HONG KONG, June 25 (Reuters) – Investment banks and
brokerages across Asia have launched a sweeping round of job
cuts as Europe’s debt crisis and China’s economic slowdown bite
into the region’s financial activity.

Speaking to bankers and other industry sources, Reuters was
able to confirm at least 50 people were let go in the past three
weeks, a cull that includes senior expatriates as well as junior
bankers. The cuts mainly target the equities business, with more
layoffs expected in coming weeks.

HONG KONG, June 6 (Reuters) – TPG Capital has
shuffled its Asia senior management team as the global
powerhouse with $48 billion in assets fights for investor
dollars in the region with private equity rivals KKR,
Carlyle and RRJ Capital.

TPG has made the changes ahead of wrapping up a new, roughly
$5 billion Asia purse, its sixth regional fund.

HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters) – Last September, less than two
weeks after an IPO plan was approved, the private equity owners
of India’s Lilliput Kidswear got a call that set off a chain of
events that could wipe out their investment.

According to sources with knowledge of the matter, an
anonymous caller phoned Lilliput’s accountants on Sept. 22 with
information that revenue figures might be inflated.

HONG KONG, May 10 (Reuters) – Nomura has made it
mandatory for managing directors to wait five years before they
can cash the share portions of their bonuses, sources said on
Thursday, the longest waiting period for such a payout at an
investment bank in the latest pay cycle.

Last year, Nomura and other investment banks moved to make
employees wait for three years to cash out the share portion of
an annual bonus, wh ich for managing directors in the industry
can be at least $1 million in cash and shares — on top of a
$250,000 per year salary.

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore state investor Temasek TEM.UL is buying $2.3 billion (1.4 billion pounds) worth of ICBC’s (1398.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) Hong Kong-listed shares from seller Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), piling into three of China’s top four banks and raising its bet on the world’s second-biggest economy.

Temasek was burned by its financial industry exposure in 2008, hit by stakes in large European and U.S. banks that plunged in the crisis. But it has kept nearly 40 percent of its investment portfolio in banks it feels are strong and are capturing emerging market growth.

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore state investor Temasek TEM.UL is buying $2.3 billion worth of ICBC’s (1398.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Hong Kong-listed shares from seller Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), piling into three of China’s top four banks and raising its bet on the world’s second-biggest economy.

Temasek was burned by its financial industry exposure in 2008, hit by stakes in large European and U.S. banks that plunged in the crisis. But it has kept nearly 40 percent of its investment portfolio in banks it feels are strong and are capturing emerging market growth.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Temasek Holdings, the smaller but more visible of Singapore’s two sovereign funds, is moving into a new phase with its investment strategy, and could look more like Blackstone Group (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), another $160 billion institution, which has grown from a focused private equity firm to a global asset manager.

The shift follows setbacks since the 2008 financial crisis; the loss of $5 billion invested in Western banks; the abrupt departure of the fund’s first non-local CEO before he’d even taken up the post; and the recent exit of dealmakers hired by CEO Ho Ching, the prime minister’s wife, who has led Temasek for a decade.

SINGAPORE, March 27 (Reuters) – Temasek Holdings, the
smaller but more visible of Singapore’s two sovereign funds, is
moving into a new phase with its investment strategy, and could
look more like Blackstone Group (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), another $160 billion
institution, which has grown from a focused private equity firm
to a global asset manager.

The shift follows setbacks since the 2008 financial crisis;
the loss of $5 billion invested in Western banks; the abrupt
departure of the fund’s first non-local CEO before he’d even
taken up the post; and the recent exit of dealmakers hired by
CEO Ho Ching, the prime minister’s wife, who has led Temasek for
a decade.

March 23 (Reuters) – ING Groep NV has put its
roughly $775 million stake in Thailand’s TMB Bank Pcl
on the block as the bailed-out Dutch financial services group
pushes ahead with Asian divestments, sources familiar with the
matter told Reuters.

ING, which is selling assets to help repay a 2008 rescue by
the Dutch government, recently hired an investment bank to help
find a buyer for its 31 percent stake in TMB Bank, the sources
added, underscoring its seriousness to pursue an auction.

HONG KONG, Feb 21 (Reuters) – As hundreds thronged a
financial conference in Hong Kong last year to hear an executive
of U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, Doug Coulter took a
seat in a nearly empty room next door at a separate session on
the secondary part of the buyout industry in Asia.

Coulter, Asia head of private equity for LGT Capital
Partners, was encouraged by what he saw.