million users, had become a strategic investor in 99 Taxis last January.

It now will acquire the company outright along with its 14 million registered users in Brazil as it pushes into the growing Latin American car-share market.

“Globalization is a top strategic priority for Didi,” founder and CEO Cheng Wei said in a statement, adding the company would continue to seek “diversified international operations and partnerships.”

Didi said it has now entered into partnerships with seven “major international players” serving more than 1,000 cities worldwide, including Southeast Asia’s Grab and US-based Lyft.

Didi and Uber have been waging a global turf war since Didi bought the US-based company’s China operations last year.

The statement from Didi called the 99 Taxis acquisition a “significant step next step of Didi’s global strategy.”

Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are Uber’s top two busiest cities in the world as ranked by the number of trips that take place there, Bloomberg News reported.

Didi last year became Asia’s most valuable start-up company.

Two weeks ago it announced an additional $4 billion was raised in a new funding round. Investors included Japanese telecoms giant Softbank and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital, sources close to the matter told AFP at the time.

The sources said the latest round raises Didi’s valuation to $56 billion.

The investment will be used to fuel Didi’s global expansion and support new developments in artificial intelligence and new-energy vehicles, the company said.

Didi claims to handle up to 25 million rides per day. — AFP

Your Weekend Guide (January 5, 2018)

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

Feng Shui Convention

INTERNATIONAL feng shui expert Marites Allen will look at what the Year of the Dog holds at the 13^th Philippine Feng Shui Convention at Marco Polo Ortigas Manila on Jan. 6, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For information and tickets, call 0920-950-9390, 818-8858, or e-mail ilovefrigga@yahoo.com and maritesallenevents@gmail.com. This event is strictly for ticketed participants only.

SF9

SF9 fan meet

KOREAN boy band SF9 will hold a fan meeting called 2018 SF9 Be My Fantasy in Manila at The Theatre of Solaire Resorts and Casino on Jan. 6. This is the nine-member group’s first visit to the country. Presented by EMI Philippines, tickets are available at TicketWorld at P5,500 for VIP and P3,000 for Premium tickets. For inquiries, visit www.ticketworld.com.ph.

Lion King auditions

THE producers of the international touring production of The Lion King will be holding open call auditions to find a child actor to play the role of Young Simba. They are looking for a children ages nine to 12, no taller than 147 cms., a natural actor/singer who is able to move well to play the role of a male lion cub. According to the call, they are looking for “kids with personality.” The auditions will be held on Jan. 6, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. (registration closes at 4 p.m.), at Philippine Opera Haus, 3657 Bautista St., Barangay Palanan, Makati City. The aspiring actor must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, and bring with them a 3-R sized headshot, a birth certificate, and be prepared to fill out a registration form.

They have to be ready to sing the last verse of the musical’s song “Just Can’t Wait to be King.” For details, call the Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group at 0917-838-1534, 0995-985-9718, 0945-338-6126 or e-mail lionkingmanila@atlantistheatrical.com.

Local shares inch up to fresh peak despite selling

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

By Krista A.M. Montealegre,
National Correspondent

LOCAL STOCKS scored another record high on Thursday despite facing selling pressure in early trade, with analysts suggesting that the equities market may be headed for a breather after rallying at the start of the year.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up 15.70 points or 0.18% to end at a fresh all-time high of 8,739.83, marking the fourth consecutive session that the index registered new peaks.

The wider all-shares index added 5.10 points or 0.10% to finish at 5,059.75.

“The market was marginally up. It was a sideways market because some people are taking money off the table,” Miko A. Sayo, trader at AP Securities, said in an interview.

“What we are seeing right now is investors are positioning for bellwether stocks expected to outperform the market this year,” Lexter L. Azurin, senior equity analyst at AB Capital Securities, Inc., said in a separate interview.

Sy-led SM Investments Corp. and SM Prime Holdings, Inc. as well as Ty-owned GT Capital Holdings, Inc. and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. were the biggest index movers, Mr. Azurin said, noting that these stocks are expected to benefit from the comprehensive tax reform program.

SM gained 0.96% to P1,050 each and SM Prime rose 1.94% to P39.50 apiece, while GT Capital surged 2.40% to P1,324 per share and Metrobank jumped 2.20% to P106.90 each.

