A surge in management buyouts has come amid increasing pressure from activist investors to improve corporate value, and the burden of maintaining a listing.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 5, 2025
Japan weighs tougher management buyout rules to protect minority shareholders
A surge in buyouts has come amid increasing pressure from activist investors to improve corporate value.
The 225-issue Nikkei stock average loses more than 1,000 points Monday ahead of steep U.S. tariffs taking effect on imports from Mexico and Canada.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 3, 2025
Nikkei sheds over 1,000 points as markets react to Trump's tariffs
The trend among investors in Tokyo is to lower risks by reducing their holdings and selling futures for now, a Japanese brokerage house official said.
Rakuten Group said it no longer plans to list its securities arm on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and will instead focus on deepening its partnership with Mizuho Securities.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 30, 2025
Rakuten scraps plan to list securities unit on Tokyo bourse
The Japanese e-commerce pioneer had planned an initial public offering for Rakuten Securities Holdings as part of a push to shore up finances.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 30, 2025
Trump’s nine-hour economic war on Colombia rattles markets
Trump’s more strategic than his first term, and governments across the globe are in a weaker position after their budgets were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Frustrated by policy uncertainty and modest stimulus, investors are shifting from long-term bets to short-term trades in China.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 29, 2025
Growth engine or casino? Global investors rethink China playbook
Investor uncertainty and policy shifts have fundamentally changed how analysts and money managers view China’s markets.
A solar farm in Lennon, Michigan, in 2021. In an executive order, President Donald Trump pointedly excluded green technology like solar panels from his definition of energy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 28, 2025
Citi analysts say Trump can’t reverse energy transition
Despite the Trump administration’s determination to shred Biden-era climate protections, there remains a "sense of optimism” that the energy transition will prevail.
Hong Kong's commercial real estate sector is going through one of its worst slumps in history.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 27, 2025
Hong Kong’s property distress is catching up with city’s banks
Banks with soured loans and mortgages have been reluctant to sell the underlying real estate assets at a loss — but that is changing.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?