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Millennials spend $28M on Simpsons-inspired art

MILLENNIALS snapped up $28 million worth of art inspired by the Simpsons television show, along with skateboarding shoes and cans of spray paint at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong as a new generation of collectors comes of age.

“The auction room suddenly got a lot hipper, with all these cool millennial buyers in hoodies,” said Edie Hu, art advisory specialist at Citi Private Bank in Hong Kong. “Their tastes are very different from their parents, and Sotheby’s is tapping into that.”

The highlight of the 33-lot auction of items belonging to Japanese fashion designer Nigo was a painting by Brooklyn street artist KAWS based on the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album but populated with Simpsons characters. It sold to an unidentified buyer for $14.8 million including fees, a record for the artist and about 15 times the estimate.

A young Chinese buyer with a short back and sides haircut, who was wearing a green army camouflage jacket, shelled out $2.6 million for another KAWS piece called UNTITLED (KIMPSONS #3). The work depicts the Simpson family sprawled unconscious on their couch, with the artist’s signature crosses for eyes.

“I am not surprised by the demand, but I am surprised by the final number,” said Max Dolgicer, a New York collector who’s been buying the artist’s work for seven years. “It’s a very fast-moving market.”

In November, another painting by KAWS, whose real name is Brian Donnelly, sold for a then-record $3.5 million. Last week, a 37-meter-long inflatable version of his signature character, called Companion, floated on its back in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor during the Art Basel Hong Kong art fair.

Other items at the auction included two pairs of sneakers designed by KAWS for Nigo’s A Bathing Ape (Bape) line of clothing that fetched $16,000, and an 18.5-inch high KAWS figure based on the Japanese manga character Astro Boy, which sold for $303,000. — Bloomberg

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group hunts to acquire more overseas asset managers

MITSUBISHI UFJ Financial Group Inc. is seeking fresh opportunities to buy asset managers following last year’s $2.9-billion Australia deal, as Japan’s biggest bank tries to make up for grim prospects at its domestic lending business.

“We said we would like to spend about 1 trillion yen ($9 billion) two years ago, and we haven’t spent that much yet,” new Chief Executive Officer Kanetsugu Mike, 62, said in an interview.

He said the bank will also consider purchasing asset finance portfolios if opportunities arise that are similar to DZ Bank’s aviation unit, which MUFG agreed to buy last month.

MUFG has been the most aggressive Japanese lender in snapping up overseas assets, as it diversifies business and expands in markets such as Southeast Asia to counter rock-bottom interest rates at home.

The bank last October agreed to buy Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s global asset management arm for A$4.13 billion ($2.9 billion), its largest deal in that industry.

MUFG’s aspirations to purchase asset managers were earlier revealed by trust banking unit chief Mikio Ikegaya in a 2017 interview.

The lender has said it wants to expand assets under management to about 100 trillion yen, up from about 82 trillion yen including the CBA unit, known as Colonial First State Global Asset Management.

At the same time, Mike, who succeeded Nobuyuki Hirano as CEO on April 1, said MUFG doesn’t see the need for further large-scale deals targeting commercial lenders, pointing out that deals in Southeast Asia in recent years are sufficient. It bought Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya Pcl in 2013 and is now in the process of acquiring more than 70% in PT Bank Danamon Indonesia.

In its three-year business plan ending in March 2021, the bank said it will boost the profitability of its lending portfolio by expanding in areas such as leveraged, acquisition and aviation finance, while disposing of low-return assets.

It has offloaded stakes in UK investment firm Standard Life Aberdeen Plc and Brazil’s Banco Bradesco SA in recent months.

“We need to reshuffle our portfolio to take on more profitable assets,” said Mike, who became head of MUFG’s core banking unit in 2017. “Our overseas businesses have grown significantly in the past decade but we have to make them leaner.”

BOLSTERING COMPLIANCE
Mike also signaled that he will strengthen the bank’s compliance team to keep up with global regulatory requirements. “We’ve made a lot of progress, but there remain parts we need to bolster,” he said, when asked whether the lender plans to hire more compliance staff.

As a result of its overseas expansion, MUFG has faced increasing scrutiny by authorities, especially in the US. In February, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ordered it to fix deficiencies in its adherence to anti-money laundering and bank secrecy rules at its US branches.

The OCC has supervised MUFG since the bank switched oversight from the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) in November 2017. The DFS objected to that move, saying it was made unlawfully to pursue “regulatory arbitrage.”

MUFG, which has maintained that it made the switch to consolidate its US operations under one Federal agency, has sued the New York regulator to prevent it from conducting further supervision.

