Month: October 2018

Leaders of Singapore’s only parliamentary opposition party have appealed to supporters for financial help, saying they face the risk of bankruptcy as costs mount in civil cases they are fighting.
The three officials of the Workers’ Party are being sued by two town councils controlled by the party between 2011 and 2015 for more than S$30 million (US$21.7 million) in damages. The councils say the trio failed in their fiduciary duties – claims the defendants say are unfounded….

Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim, the reformist politician to whom Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will hand power in two years, on Wednesday met with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in the latest signal both sides are conscientiously consolidating bilateral ties.
While there has been some talk that Beijing is unhappy Malaysia has been sending mixed signals over the future of billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects linked to the “Belt and Road Initiative”, Anwar’s…

The Philippines reopens its crown jewel resort island Boracay to holidaymakers on Friday, after a six-month clean up aimed at repairing the damage inflicted by years of unrestrained mass tourism.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the island closed in April for a major effort to fortify weak infrastructure and crack down on the rampant overdevelopment that had left it, what he termed, a “cesspool”.
When the government throws open the doors, Boracay will have fewer hotels…

A recent judgment by the Court of Appeal provides important guidance on the territorial jurisdiction of the UK employment tribunals, particularly on the extent of statutory whistleblower protections for workers, an expert has said.

Approximately 6,200 UK businesses have been issued with a letter advising them of their transparency obligations under modern slavery laws and warned that they risk being listed as non-compliant in the new year.

Amid a slowing economy, faltering stock markets and an ongoing trade war with the United States, Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s mastermind on economic policy, gave a high-profile interview last week with the state media to boost domestic confidence and send a positive signal to the Americans. Published by Xinhua and People’s Daily just after a rare joint pep talk given by the country’s top financial officials on the same day, the interview with Liu, a member of the powerful…

Singapore launched a government agency on Tuesday to support infrastructure projects across Asia, which need billions of dollars in funding, and make them more appealing to financial institutions and private investors.
The global financial hub’s decision to position itself as a broker for regional infrastructure investment comes as China ramps up efforts to fund and build transport and trade links in dozens of countries as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.
Flagged earlier this year,…

A Philippine court on Monday rejected a petition by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration to have his fiercest critic in the Senate arrested, in a legal setback for Duterte that the senator called a victory for democracy.
Regional Trial Court Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano denied the government’s petition to have opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV arrested after Duterte voided his 2011 amnesty for his role in past mutinies as a former navy officer. Soriano debunked Duterte…

Malaysian opposition politician Hishammuddin Hussein has offered to help the government find and repatriate Low Taek Jho, the missing financier suspected of masterminding a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The offer comes just weeks after Hishammuddin’s cousin, the former prime minister Najib Razak, was charged on multiple counts regarding the misappropriation of funds at 1MDB.
Low – popularly known as Jho Low – is wanted by…

The majority of businesses are preparing to implement contingency plans to protect themselves against the impact of a no-deal Brexit by the end of this year, new research has found.