Overview of this blog

Listed Malaysian Companies:

AirAsia and AirAsia X good entrepreneurship, but unfortunately too many CG issues
Astro one of the many listed/delisted/relisted cases in Malaysia
Bina Puri admitted in court its intention to bribery, very worrisome
BRDB controversial related party transaction
Bursa Malaysia both regulator and listed company, common in many countries, but something that should have been avoided
China Stationery too many red flags
Ekran and the highly controversial RPT which has never been settled
Hong Leong Capital controversial General Offer
IOI Corp and IOI Prop controversial delisting and relisting
KL Kepong implicated in a story by Bloomberg
Kwantas damaging court case (subsidiary trying to defraud a bank in China)
London Biscuits accounting issues
LTKM chairman missing in action
Maemode went under as predicted by blogger "Ze Moola", but nobody took notion
MAS accumulated losses of more than RM 8 Billion
Masterskill after IPO business and share price only going South
MaxBiz too many red flags to count
Maxwell China listed company doing a puzzling acquisition
Maybulk in the midst of the global recession acquiring part of POSH for a very high price in a RPT
Metronic Global huge receivables from related party since its IPO
MISC controversial (aborted) GO by PETRONAS
MMC highly controversial RPT
MUI conglomerate falling on hard times
PMCorp issue from the past: "horrible deal from the past"
PMI unsuccessful take over offer for only 4.5 cent per share
Protasco possible oil & gas acquisition in Indonesia, no transparency and too many red flags to count
Proton and DRB-Hicom privatisation and possible insider trading
Puncak Niaga many CG issues
Ranhill Energy failed to list due to failure to disclose material information
Sersol projections are no projections, dilution is very real
Silverbird horrific losses and possible fraud
Sime Darby controversial take over of part of E&O
Sona Petroleum speculation about an acquisition
SP Setia controversial GO by PNB, huge dilution through PP and ESOS
Transmile fraud and convictions
Xian Leng lots of irregularities but still no action taken
YTL Cement controversial delisting

Malaysian Issues:

1MDB controversial state fund with a lack of transparency
Asian crisis (1997/98) once in a generation, economic crisis of a horrific size for the countries involved
Blast from the Past older issues
Budget Deficit Malaysia is scoring its 17th budget deficit in a row, aiming for the top spot in the global Guinness Book of Records
CG Blueprint and some feedback
China listed companies, Bursa continues to list them, despite accounting issues and warnings
Conflict of Interest should be avoided, but quite common, often when politics and business mix
Class Action Suits are not possible in the Malaysian context, they are very much needed to level the playing field
Delisting under the threat of holding unlisted shares, low offers are often accepted
Enforcement (and, unfortunately, often the lack of it)
Financial Engineering more and more common all over the world, including Malaysia, but has it done any good for minority investors? I strongly doubt it.
Genneva controversial gold trading scheme
GINI measurement of income inequality, Malaysia has one of the worst ratings of Asia
GLF (Government Linked Funds) like PNB, Khazanah and EPF, huge funds who should have played a much larger role in shareholder activism in Malaysia
High Frequency Trading not offering any economic benefit, some traders benefit at the expense of the normal investors
Independent Directors chosen and voted in by majority shareholders, so what is so independent?
Independent Reports often very biased, luckily improved recently
Inflation is understated in Malaysia, and thus is growth (corrected for inflation) overstated
Insider Trading frequent, but little enforcement in Malaysia
Mixing politics with business
MSWG has increased awareness for shareholder activism in Malaysia
Not fair but reasonable rather remarkable advice often used in independent advice for offers
Power Distance Index Malaysia has the highest Power Distance Index in the world, which (partly) explains little whistle blowing activity, lack of enforcement on VIPs and high corruption
Private Placements most often bad (dilutive) for minority shareholders
Relisting delisted at a low price, relisted at a high price, for the benefit of the majority shareholders
Securities Commission has recently increased enforcement, but from a very low base, and still lacking towards VIPs
Shareholder Activism almost non-existent in Malaysia, but recently increasing
SJ Asset Management fraud through an asset manager, still unresolved
SPAC IPO of a company with no history and assets, they are very good for the insiders, but are they any good for the minority investors? I have my doubts
RPT (Related Party Transactions) too good for insiders, not good for minority investors, unfortunately quite common in Malaysia
Warrant holders: while shareholders often get a lousy deal at privatisations ("unfair" in the majority of cases) warrant holders get an even worse deal
Ze Moola writer of a huge amount of critical blog postings on Malaysian companies

International Issues:

Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
David Webb prolific CG activist in Hong Kong
Gold and Miners
Long Term Investing and the beauty of compounded returns
Marc Faber, writer of the famous "The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report"
Short sellers targeting companies with accounting issues, like Anonymus Analytics, James Chanos, Muddy Waters, Citron Research and Glaucus Research