“The market is quite optimistic about the prospects this year following the passage of the tax reform program, which is the very essence of the infrastructure push of the government. This means we are moving forward,” Mr. Azurin said.

Asian markets finished higher, tracking the record performance of major indexes in Wall Street and increase in crude oil prices to their highest level since December 2014.

Back home, holding firms advanced 60.62 points or 0.68% to 8,931.01; financials climbed 11.34 points or 0.50% to 2,251.98; and industrials went up 44.91 points or 0.39% to 11,344.29.

Meanwhile, services lost 18.37 points or 1.12% to 1,618.41; mining and oil fell 69.53 points or 0.59% to 11,529.27; and property shed 14.26 points or 0.35% to 4,054.24.

Value turnover accelerated to P9.17 billion from P7.29 billion on Wednesday, as 1.03 billion shares changed hands.

Market breadth was negative as decliners dominated advancers, 121 to 86, while 47 issues closed flat.

Net foreign selling stood at P509.95 million on Thursday, ending six straight sessions of net foreign buying.

“We’re obviously very bullish, but we are in overbought levels so we might consolidate for now,” AP Securities’ Mr. Sayo said, penciling in support at the 8,500 to 8,600 band.

North Korea keeps sneaking in oil with secret ship-to-ship transfers

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

SINGAPORE — Donald J. Trump’s desire to squeeze Kim Jong Un’s regime risks being undermined by the furtive maneuvers of oil tankers at sea.

The enforcement of international measures limiting sales to North Korea — part of an effort to force Mr. Kim to abandon nuclear weapons — is becoming near impossible because suppliers of illicit fuel are using an old oil-trading practice that helps obscure its origin and destination.

Ship-to-ship transfers (STS), when cargoes are pumped from one tanker to another in the ocean, are legal and typically used to break up large oil shipments into parcels on smaller vessels. But they can also be used as a trick that makes it difficult to track supplies, and have been barred by the United Nations for sales to North Korea.

And even if the tankers can be identified, seized and inspected, culprits are hidden under layers of ownership. A controversy that erupted last week over a shipment of fuel to the rogue nation has so far entangled the world’s third-biggest independent oil trader, a Hong Kong-based commodity company and mysterious shipping firms in Taiwan and the Marshall Islands. South Korean authorities have failed to identify the perpetrator and on Thursday said they are still investing who owned the cargo.

“These STS transfers can happen 200 nautical miles or more out at sea, as long as conditions are calm, where no one’s looking,” said Rahul Kapoor, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence in Singapore. “It’s very easy to black out a ship and hide it.”

All ocean-going ships are equipped with a beacon that broadcasts their location around the world, so if a vessel tried to directly load or discharge oil in a sanctioned country, it could be identified. To get around that, two tankers can turn off their transmitters, known as the automatic identification system, rendezvous in secret and transfer the cargo, masking the true origin and destination of the shipment.

A vessel, the Lighthouse Winmore, is said to have transferred 600 tons — about 4,000 barrels — to a North Korean vessel, the Sam Jong 2, on Oct. 19.

Ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed Lighthouse Winmore making trips between Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Yeosu in South Korea during September and October.

The vessel data, which are broadcast by ships voluntarily and cannot be independently verified, showed it south of Yeosu, with its destination listed as Taichung, Taiwan, on Oct. 15. The ship stopped reporting its location for the next 10 days, virtually disappearing during the period of the alleged transfer. The next transmission was Oct. 25, further to the south near Jeju Island.

While STS transfers are an integral part of the oil and fuel-trading business, “when in the wrong hands, this everyday operation can be misused,” said Den Syahril, an analyst at industry consultant FGE in Singapore. “During past sanctions, there’s a possibility that ships with Iranian fuel turned off their trackers and conducted these operations in the Middle East gulf, only to have the cargo labeled as Middle East origin afterwards.”

CONTROVERSIAL TRADES
Now that the practice is in the spotlight, it may become harder to get away with it. Reports that US satellites have been capturing Chinese ships transferring fuel to North Korean vessels could deter perpetrators while major oil trading companies may take additional precautions not to be involved in the controversial transactions.

On Tuesday, South Korea’s foreign ministry said Trafigura Group owned the Lighthouse Winmore cargo and authorities were investigating whether it ordered the transfer to North Korea. Within a few hours, the trading house denied it was involved in the illicit transaction, saying it neither owns nor chartered the ship.

