April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] The Sept. 1 issue of The Investor's blockbuster newsletter DECODED X is out. Check out some of the highlights.

AN EXODUS? 

There are rumors of Samsung Electronics moving to the US, more specifically, California. Samsung, of course, is refusing to say anything, but according to industry sources, the company is considering relocating overseas.

On top of Lee Jae-yong getting a 5 year sentence, the new government comes with an assortment of regulations for conglomerates. And it’s not just higher taxes, but the environment, which doesn’t appear to be too friendly to “large companies.”

The move has a lot of complications, especially because most of Samsung’s production operations are still primarily in Korea, and they are worth just over 100 trillion won as of June this year. And production facilities are under the jurisdiction of local laws.

But considering that 90 percent of its sales come from overseas, why not? This has happened, of course, with other global companies, such as Burger King and Pfizer, just to name a few.

In the end, however, this is just a sob story, and it would be tough for Samsung to move out.

TO TAX OR NOT TO TAX 

It was a big deal when Seoul almost doubled the taxes on cigarettes under former President Park Geun-hye. For the government, it was great news, since it raked in 9 trillion won (US$7.99 billion) of tax revenues.

Now, there’s the issue of heating type cigarettes, and whether they should be slapped with as much taxes. It was already decided that the government won’t, but now officials are thinking otherwise, especially after seeing sales pick up.

But there’s also conflict among policymakers over taxation. The Finance Minister, whose job is to fund the country, wants a raise. The Health Minister says it should be determined if heating type cigarettes are AS harmful as ordinary cigarettes. And the feud will go on till the September National Assembly session.

Amidst all the fighting, KT&G, Korea’s largest tobacco manufacturer, is now saying it will wait a bit till it starts to develop its own heating type cigarettes.

BEGINNING OF RED TAPE

Virtual currency is all the newish (?) rage, and Korea has hopped on the bandwagon. But the problem is, as with other countries and governments, there’s no means to govern it.

So when fraud happens, there’s no way to protect the investors. The retail investors, that is, who have been upping the ante in terms of bitcoin-related stocks.

The authorities are now saying that they are looking at the situation and may come up with regulations.

In China, authorities are already considering banning ICOs – Initial Coin Offerings – which is the equivalent to IPOs in the “real world.”

As of Sept.1, bitcoins, the world’s most widely traded virtual currency, were trading at US$4774.15, according to the World Coin Index.


►Click here for DECODED X Sept. 1


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