Banana Republik Watch "Korea Edition"

Oh boy....... At least they have still a few people left in Korea paying attention to analysts at all....... Sooner or later they will realize that they very often provide the best value as an contrary indicator ( see Wall Street Finest ) .......

Leider kein Witz...... Immerhin gibt in Korea anscheinend noch einige die überhaupt einen Pfifferling auf das Urteil von sogenannten Analysten setzen....... Ich nutze Sie seit Jahren nur noch als Kontraindikator bzw. zur wenn ich mal wieder was aus den Rubriken Satire & Science Fiction lesen möchte....... Spare mir so das Abo der "Titanic"...... :-).... Hier ein paar Beispiele ( siehe Wall Street Finest )......

South Korea to investigate foreign brokerages (FT) South Korean’s broking regulator is to

investigate all “sell” recommendations by foreign brokerages

made in the last three months in the wake of a fall of nearly 40 per cent in the benchmark Kospi index this year.

The Korean Securities Dealers Association said on Wednesday it had asked 19 foreign brokerages, including JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, to submit all “sell” reports on Korean shares issued between September and November.

“The public consensus is that foreign research reports are having a negative impact on stock prices

,” the KSDA said. “The public see some problems about their fairness so we want to review the reports.”

The association said it expected to receive the “sell” reports by the end of this week, and would review “whether their reports are fair or whether their sell calls were based on proper reasons.”

However,

the association is not asking for research reports from local brokerages, which rarely issue “sell” recommendations

The KSDA conducted a similar probe into both domestic and foreign brokerages two years ago.

The investigation follows growing complaints by local companies against foreign research reports recommending “sell” on their shares.

In October, the FSS warned JP Morgan about a research report recommending that investors sell Hana Financial Group shares, saying that the recommendation was based on “too conservative” non-performing loans ratio.

JP Morgan later terminated coverage of Hana, saying that it cannot have access to necessary information critical to its research. JP Morgan declined to comment on the case.

In September, Goldman Sachs issued a “sell” report on Kookmin Bank, the country’s biggest commercial lender. Kookmin immediately replaced Goldman Sachs with Merrill Lynch as its adviser for selling treasury shares.

Foreign brokerages in Korea have long been plagued by suspicions that “sell” calls are linked to short-selling activities. Financial regulators have undertaken a separate investigation into short-selling but the results have yet to be announced.

Foreign brokers dispute these claims. “It is nonsense. We have strict standards against such practices. We have a strong firewall between research and investment departments,” said a senior official at a foreign brokerage. “We wonder if the probe is really to protect investors.”

The investigation has sparked strong resistance among foreign brokerages, whose reports are increasingly influential in the local stock market.

“We are completely flabbergasted by this move. Analysts independently issue their opinion for institutional investors, based on their research and insight into the companies. It is totally up to our clients and investors whether or not to take the view,” another foreign brokerage said.