To better deal with US authorities, MUFG shifted its global headquarters for financial crimes compliance to New York from Tokyo in 2017, giving it better access to the market for personnel with relevant experience and expertise. The Global Financial Crimes Division has a staff of about 1,000.

Efforts to improve compliance are costly. The bank expects regulatory expenses will grow by 35 billion yen in the three years to March 2021.

But Mike, who spent about half of his four-decade career at the bank outside Japan, said such spending is a must, adding that the number of compliance officers at MUFG isn’t particularly large compared with those at other global financial institutions. — Bloomberg

Hybrid power plant in Puerto Princesa to be completed by May

LISTED energy company Vivant Corp. and its consortium partners said on Tuesday that they target to complete next month the construction of a hybrid mini-grid system that will generate up to 2.6 megawatt-peak (MWp) in an off-grid area in Palawan.

The consortium Sabang Renewable Energy Corp. (SREC) is putting up a hybrid power plant, which combines solar panels and diesel engines, and operate an electricity distribution system within a tourist destination in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

“We are not merely installing four diesel engines and a 1.4-MWp solar energy system. We’ve been building our own grid from the ground up, and erecting electrical poles and cables spanning 14 kilometers since April 2018,” said SREC Chairman Emil Andre M. Garcia in a statement.

SREC is a consortium comprised of Vivant Corp. unit Vivant Energy Corp., Gigawatt Power, Inc. and WEnergy Global Pte. Ltd.

Under optimal conditions, SREC said the hybrid plant will generate as much as 2.6 MWp once completed. This will allow the mini-grid to provide power to around 10 public buildings, 18 small businesses, 19 hotels and restaurants, and 583 households, it added.

“Due to high costs and lack of infrastructure, a number of remote rural areas in the country still have no electricity. Some of these areas rely on generators that are harmful to the environment and expensive in the long run,” the consortium said.

“Sitio Sabang in Barangay Cabayugan, where the Puerto Princesa Subterranean National Park is located, is one of these areas,” it added.

SREC said it is set to complete the construction of its hybrid mini-grid system in May 2019. The system will provide stable, reliable and renewable energy that will power further growth in Cabayugan, it said.

Mr. Garcia, who is also a member of the Vivant Corp. board, said by combining solar panels and diesel-fueled power generation, SREC would save the environment from more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

“We want to provide Sitio Sabang and Barangay Cabayugan with reliable electricity 24/7 at the most competitive rate possible,” he said. — Victor V. Saulon

Florence study proves artist Leonardo da Vinci was ambidextrous

FLORENCE, Italy — An in-depth study of Leonardo da Vinci’s earliest-known drawing has proved that the great Renaissance artist was ambidextrous, Italy’s Uffizi Gallery said on Monday.

The scientific and technological analysis also revealed a hidden, previously unknown landscape sketch, also by Leonardo, on the back of the original work.

“It is a real revolution in the field of Leonardo studies,” said Uffizi director, Eike Schmidt.

The findings were announced a month ahead of the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo, with museums around Europe organizing exhibitions and events to celebrate the life of the man responsible for such masterpieces as Mona Lisa.

His first-known drawing is dated Aug. 5, 1473 — when Leonardo was 21 — and shows a landscape of the Arno river valley and Montelupo Castle, just outside Florence.

Commonly known as Landscape 8P from its inventory number, the work has words on the front going from right to left, as Leonardo often used to write, which gives the date. On the back, the brief script goes from left to right, and alludes to an informal contract.

A study of the two texts confirmed they were both written by Leonardo and showed he was able to write perfectly using both his left and right hand.

“Leonardo was born left-handed, but was taught to write with his right hand from a very young age,” said art historian Cecilia Frosinini. “By looking at his writings, including from this drawing, one can see his right-handed calligraphy is educated and well done.”

Using infrared light, the art experts also discovered two different layers of drawing, both on the back and front, with an ink line covering the original charcoal trace in certain places.

Not much ink is visible on the back, but the infrared revealed that another landscape depicting a river crossed by a bridge was originally drawn there using a type of charcoal. It was not clear if the artist had rubbed the paper clean or if the charcoal had simply faded over time.

“The elements that emerged during this research open up new perspectives on the interpretation of Leonardo’s Landscape 8P and on how the artist (built) the landscape, on his technique and even on his habits and abilities in writing,” Schmidt said. — Reuters

Fed plans new regulatory regime for foreign banks

WASHINGTON — The US Federal Reserve on Monday proposed a new regulatory regime for 23 foreign banks operating in the US that could make life easier for some lenders, while tightening up rules for more risky foreign firms.

