Goldman Sachs Group Inc provides the least independent stock research among investment banks in Asia, according to Asiamoney magazine's annual poll of fund managers.
Asiamoney asked 915 fund managers and analysts to cast their votes on research brokerages in Asia. CLSA Ltd was voted the most independent, followed by UBS Warburg.
The 10 biggest US securities firms, including Goldman and UBS Warburg, are in talks to resolve conflict-of-interest probes by regulators that have pummeled their shares. The firms agreed to pay as much as US$1 billion to fund independent research for their customers to help resolve allegations their stock analysis is compromised by banking ties.
"Anybody who does corporate finance and research is tainted," said Enzio Von Pfeil, a former banker with SG Warburg Securities and now chief executive of Commercial Economics Asia Ltd, an independent researcher in Hong Kong. "Goldman's well-known as a corporate finance house."
Goldman is the biggest arranger of share sales in Asia outside Japan this year, Bloomberg data shows.
"Our research is of the highest quality and integrity," said Edward Naylor, Goldman's spokesman in Hong Kong.
Morgan Stanley and Salomon Smith Barney Inc. were voted the next least independent research brokerages in the Asiamoney poll.
Salomon is the No. 2 arranger of Asian share sales this year.
Asiamoney, part of Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc, asked respondents to fill in a 16-page questionnaire, which included suggesting ``the least independent research brokerage.'' The cut off date for the survey was Aug. 31.
In other awards, UBS was voted the top research brokerage in Asia, repeating last year's performance. The Swiss-based bank's analysts won nine out of 12 country research categories, including those for Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan.
"To have cemented our number one position and extended our lead so convincingly at a time when, around the world, the brokerage industry is undergoing intense scrutiny is an excellent result," said Brad Orgill, Head of Asia Pacific Equities at UBS in Hong Kong.
Christopher Wood, who joined CLSA from ABN Amro Holding NV at the beginning of the year, beat BNP Paribas Peregrine's Raymond Foo and Salomon's Ajay Kapur to win the best regional strategist award.
Jim Walker, also of CLSA, the Asian investment-banking unit of Credit Lyonnais SA, won the top regional economist award, beating Morgan Stanley's Andy Xie into second. Deutsche Bank AG's Viktor Shvets ranked ahead of UBS's Dylan Tinker as the top telecommunications researcher. UBS's Timothy Ross held his position as the top transport analyst.
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS