An encouraging month for Mongolia, November saw significant progress on the political front. After our letter to shareholders discussing the change of leadership, with Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg replacing Mr. Norovyn Altankhuyag, a coalition between the incumbent Democratic Party (DP) and opposition Mongolia People’s Party (MPP) was formed. Further, on Friday, December 5th Prime Minister… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
MasterCard launches initiative for poorer East Africans
By Andrei Skvarsky. MasterCard has launched a lab to develop cost-effective digital financial services for poorer population strata in East Africa. Continue Reading
Earnings of senior company execs going up worldwide – survey
By Andrei Skvarsky. The majority of senior company executives worldwide have had their total earnings go up in the last fiscal year, according to a survey by a global association of headhunting consultants. Continue Reading
Investors diversifying emerging markets strategies over slower growth – Economist
Slower growth in emerging markets is making investors abandon strategies that treat emerging markets as a single bloc, according to a research report from The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist weekly. Continue Reading
Lamudi: Property markets in Asia, M. East, Africa, LatAm gaining momentum
By Andrei Skvarsky. Real estate business in many of the emerging and frontier markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America is on the ascent with demand pressing up and foreign capital pouring in, according to online global real estate company Lamudi. Continue Reading
Russian fund Target Ventures leads 20-million-euro round in international cruise booking portal Dreamlines
Source – East-West Digital News The Hamburg-based startup Dreamlines announced yesterday it secured 20 million euros in C Round financing from an international pool of investors led by Target Ventures. Continue Reading
OTKRITIE FC BANK RAISED RUB 21.4 BN OF EQUITY AS PART OF AN SPO
Otkritie FC Bank raised RUB 21.4 bn of equity as part of a follow-on public offering on the Moscow Stock Exchange. Continue Reading
Innovation by companies key as emerging countries strive to catch up with more developed economies
Source – Рreqveca.ru Innovation by companies is a powerful lever that can galvanise growth in emerging countries and help bring their economies in line with their more prosperous neighbours, according to a new report from the EBRD. Continue Reading
ADM Kazakhstan Capital Restructuring Fund in association with Invivo VDP LLP is launching modern medical functional diagnostic center in Almaty city
Source – Рreqveca.ru ADM Kazakhstan Capital Restructuring Fund (ADM KCRF), falling under group of funds with participation of Kazyna Capital Management JSC (Baiterek National Managing Holding), announces the launching a modern medical functional diagnostic center in Almaty city in association with Invivo VDP LLP. Continue Reading
EU regulator suggests client-focused guidelines for retail banks
By Andrei Skvarsky. The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published draft retail banking guidelines aimed at ensuring that banks in European Union countries pay more attention to the interests of consumers in designing their products. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange to outsource IT trading hardware to DataSpace-owned facility
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange is going to move its principal IT hardware – trading, clearing and depository equipment and client colocation units – to a colocation data centre in Moscow owned by the DataSpace company. Continue Reading
B2B software integrator Mirantis raises $100 million in record Series B round
Mirantis, a California-based systems integrator with teams in several countries including Russia and Ukraine, has closed a $100 million series B round with the participation of Insight Venture Partners and August Capital. They were joined by existing investors Intel Capital, WestSummit Capital, Ericsson, and Sapphire Ventures (formerly SAP Ventures). Continue Reading
Ukraine forbids its banks to open ruble accounts
By Andrei Skvarsky. Ukraine’s central bank has prohibited commercial banks from opening Russian ruble accounts and issuing loans in rubles. Continue Reading
Peru tops Economist weekly’s financial inclusion list
By Andrei Skvarsky. Peru is the country with the world’s most conducive environment for financial inclusion – the delivery of affordable financial services to low-income strata, according to an annual survey by the Economist. Continue Reading
APEC to harmonise asset valuation standards
By Andrei Skvarsky. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a loose Pacific Rim trading bloc whose 21 member economies economies account for 44% of global trade, has decided to work for the adoption of uniform region-wide asset valuation standards as a step towards the global harmonisation of valuation practices. Continue Reading
Russia’s Promsvyazbank launches premium retail scheme
