Word: banking
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...Minjun is laughing all the way to the bank. The shaven-headed Beijing painter has turned his iconic guffawing self-portraits into one of China's most lucrative exports. In June, a brightly hued canvas of Yue dressed as a merry Roman Catholic Pope sold for $4.28 million in London. That record was shattered last month when Execution, a work depicting maniacally grinning figures in a Tiananmen Square-like setting, netted nearly $6 million in another London sale. Riffing on Deng Xiaoping's maxim "To get rich is glorious," Yue's paintings capture China's exuberant love affair with consumerism...
...still buy because they think it will make them feel good. Why shouldn't I make money off their interest?" Not all collectors will get the joke. But with the Asian art market reaching such feverish heights, a sense of irony may be just as necessary as a fat bank account...
...also prevent fresh political groups from emerging - far more important in developing nations than in stable, two-party political systems. In Bangladesh, Sheik Hasina Wazed and her chief rival, Khaleda Zia, both of whom hail from political dynasties, have swatted down past attempts to form new parties. When Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus tried to launch a party earlier this year, many Bangladeshi politicians, including those from Hasina's party, quickly attacked...
...suddenly some high-flying hedgies had their heads handed to them. Two Bear Stearns hedge funds worth a total of $1.5 billion collapsed due to their exposure to toxic subprime debt, a debacle that was preceded by the subprime-fueled demise of a hedge fund run by Swiss bank UBS. Basis Capital, an Australian firm with more than $2 billion in assets, was forced in August to liquidate its Basis Yield Alpha Fund, which had previously been one of Australia's best-rated hedge funds. Numerous quant funds, which use computerized analysis to make investment decisions, posted big losses...
...Fearing that more controversy could lead to regulation, the industry is fighting back. Led by former Bank of England deputy governor Andrew Large, a group of 14 major U.K. hedge funds recently floated a code of good governance that promises greater disclosure to investors by offering more information on the risks funds may be exposed to. The code also calls on hedge funds to voluntarily disclose interests in companies held through indirect investments, to bolster strategies to weather big market swings, and to detail procedures followed in putting valuations on illiquid assets such as subprime debt, among other provisions...