The proposal, which would affect major banks like UBS, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and HSBC, is part of a broader plan by the Fed to more closely tailor banking rules in line with firms’ risk profiles.

The proposed changes, which are subject to industry feedback, would relax the capital and stress testing requirements for the subsidiaries of foreign banks. They would, however, impose stricter liquidity rules on subsidiaries of foreign lenders that rely extensively on riskier activities like short-term funding.

The Fed also said it was soliciting input on imposing stricter liquidity requirements on foreign bank branches for the first time, although it stopped short of proposing new rules.

In addition, the central bank proposed relaxing the schedule for how frequently foreign banks and domestic banks must submit “living wills” detailing how they could be dissolved in the event of failure.

Currently, large foreign banks have to submit the plans annually, but the proposal would allow them to submit plans every two years. Smaller banks would be able to submit less detailed plans on a three-year cycle. All domestic banks would also be allowed to submit scaled down plans every two years and comprehensive plans every four years.

Overall, Monday’s proposal could reduce aggregate capital requirements for foreign banks by 0.5%, in addition to lowering compliance costs associated with stress testing, the Fed estimated.

However, changes to the liquidity rules on foreign bank subsidiaries would see aggregate liquid asset levels rise 0.5% to as much as 4%, the Fed said.

Most foreign lenders currently hold enough liquid assets to satisfy the proposed changes, but depending on a bank’s precise activity, some banks including UBS and Credit Suisse could see their overall costs rise, according to Fed officials.

The Fed board of governors voted the proposal through on Monday, although governor Lael Brainard dissented.

The proposed changes were prompted by legislation passed by Congress in May 2018 which gave the Fed discretion to ease rules for all but the nation’s largest banks.

The package aims to broadly put foreign banks on an even footing with domestic firms after the Fed last October unveiled a similar proposal tailoring rules for super-regional and other large domestic banks.

But the Fed on Monday also said foreign banks tend to engage in riskier activities than their domestic rivals, including cross-border lending and trading, and short-term wholesale funding, leading it to be tougher on firms more heavily engaged in those businesses.

Foreign banks have for years complained that they are at a regulatory disadvantage in the US and are likely to push back on an additional idea floated on Monday to impose stricter liquidity rules on the branches of foreign banks.

Unlike foreign banks’ separately capitalized subsidiaries, branches are legally part of the overseas parent and therefore not subject to the same degree of US oversight as domestic firms. That arrangement had sparked concerns that branches could become a haven for riskier assets.

Fed data shows that of foreign banks with combined assets of more than $50 billion, around 40% of all their US assets were held in branches as of June. — Reuters

Mitsubishi Philippines expects sales growth to be flat

MITSUBISHI Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) expects flat sales growth this year due to the spillover effects of the higher excise taxes, but sees some lift from the introduction of new models.

“We in Mitsubishi, we forecast the volume of total demand will be similar in last year. We expect to recover first quarter next year,” MMPC President and CEO Mutushiro Oshikira said Monday in Makati City during a press briefing.

The forecast is more conservative compared to Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. and Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc. which expect a recovery in sales this year.

However, Mr. Oshikira is still hoping for “slight growth,” banking on 2019 as the first full year that the market will be tested for the Xpander and New Strada, which were released late last year.

Last year, MMPC sold 67,512 units, an 8% decline from 2017.

On Monday, MMPC celebrated hitting one million units in sales after 55 years of operations here, with the Mirage Hatchback driving the sales.

Mr. Oshikira expects MMPC to hit its second million at a much accelerated pace of 10 to 11 years on the back of the push to boost its Mirage production.

During this period, the company is also targeting to increase its market share to 20% from the current 18.89%.

For the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program, Mitsubishi said it hiked its investments to P4.7 billion, from the initial P4.3 billion, with majority of the investments allocated for its stamping shop.

Under the CARS Program, MMPC targets to produce 200,000 units within a period of six years. — Janina C. Lim

Full cast of Beautiful musical announced

ATLANTIS Theatrical Entertainment Group, which opened its 20th Anniversary Season this year with the critically acclaimed Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, has announced the full cast of its next production, the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award winning Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which continues to run on Broadway.

