Tausi Insider

Unfinished apartment buildings at a residential complex developed by Jiadengbao Real Estate, in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, on Sept. 17. STAFF/Reuters Chinese property stocks and bonds soared on Monday as the market cheered Beijing’s “most comprehensive” support measures aimed at boosting liquidity in the sector in its latest attempt to stabilize a key pillar for the world’s second-largest economy. The package, which sources say lays out multiple financing measures for the cash-strapped industry, was hailed by analysts as a “turning point” with one even describing it as the equivalent of “soaking rain after a long drought.” China’s property sector, which accounts for a quarter of the economy, has struggled with defaults and stalled projects, hitting market confidence and weighing on growth. Previous efforts by policy-makers to help ease the cash crunch have done little to bolster the property market. The plan comes nearly a month after Chinese President Xi Jinpin...

People carry bags as they visit the Wangfujing shopping street in Beijing, on Nov. 14. Ng Han Guan/The Associated Press China’s economy suffered a broad slowdown in October as factory output grew more slowly than expected and retail sales fell for the first time in five months, underscoring faltering demand at home and abroad. The world’s second-largest economy is facing a series of headwinds including protracted COVID-19 curbs, global recession risks and a property downturn. In a sign of persistent weakness in sector, data on Tuesday also showed property investment falling at its fastest pace since early 2020 in October. The downbeat data poses a challenge for Chinese policy-makers as they steer the $17-trillion dollar economy through choppy waters, following recent moves to ease some COVID curbs and give financial support to the struggling property sector. “October activity growth broadly slowed and missed market expectations, pointing to a weak start to Q4 as a worsening COVID sit...

Unfinished apartment buildings at a residential complex in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, on Sept. 17. STAFF/Reuters China’s biggest commercial banks have pledged at least US$162-billion in fresh credit to property developers, bolstering recent regulatory measures to ease a stifling cash crunch in the sector and triggering a rally in property shares. Three state-owned banks lined up around US$131-billion worth of credit lines to developers on Thursday, a day after three other lenders committed US$31-billion, responding to Beijing’s call for support. The authorities have been stepping up measures in recent weeks to support developers, after many defaulted on their debt obligations and were forced to halt construction. Economic prospects are also worsening due to renewed COVID-19 lockdowns and other curbs in cities nationwide. China reported record high COVID-19 infections on Thursday. The massive, co-ordinated injection of liquidity into the property sector buoyed t...

Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) on Friday obtained a civil recovery order relating to nearly 54 million pounds ($65 million) of suspected criminal property held in accounts with Barclays. The NCA’s lawyers told London’s High Court that the money is likely “the proceeds of unlawful conduct”, a view shared by Barclays which first approached the agency about the money. Andrew Sutcliffe, representing the NCA, said in court documents that the NCA will set up a claim scheme to allow “innocent account holders” to ask for the return of the money if they can show it is not criminal property. Judge Robin Knowles said he was prepared to make the civil recovery order “without hesitation”. “We welcome the High Court’s ruling, which enables the funds to be transferred to the NCA to support further their efforts in stopping fraud and economic crime,” a Barclays spokesperson said. The NCA said that the case was “a great example of how the public and private sector can work together to recover ...

Photo : Kaspars Grinvalds ( Shutterstock ) Ever opened up a package only to find that the sturdy, beautiful item you ordered is tissue-paper-thin, or far larger (or smaller) than it looked online? We have a few tips to help you make sure that what you receive isn’t going to be a disappointment—whether you’re buying it as a gift or for yourself. Look at a lighter color This excellent tip comes from Reddit, where one smart shopper advises that you shop for dark-colored shoes, bags, and clothing by looking at the lighter colorways. Stitching, texture, material, and other details may not always show up well in photos of black, brown, dark gray, or navy items. But if the same backpack, say, is available in a light gray or beige, the photo there may offer more clues about how it’s made. This is where you realize that part of the bag is cloth where you thought it was leather, or that it only has a one-way zipper where you were expecting the kind with two zipper pulls. On clothing, you...

