HONG KONG/MADRID, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Esprit Holdings’
chief is doubling down on a bet to fix the struggling
clothing retailer he took charge of a year ago by revamping its
existing business model and recreating it in the image of his
former employer-now-rival, Zara.

Jose Manuel Martinez Gutierrez, 44, has stacked his
management suite with veterans of Zara owner Inditex,
the world’s biggest retailer whose model of rapidly changing
fashion analysts say is among the best in the industry.

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, Nov 13 (Reuters) – China is considering
a rule change that would allow the sale of some cosmetics
without requiring them to be tested on animals, opening up a
potential route into the Chinese market for international firms
opposed to the practice.

Under the potential changes, “non-specialised cosmetics”
manufactured in China — such as shampoos, soaps, nail products
and some skin products — could be sold from June 2014 without
undergoing animal testing, according to the China Food and Drug
Administration (CFDA).

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Several brokerages
in Singapore could lose millions of dollars in the wake of
recent sharp price falls in three stocks, traders said, and as
the stock exchange probes short-selling in two of the stocks
early this week when they were subject to trading curbs.

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX), both the market
operator and regulator, suspended trading in shares of Blumont
Group Ltd, Asiasons Capital Ltd and LionGold
Corp Ltd last Friday following the big price moves. On
Sunday, it declared them “designated securities” – its first
such move in five years.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong businessman Richard Li, the youngest son of Asia’s richest man, will appoint a former top executive at AIA Group Ltd as the CEO of his new insurance company, according to people with direct knowledge of the move.

Li will hire Huynh Thanh Phong, previously one of three deputies to AIA (1299.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) CEO Mark Tucker, to run the upstart insurer, known as FWD. Before AIA, Phong worked at British insurer Prudential Plc (PRU.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Temasek Holding’s TEM.UL Fullerton Financial Holdings.

HONG KONG, July 12 (Reuters) – The Ping An Insurance Group
Co of China Ltd has, for years, been the
country’s financial industry darling.

With close ties to the top of the ruling Communist Party, it
has grown into a financial services giant with a market
capitalization of $47 billion, thanks in part to an aggressive
push into banking.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – A deal-making frenzy in Asia’s insurance industry is turning up the heat on buyers to fork out huge sums or miss out on a prime chance to tap into the sector’s fastest growing market, and few predict a slowdown despite the eye-popping prices.

The appeal of Asia’s growing middle class and rising personal income pushed insurance takeovers in the region to a record $30.5 billion last year, according to S&P Capital IQ, a data compiler. At least $5 billion more are in the pipeline and that’s good news for bankers, lawyers and shareholders such as Malaysia’s AMMB Holdings Bhd (AMMB.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which is shedding its life insurance unit.

HONG KONG/TOKYO, April 11 (Reuters) – South Korea could
become the second major buyer of Iran’s crude to face a halt in
imports from the Middle Eastern nation, as insurers broaden
Western sanctions to refineries, people involved with the matter
say.

Tough curbs by the United States and Europe to force Tehran
to end its nuclear programme have more than halved Iran’s oil
exports over the past year, as an EU ban on insurers aiding
transport of its crude left buyers unable to find coverage.

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese authorities slaughtered over 20,000 birds at a poultry market in Shanghai on Friday as the death toll from a new strain of bird flu mounted to six, spreading concern overseas and sparking a sell-off in airline shares in Europe and Hong Kong.

The local government in Shanghai said the Huhuai market for live birds had been shut down and 20,536 birds had been culled after authorities detected the H7N9 virus from samples of pigeons in the market. Other live poultry markets in the city will be closed down from Saturday, it said.

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – China said it was mobilizing resources nationwide to combat a new strain of bird flu that has killed six people, as Japan and Hong Kong stepped up vigilance and the United States said it was closely monitoring the situation.

All of the 14 reported infections from the H7N9 bird flu strain have been in eastern China and at least four of the six dead are in the financial hub of Shanghai, a city of 20 million people.

HONG KONG, Jan 28 (Reuters) – The former chairman of a
Chinese mining equipment firm bought by Caterpillar Inc
said on Monday he was dismayed by allegations of accounting
misconduct at a subsidiary that prompted the U.S. firm to take a
$580 million writedown.

Emory Williams Jr said Caterpillar had conducted extensive
due diligence before its takeover of Hong Kong-listed ERA Mining
Machinery Ltd last June, adding that he was seeking further
details from the company, the world’s largest maker of tractors
and excavators.