Trafigura added that it originally sold the cargo to Hong Kong-based Global Commodities Consultants Ltd. (GCC), which in turn said it sold the shipment to another company called Oceanic Enterprise Ltd. Both Trafigura and GCC said their contracts stipulated that any resale of the supply must abide by international sanctions.

No contact information was immediately available for Oceanic Enterprise. South Korea identified Lighthouse Winmore’s charterer as Taiwan-based Billions Bunker Group. The company is incorporated in the Marshall Islands, according to Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau.

Taiwan is investigating if the head of Kao Yang Fishery Co. has any connection with the Lighthouse Winmore, according to a Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office statement on Jan. 3. Kao Yang allegedly sold oil products in international waters instead of Hong Kong, which was identified in export declaration as its destination, according to the statement.

“Trading houses have full teams that are involved in risk management,” said Bloomberg Intelligence’s Mr. Kapoor. “Ideally, these teams will screen through counterparties, and it’s unlikely that they’ll dabble in a one-off illegitimate dealing for a small profit as there’s so much risk to reputation involved.”

China refused to designate Lighthouse Winmore and Sam Jong 2, among other ships, as sanctions violators in a disagreement with the US, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. While American officials shared with the UN declassified intelligence reports that they said supported Washington’s position that 10 vessels be formally declared as breaching measures, China successfully got the list whittled down to just four tankers, the newspaper said, citing unidentified diplomats.

US President Trump last week tweeted: “Caught RED HANDED — very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!”

SPY SATELLITES
American spy satellites had observed Chinese vessels allegedly transferring oil to North Korean ships in the sea between the two countries about 30 times since October, Seoul-based newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported Dec. 26, citing unidentified South Korean government officials. China has denied the reports.

The vast majority of ship-to-ship transfers are legal. Most of them take place in the US Gulf of Mexico, where the practice is also known as lightering. It’s cheaper to ship oil on larger vessels, so oil traders tend to book the biggest vessel they can find for long haul journeys such as from Saudi Arabia to Texas.

US ports aren’t deep enough to handle the massive tankers, so they stop a few miles from shore and parcel out the oil to smaller ships that are able to dock. The transfers are common enough that most merchant seamen can do them, said Mr. Kapoor, who spent five years working on an oil tanker.

But “even with mounting international sanctions on countries such as North Korea, these operations are often attempted as a way to get around them,” FGE’s Mr. Den said. — Bloomberg

Golden FINEX rising

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

1968 was the year that changed the world, according to Time magazine. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy were assassinated. A youth rebellion paralyzed France and students took over Columbia University in New York. Czechoslovakia tasted freedom for a brief moment in the Prague Spring; Mexico City hosted the Olympics; and the Tet Offensive became the turning point of the Vietnam War.

“It was the year of sex and drugs and rock and roll,” wrote American journalist Mark Kurlansky in his book titled 1968: The Year that Rocked the World. Baby boomers remember it as the most revolutionary year in the second half of the 20^th century. Mr. Kurlansky further said: “1968 was the epicenter of a shift, of a fundamental change, the birth of our postmodern media-driven world.”

In the Philippines, then President Ferdinand Marcos announced plans to seek reelection, while Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. exposed the Jabidah Massacre. Congress passed a bill calling for the annexation of Sabah, prompting Kuala Lumpur to suspend diplomatic relations with Manila. First Lady Imelda Marcos started building her pet project, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and Senator Sergio Osmeña, Jr. challenged her husband for the presidency.

Meanwhile, a group of young accountants and controllers led by Arsenic Vistro formed the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX). The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the corporate registration of FINEX on Jan. 15, 1968 with 12 incorporators, including Mr. Vistro who was elected Charter President. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Fast forward to 2018. FINEX will hold its Golden Jubilee gala night at the Rizal Ballroom of Makati Shangri-La Hotel on Jan. 15, with US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Y. Kim and Metro Pacific Group Chair Manuel V. Pangilinan as guests of honor.

2018 FINEX President Maria Victoria Españo and her board of directors will have their induction ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati City on Jan. 18, kicking off with the theme “Transform for a Sustainable Future. Today.”