By Andrei Skvarsky. Promsvyazbank, one of Russia’s biggest private lenders, has launched a programme for relatively wealthy retail clients that includes access to easy-term loans, a set of freebies and personalised servicing. Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange forum in London draws “record audience”
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange has said its annual forum in London on October 22 brought together a “record audience” of more than 300 market participants and “shed light on opportunities in Russia’s capital markets, upgrades to market infrastructure and product development at the Exchange, and the future of regulatory reform”. Continue Reading
SKOLKOVO RESIDENT SIGNS DEAL WORTH $41 MILLION WITH CHINESE FIRM
Optogard Nanotech, a resident at Skolkovo, has signed a deal with Chinese pipe manufacturing firmShandong Industry. Optogard will supply the Chinese company with laser-plasma facilities, which will form the basis of their pipe production. The contract is worth $41 million in total. Continue Reading
Moscow Seed Fund looking for new investors
Moscow Seed Fund, the venture arm of the Moscow city authorities, has announced its latest competition to recruit investors for joint seed and pre-seed stage investment in their projects. The fund is looking for individual investors and companies, both Russian and foreign. Continue Reading
Almaz Capital leads $4 million funding round in US e-commerce solution provider
Content Analytics, an analytics platform that recommends e-commerce catalog optimization strategies, announced it secured a $4 million Series A funding led by Almaz Capital. Geoffrey Baehr, a general partner at Almaz Capital, has joined the startup’s board of directors. Continue Reading
Sberbank: consumer confidence of Russian middle class edges down
By Andrei Skvarsky. The latest of a series of quarterly surveys commissioned by Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, shows consumer confidence among middle-class Russians to have edged down since June. Continue Reading
ASIA FRONTIER CAPITAL – Country Snapshot – Laos
Although one of the few remaining one-party communist states, the Laotian government’s attempts to decentralize control of the economy and encourage private enterprise starting in 1986 have resulted in an annual growth rate of 6% from 1988-2008. Laos’ economy has maintained consistently high GDP rates through 2012 due to strong growth among its main trading… Continue Reading
Russian venture market continues annual decline in Q2 2014 as cross-border investment could virtually disappear
Venture investment volumes in Russia fell by 9% year-on-year (y-o-y) as the number of completed deals increased by 32% in Q2 2014, says Rye, Man and Gor Securities (RMG), an independent Moscow-based investment company, in their latest quarterly report published with the participation of East-West Digital News. Continue Reading
Runa Capital leads $2.2 million round in US school admission startup
Runa Capital, a venture firm operating globally from its offices in Moscow and San Francisco, has led a $2.2 million funding round in SchoolMint, a leading provider of mobile and online enrollment systems for US public, charter and private schools. Continue Reading
Newsletter from Canrim Resources, a Singaporean company focused on mineral resources development in Mongolia
September was filled with positives for both Mongolia and Canrim. The economy continued to show signs of improvement and Canrim took full advantage of this to conduct high level meetings with several multinational mining and exploration companies, in addition to meeting with relevant Mongolian officials. Continue Reading
Russia to go ahead with setting up own card payment system – Putin
By Andrei Skvarsky. President Vladimir Putin confirmed last week that Russia plans to set up its own card payment system next year to prevent potential further anti-Russian sanctions from causing Russians problems with the use of Visa or MasterCard. Continue Reading
Putin: state to keep financing Russian Direct Investment Fund
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a state-backed institution with the mission of supporting Russia’s private equity sector by co-investing with foreign companies, will continue to receive money from the state so it can achieve its capitalisation target of $10bn, President Vladimir Putin promised last week. Continue Reading
IronFX authorised by FCA to deal in all types of financial instruments
By Andrei Skvarsky. IronFX Global, a global trader in foreign exchange, futures, shares, contracts for difference, commodities and spot metals, has received an enhanced licence from the British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorising the company to act as principal and agent in investment, hold client funds, and deal in all types of financial instruments. Continue Reading
Russia’s Promsvyazbank hypes role of small businesses via photo project
By Andrei Skvarsky. Promsvyazbank, one of Russia’s largest private banks, has carried through an online project to popularise the role in the country of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by posting photos and brief descriptions of successful businesses and pictures of their founders and managers. Continue Reading