The Jeonse system is a product of South Korea’s development era during the 1960’s and ‘70s. This was a period of rapid urban migration, and in order to facilitate mobility, the South Korean government passed legislation to restrict banks from lending to real estate developers, landlords, or tenants. The idea of “Jeonse” or “helping one’s…
Tag: International
Private Equity Investment in Global Shipping Industry
Over 90% of world trade activity depends on the shipping industry and a global fleet of 58,000 ships.1 Shipping has traditionally been controlled by wealthy families that have been in the business for a very long time, some for centuries.2 However, shipping has changed and has become an asset for investors.3 Shipping is a cyclical…
Dilemma for Big Four Auditors in China in the Midst of Conflicting Laws
On January 22, 2014, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot censured Chinese affiliates of the “Big Four” accounting firms (Ernst & Young LLP, KPMG LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and Deloitte LLP) along with BDO China Dahua CPA Co., Ltd. for willful violation of Section 106(e) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002…
South Korea’s Grand Plan: Startup and Venture Capital Steering the Future Economy
Start-ups have been a new force for the economies of many technologically advanced countries in recent years, more notably after the beginning of smartphone/ applications era with the many application start-ups that have an expansive platform to connect with customers. The number of Korean start-ups has almost doubled to over 28,000 from just over a…
The Caribbean Detroit: Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis
Despite the severity of the debt circumstances in Puerto Rico, the financial crisis has gone largely unnoticed. The lack of attention on Puerto Rico is particularly shocking when comparing the crisis to the current state of Detroit. The island has a population of 3.7 million and debts of about $87 billion; this compares with a…
Newly Formed Private Equity Funds “Stalking”, not “Pouncing” on Mining Assets—For Now
There has been a lot of buzz lately in the private equity world about the formation of new funds and the raising of capital specifically aimed towards acquiring assets in the mining industry. Specifically, in their article on Bloomberg.com, Jesse Risenborough and Ruth David talk about how this recently created pool of private equity money…
Corporate Law in Asia Symposium This Week
We welcome you to join the Michigan Journal of Private Equity and Venture Capital and the Asia Law Society for the Corporate Law in Asia: Trends and Opportunities symposium. It is being held this Friday, February 21, 2014 in South Hall Room 1020 at the University of Michigan Law School. Registration begins at 8:30 AM, and the program…
American Technology Entrepreneurs Take on Skeptical Indian Investment Market
Ambitious American technology entrepreneurs have recently started to target the investment market in India.1 Historically, India had a reputation for being a notoriously tough market for start-ups, even for the most promising young businesses.2 The inability to succeed as a start-up in India, however, is not due to lack of proposed innovations. Compared to America’s…
Take a Second to Think About Secondaries
An interesting trend is developing in the private equity world: the rise of “secondaries.” The business model of private-equity companies “scouring obscure corners of the business world” for undervalued firms is becoming a thing of the past.1 Instead, the idea of purchasing companies owned by other private equity firms is slowly gathering momentum. This type…
The South Korean Government and Venture Capital: The Costs of Planned Growth
Unlike the U.S. government, the Korean government plays an active and major role in its nation’s venture capital market. Under the “Special Law to Promote Venture Capital Companies (SLPVCC)” passed in 1997, the Korean government is permitted to provide subsidies to select venture capital-backed companies (e.g., companies involved in energy, IT, and electronics), grant tax…