Let’s hear it from Ms. Españo: “2018 heralds for us an important milestone as we celebrate 50 years of remarkable history. Led by noteworthy finance leaders, FINEX has successfully supported the development of finance professionals and helped shape the Philippine economy through the active role it has played in the consideration of reforms in financial policies, capital markets, and taxation, among others.”

The 2018 board of directors and officers have many fresh ideas for this year, expressing their confidence that they will continue to deal with the ever-changing market, technological innovations, global restructuring of policies and developmental practices — dynamic challenges in the horizon which they must mutually and collaboratively integrate into our transformation.

Ten years ago, when FINEX marked its 40th anniversary, we came up with a fearless forecast for the premier finance organization in 2018:

• CFOs transforming into CEOs would be the predominant career path among FINEX members;

• Inter-Collegiate Finance Competition will go global with elimination rounds in five continents;

• ING-FINEX CFO of the Year Awards to expand throughout Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and Middle East;

• FINEX Outstanding Finance Educator Awards would spread to other ASEAN member states;

• A state-of-the-art tower at Bonifacio Global City to house the offices of FINEX and its affiliate foundations;

• FINEX to provide a steady stream of officials in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Finance, Bureau of the Treasury, and other government financial institutions;

• Advocacies on good governance, corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, and environmental planning will be given greater emphasis.

Some of these predictions have come true, while several have remained wishful thinking. However, with capable leaders and dedicated members charting the course of FINEX in the long term, we foresee the fulfillment of the incoming board’s dream that “we shall achieve beyond what we had in our first 50 years.”

J. Albert Gamboa is Chief Financial Officer of the Asian Center for Legal Excellence and serves as Co-Chairman of the FINEX Media Affairs Committee.

China box office posts turnaround, grows 13%

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

BEIJING — China’s movie box-office revenue rose 13.45% last year to 55.91 billion yuan ($8.59 billion), more than tripling the 2016 growth rate as foreign films won a larger share of ticket sales compared to the previous year, said the Xinhua News Agency.

Domestic films recorded ticket sales of 30.1 billion yuan in 2017, accounting for 54% of total box office, Xinhua reported on Sunday, citing data from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television. Domestic films in 2016 accounted for 58% of total box office.

China is the second-largest movie market globally after the United States, though it already has more total movie screens after years of rapid expansion in theater networks.

China added 9,597 screens last year to reach 50,776 in total, the media regulator said. That compares to just over 40,000 screens in the United States, according to data from US-based National Association of Theatre Owners.

The movie Wolf Warrior 2 was China’s highest-grossing film last year, raking in 5.68 billion yuan in ticket sales.

After disappointing box-office growth in 2016, regulators announced that all sales grosses would include service fees for each ticket purchased online. This boosted last year’s growth, although moviemakers see little of the additional revenue. — Reuters

Mindanao WESM now expected to be ready by June

January 5, 2018 | 12:01 am

THE wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) in Mindanao will not be ready earlier than June 2018, energy officials said, pointing out kinks in the proposed system changes as well as questions on the readiness of the market participants in the area.

“It’s been moved to June, second quarter,” said Mario C. Marasigan, director at the Department of Energy’s (DoE) electric power industry management bureau.

The DoE launched WESM in Mindanao in June 2017 although it never became fully operational.

DoE Undersecretary Felix Wiliam B. Fuentebella said electricity trading in Mindanao may come even as late as October 2018 because of technical glitches.

He said the department has conducted several public consultations, together with Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), which runs WESM in Luzon and the Visayas.

WESM is the centralized venue for buyers and sellers to trade electricity as a commodity where prices are based on actual use, or demand, and availability, or supply.

“We are nearing that joint endorsement. We are finalizing everything. We gave a deadline, Dec. 22, for the comments. So we’re finalizing the circular, then we will present it to the board,” Mr. Fuentebella said.

WESM started commercial operations in Luzon in June 2006 and in the Visayas in December of 2010. The DoE previously said that the intricacies of the Mindanao power industry delayed the establishment of WESM on the southern island.

The Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001, the law that restructured the Philippine energy sector, mandated the DoE to put up WESM as a venue for trading electricity as a commodity.

WESM Mindanao will be operated by the PEMC, a nonstock, nonprofit corporation which also operates the Luzon and Visayas WESMs. — Victor V. Saulon

1...12,71012,71112,712...13,730 Page 12,711 of 13,730