By Peter Thal Larsen

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the Montagues and the Capulets of investment banking. It’s almost as unusual for a senior banker to quit one firm for the other as it was for members of Romeo and Juliet’s feuding clans to consider marriage. That gives Goldman’s poaching of Kate Richdale, Morgan Stanley’s head of investment banking in Asia, an added edge. But while it’s tempting to see the defection as evidence of a decisive shift in the balance of power in the region, the grudge match has proved surprisingly enduring.

By Peter Thal Larsen

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The global financial system isn’t dead. But it might be shrinking. For the past four years, bankers have fretted that finance is retreating behind national borders, with dire consequences for trade and economic growth. The reality is that a diminution of the financial sector was overdue. And outside the euro zone, cross-border flows are still reasonably healthy.

By Peter Thal Larsen

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Asia’s city-states are experimenting with a new form of capital controls: property taxes. In its latest effort to cool the market, Hong Kong has hiked stamp duty for real-estate transactions, apart from those that involve local first-time buyers. Discriminating against foreign speculators may distort the market and have limited success in constraining prices. Yet its popular appeal is clear.

By Peter Thal Larsen

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)

Singapore is kicking off a necessary cull of benchmark interest rates. The city-state is expected to kill off the U.S. dollar Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (Sibor) in order to focus on the weightier local-currency version. With alternatives on tap, the switch should be manageable. It will also be a useful test for London’s planned interest rate bonfire.

By Peter Thal Larsen

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)

Sometime in the next few months, Bo Xilai is expected to stand trial in the most high-profile political prosecution in China for over three decades. The former Chongqing party chief, once a contender to join the inner core of China’s leadership, stands accused of corruption, abuse of power and – more prosaically – “improper sexual relations” with women.

By Peter Thal Larsen

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Singapore and Hong Kong are being forced to come to terms with slowing growth. For decades, the city-states have been among Asia’s economic hotspots. But continued expansion will be restrained by popular discontent about crowding and rising property costs. A more pedestrian future awaits.

By Peter Thal Larsen

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)    

Soccer has been whacked with its version of the Libor scandal. The revelation that 680 European and World Cup matches may have been rigged invites comparison with bankers’ manipulation of benchmark interest rates before and during the financial crisis. Both require collusion, are hard to detect, and were partly orchestrated in Singapore. Both also undermine confidence. Sadly, soccer’s flaws are less easily solved.

By Peter Thal Larsen

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Japan’s assault on the yen has produced some clear winners: investors in the country’s beaten-up consumer electronics industry. Shares in Panasonic jumped 17 percent on Feb. 4 after the group reported a less-severe-than-expected quarterly loss. The hope is that stronger exports and recent cost-cutting will transform earnings. But with revenue still shrinking, the recent rally is largely based on hope.

By Peter Thal Larsen

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions expressed are his own.

The Bank of England is discovering the downside of being the City of London’s chief watchdog. The central bank is under pressure from financial institutions to set up a currency swap with the People’s Bank of China. Such a move would help to boost London as a centre for trading offshore renminbi. However, worrying about the City’s competitiveness also risks blurring the BOE’s main objective of preserving financial stability.

By Peter Thal Larsen

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

A failed Ping An sale could leave HSBC red-faced, but richer. If regulators veto the UK bank’s $9.4 billion plan to offload its near-16 percent stake in the Chinese insurer, HSBC’s reputation will take a knock. But it could still end up financially better off.