Joining Kayla Rivera and Nick Varricchio, who will be playing Carole King and Gerry Goffin respectively, are some of the country’s most acclaimed upcoming theatre stars. Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante, last seen on the Atlantis stage as Lauren in Kinky Boots, will play Cynthia Weil, Carole’s friend and rival. George Schulze, last seen as Earl in Waitress, will play Barry Mann. Gab Pangilinan, currently starring in Ang Huling El Bimbo, will play the lead singer of The Shirelles and Marilyn Wald. Jill Peña, who last appeared in Side Show, plays one of the Shirelles and Janelle Woods. Teetin Villanueva, who previously appeared in Waitress, will play Little Eva and one of the Shirelles. Maronne Cruz, fresh from her critically acclaimed performance as Dawn in Waitress, will be playing Betty, Carole’s childhood best friend.

Among the actors who will be playing The Drifters are; Tim Pavino, who recently played the title role in Miong; Arman Ferrer, who last appeared in Side Show; Jep Go, who recently appeared in Eto Na! Musical nAPO!; and Markus Mann, last seen as Judas in Godspell in Florida. Nelsito Gomez, who just concluded his critically acclaimed turn as Louis in Angels in America last weekend, will play a number of roles including Neil Sedaka. Rhenwyn Gabalonzo, who last appeared in Kinky Boots will play one of the Righteous Brothers. Joining them are Gabby Padilla, Dean Rosen, and Alex Reyes.

Theater veterans Jamie Wilson and Carla Guevara-Laforteza, who are currently performing in Ang Huling el Bimbo, also join the cast as Don Kirshner and Genie Klein.

With a book by Douglas McGrath, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical tells the inspiring true story of one woman’s remarkable journey from teenage songwriter to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. From the string of pop classics she wrote for the biggest acts in music, to her own life-changing, chart-busting success with Tapestry, Beautiful takes the audience back to where it all began. It features such unforgettable classics as “You’ve Got a Friend,” “One Fine Day,” “So Far Away,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “Up on the Roof,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” and “Natural Woman.” Beautiful: The Carole King Musical continues to run on Broadway and on US National Tour.

Beautiful is the second show in Atlantis’ 20th Anniversary Season, which opened with Tony Kushner’s epic Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and closes with Stephen Sondheim’s musical thriller Sweeney Todd, starring Lea Salonga and Jett Pangan.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical will run from June 14 to July 7 at the Meralco Theater, Pasig City. Tickets are now on sale at www.ticketworld.com.ph or 891-999.

Standard Chartered to pay over $1B to resolve probes

STANDARD CHARTERED is moving to resolve its US and UK probes. — COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/COBALTBLUE25

NEW YORK — London-based Standard Chartered is expected to pay slightly more than $1 billion to resolve a nearly five-year-old investigation of potential US sanctions violations tied to its banking for Iran-controlled entities in Dubai, as well as a related UK probe, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Authorities are aiming for the bank to settle on Tuesday morning, two sources said.

Standard Chartered has been operating under deferred prosecution agreements with US authorities since 2012, when it paid $667 million for illegally moving millions of dollars through the US financial system on behalf of customers in Iran, Sudan, Libya and Burma.

The agreement has been extended numerous times, the last one extended for 10 days and set to expire on Wednesday.

The expected total payout also covers a roughly $134 million penalty from Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) related to historical financial crime controls.

Standard Chartered declined to comment.

The US Department of Justice, the US Attorney’s office in Washington, the Federal Reserve, the Manhattan District Attorney and the New York Department of Financial Services all declined to comment. The FCA also declined to comment.

The latest US investigation stems in part from evidence found during a probe of French bank BNP Paribas, which paid a record $8.9 billion in penalties and pleaded guilty in 2014 to sanctions-related charges, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.

Investigators found BNP had done business with a Dubai-registered corporation that acted as a front for an Iranian entity, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters in 2014. Investigators said the company also once had an account with Standard Chartered, the person said.

Two former Standard Chartered bankers operating out of Dubai also have been under scrutiny for possible misconduct and could face criminal charges in the probe, another person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Standard Chartered said in February it had set aside $900 million related to the potential resolution of violations of US sanctions and foreign exchange trading. That sum also included the FCA penalty.

The bank settled the foreign exchange probe in February when it was fined $40 million by New York’s banking regulator for attempting to rig transactions between 2007 and 2013.

A resolution of the FCA probe is expected at the same time as the US settlements.

In its annual report, Standard Chartered said the latest US investigation is focused on the extent to which conduct and control failures allowed clients with Iranian interests to conduct transactions through the bank between 2007 and 2014. — Reuters

PhilJets joins global VIP helicopter operator group

A PHILIPPINES-BASED helicopter operator has been tapped by a global aviation organization to help boost its footprint in the Asia Pacific.

