Global news feeds this past week or so have been cluttered with stories about the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). And in an even more recent turn of events, Western governments have begun falling over themselves to join as non-regional partners. On March 17, the new infrastructure...

It is no secret, and should come as a surprise to no one, that the Chinese have been stockpiling gold and maneuvering to increase their influence in the gold market for decades. They have gone to great lengths to become the largest producer of gold, regardless of the volatile...

The China International Payment System (CIPS) is expected to launch by the end of 2015, and when it does this new international payment system will effectively promote and globalize the number of transactions in Chinese yuan (CNY). First announced by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the CIPS will allow...

Bloomberg recently surveyed several key economists to find out which economies were expected to grow the fastest in 2015. As a surprise to no one, Asia is projected to do better than any other continent. Emerging Asia has four countries in the top five, six in the top 10,...

The highly regarded British economist Jim O’Neill told the Nikkei Asian Review recently that he was “excited” about India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. O’Neill, the ex-Goldman Sachs Asset Management chairman, and the man best known for coining the term “BRIC”—the acronym that stands for Brazil,...

There is no denying that gold has had quite the run for the last decade or so prior to 2013. Any financial technician would agree that the gold chart from 2002 to late 2011 was a thing of beauty. It looked less like an asset and more like a...

Digital currency Bitcoin has received yet another black eye after another (possibly fraudulent?) operation fails and leaves investors hung out to dry. Hong Kong-based Mycoin closed down its Kowloon offices several weeks back, and in doing so leaves approximately 3,000 investors deeply concerned about possibly losing a collective HK$3...

In what seems yet another example of the Japanese government following the lead of the U.S. government, wealthy Japanese overseas investors need to take note: The tax man is coming for you. Japan’s National Tax Agency plans to cooperate with overseas tax authorities, particularly in tax havens, to gather...

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has decided to accelerate the current global currency war and pump in the new year with monetary easing for all. In a surprise move, officials announced on Wednesday a lower reserve requirement ratio with the hope of sparking more lending and erasing concerns...

Many people do not realize that Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, with just over 250 million people. It also a thriving democracy that has just recently emerged from a hotly contested presidential election that saw relative newcomer Joko Widodo win a close contest. “Jokowi,” as...