Canada’s impending ban on foreigners purchasing residential real estate is complicating how businesses hire, promote and transfer immigrant workers because of an information vacuum about the final rules. The Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, passed by Parliament earlier this year, will restrict foreigners from buying homes in Canada starting next month. That ban will remain in place for two years – supposedly to curb investor speculation in the housing market. Although the legislation will come into force on Jan. 1, 2023, the federal government still hasn’t released the final regulations outlining how the prohibition will work. Those details are essential because they will specify which non-Canadians, both individuals and corporations, will be exempt from the ban. Our legislators, however, seem unaware that 2023 is less than 30 days away. But you can be damn sure the businesses and foreign workers who have to comply with the law are acutely awa...

Samir Manji, founder and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Sandpiper Group, launched a proxy contest aimed at replacing four of nine trustees on First Capital’s board. DARRYL DYCK/Globe and Mail First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust FCR-UN-T is asking investors to be patient as activist campaigns from two fund managers and the REIT’s founder set out a starkly different approach to property sales than the strategy introduced this fall by the REIT’s own executives. First Capital owns one of the country’s largest retail property portfolios, a collection of grocery store-anchored malls in four provinces valued at $10-billion. Over the past five years, the price of First Capital units significantly lagged peers, declining by 19 per cent. In September, the REIT announced plans to sell up to $1-billion of real estate over the next two years to fund new developments. At the same time, First Capital doubled its monthly cash distributions. Shortly after, First Capital sold a 50-p...

Embattled property developer China Evergrande on Monday said that its current auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has resigned as the parties disagreed over the timeline and scope of work surrounding the firm’s status as a going concern and other audit-related matters for fiscal 2021. Once China’s top-selling developer, Evergrande is now at the center of the country’s property crisis. Its $22.7-billion of offshore debt, including loans and private bonds, is deemed to be in default after it missed payments late last year. In its resignation letter, PwC noted that it had not received information on certain material matters surrounding the group’s consolidated financial statements for the year 2021. Evergrande, which has been scrambling to raise funds to repay its creditors, is in the midst of a debt restructuring process in which stakeholders are awaiting the completion of its audited financial rundown for 2021. PwC also flagged that the group had not settled certain interest-bearin...

The real estate photography firm that posted the tour of Moffy Yu’s apartment online did not respond to an email. Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press The professional photographs posted on a property tour website last year show Moffy Yu’s condo in downtown Toronto, a light-filled two-bedroom home with floor-to-ceiling windows framing sweeping views from the tallest residential tower in Canada. Documents provided by Yu show the home was listed for $978,000 last May 11, then sold for $970,000 nine days later, near the height of the pandemic property boom. Ontario land title documents show ownership was transferred for that sum on June 15 to a new buyer who took out a mortgage with the Bank of Montreal. But Yu, a former international student who now lives in China’s Hubei province, said she never put her home in the Aura skyscraper on Yonge Street up for sale. Instead, she said, it was stolen. The property was listed by an impersonator who gained access to the vacant home, staged the photo sh...

Samir Manji, founder and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Sandpiper Group, launched a proxy contest aimed at replacing four of nine trustees on First Capital’s board. DARRYL DYCK/Globe and Mail First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust FCR-UN-T is asking investors to be patient as activist campaigns from two fund managers and the REIT’s founder set out a starkly different approach to property sales than the strategy introduced this fall by the REIT’s own executives. First Capital owns one of the country’s largest retail property portfolios, a collection of grocery store-anchored malls in four provinces valued at $10-billion. Over the past five years, the price of First Capital units significantly lagged peers, declining by 19 per cent. In September, the REIT announced plans to sell up to $1-billion of real estate over the next two years to fund new developments. At the same time, First Capital doubled its monthly cash distributions. Shortly after, First Capital sold a 50-p...