Luxaviation Helicopters Charter Alliance said in a statement on Tuesday it has added PhilJets Group to its roster of members, enabling its other members to have helicopter charter access in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We are very keen to work alongside leading regional VIP helicopter charter operators as part of the Luxaviation Helicopters Charter Alliance and are pleased to announce PhilJets as the latest addition. The concept of the Alliance is to provide a truly global service, whereby approved members can call upon each other to unlock new destinations for their clients,” Luxaviation Helicopters Chief Executive Officer Charlotte Pedersen was quoted as saying.

Besides PhilJets, the alliance also includes Switzerland-based ExecuJet Aviation Group, United States-based HeliFlite Shares LLC, Austria-based Heli Austria GmbH, France-based Azur Helicoptere, United Kingdom-based Starspeed Ltd. and Spain-based Helity Copter Airlines.

PhilJets Chairman Thierry Tea said joining Luxaviation Helicopters will provide their customers with “more value and greater access across the globe.”

“Luxaviation is one of the world’s leading business aviation companies, so we are very honored that the hard work our teams have put in to reach our high safety and service standards have been recognized in this way,” he said.

Being a part of Luxaviation Helicopters gives PhilJets the benefit of sharing practices in industry certifications, such as its 15 air operator’s certificates in Africa, Asia Pacific, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

“It is our goal to have 20 aircraft in our fleet and, by venturing into new countries in Asia, we are looking forward to working and exchanging with the other members of the Alliance and extending our charter offerings to a greater audience,” Mr. Tea added.

PhilJets is under Singapore-based Starline Global Industries Group, which also owns PhilJets Aero Services, Inc. and PhilJets Aero Charter Corp. It offers charter flights to its clients such as private individuals and multinational corporations. — Denise A. Valdez

Bohemian Rhapsody in Blue

WHO are the “Bohemians” and what is a “Rhapsody?” Find out on April 26 at the Ayala Museum as Aliw-awardee and acoustic guitar expressionist Noli Aurillo teams up with the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) to deliver a unique program featuring music by Gershwin, Dvorak, Bizet, Freddie Mercury and his band, Queen. Tickets are available at the Ayala Museum and via Ticketworld. For more information or to reserve tickets, e-mail info@manilasymphony.com or call the MSO office at 523-5712.

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Palace official expects budget to be signed before Easter break

THE PROPOSED 2019 national budget could be signed as early as this week and may not be allowed to lapse into law in its current form, according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles, who also signaled the possibility of a veto because such veto messages “happen every year.”

Mr. Nograles also said that it might be better if the period of effectivity of the 2019 budget is extended until “middle of 2020.”

“Before Holy Week, maaring mapirmahan ng Pangulo ’yan… Kasi kung lapsed into law ’yan, as is, kung anong sinubmit ng both Houses of Congress (“The President could sign the Budget bill before Holy Week…If he allows it to lapse into law as is, then the version submitted by both Houses of Congress (will be enacted)” Mr. Nograles told reporters at the Palace on Monday night.

He added: “Vini-vet na ngayon, pinag-aaralan na (We are vetting the budget) and we are hopeful that the President will sign the budget maybe this week or next week, hopefully before the Holy Week.”

The Holy Week or Easter holidays include Thursday, April 18, and Friday, April 19, though many workers typically take the week off.

Asked if there will be a veto, he said: “Every year naman may veto message naman ang Pangulo (every year there is a veto message) and that’s part of the prerogative of the President… and before he signs it kasama dyan ’yung pagvi-vet at pagfa-finalize ng veto message (the process of signing includes vetting and finalizing the veto message), so ideally, by practice, and historically, there is always a veto message.”

On the possible items that will be vetoed, he said the Cabinet has not discussed the matter.

Asked to comment on the infighting that led to the budget delays and the reenactment of the 2018 budget and what could have been done to avoid it, he said: “As far as the Executive Branch is concerned, on time naman (it was on time). In fact, the Executive gave the National Expenditure Program to Congress much, much earlier… during the State of the Nation Address.”

“It really depends on both Houses of Congress (how fast they transmit the General Appropriations Bill) to the Executive Branch.”

He added that the effectivity period of the 2019 budget needs to be extended until the middle of 2020.

“Maaring until mid of 2020 ang dapat na ma-expand ang budget na ito or maaring sa next Congress hingi ka ng joint resolution sa Congress na ito extending the effectivity of the budget. (We might ask the next Congress for a joint resolution to extend the effectivity of the 2019 budget until the middle of 2020),” he said, in order not to disrupt the key projects in the pipeline for 2020. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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