Finance

China’s top executive body, the State Council, late on Wednesday published high-level measures for “promoting the high-quality development of venture capital.”
“Everything is going to depend on the implementing regulations,” said Marcia Ellis, global co-chair of private equity practice at Morrison Foerster.
“Venture capital investors are not going to make investments unless they can see a reasonably clear path to an exit,” she said, noting that has not been case for the past year or so.

A man walks a dog in the shade away from the midday sun past the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) building in Manhattan, during hot weather in New York City, New York, U.S., August 11, 2020.
Mike Segar | Reuters

BEIJING — Chinese authorities this week announced new policy for supporting venture capital, raising hopes for faster approvals of initial public offerings in the near future.
A once-burgeoning ecosystem of investment capital and startups in China has slowed drastically in the last three years amid increased regulatory scrutiny.

In one of the latest efforts to shore up the industry, China’s top executive body, the State Council, late on Wednesday published high-level measures for “promoting the high-quality development of venture capital.”
“Everything is going to depend on the implementing regulations,” said Marcia Ellis, global co-chair of private equity practice at Morrison Foerster.
“It’s positive the government at the central level has realized there is a problem,” Ellis said. “At least with respect to investments in technology, venture capital can be a positive force in the market in China that frankly can help China compete with the U.S. in the tech race.”

In terms of actions to watch, Ellis said that “really what we’re looking for as far as IPOs, is if the approvals start coming out at a quicker pace.”
“Venture capital investors are not going to make investments unless they can see a reasonably clear path to an exit,” she said, noting that has not been case for the past year or so.

The new policy included a section on expanding exit channels for venture capital, with an emphasis on supporting companies with technological breakthroughs. The measures also called for implementing a management system for overseas listings and smoothing the exit channels for venture capital funds not denominated in yuan.
“The real bottleneck for overseas listings is the overseas IPO process and foreign exchange rules,” said Winston Ma, adjunct professor at NYU School of Law.
The pace of both onshore and overseas public offerings has slowed. Investors, especially those who put U.S. dollars into China-based venture capital funds, have preferred IPOs in the U.S. as the largest and most liquid market.
Looking ahead, “the market is watching the speed of U.S. IPO approvals,” Ming Liao, founding partner of Prospect Avenue Capital, said in Chinese translated by CNBC.

Challenges for overseas IPOs

Chinese authorities tightened their scrutiny and introduced new rules for overseas IPOs after ride-hailing company Didi went ahead with a U.S. listing in 2021 despite reportedly being under government investigation. Separately, the U.S. has increased its scrutiny of U.S. capital going into China, especially military-related entities.

Previously, lack of regulation also resulted in a number of high-profile cases of fraud involving China-based IPOs in the U.S.
Morrison Foerster’s Ellis cautioned how the new policy encouraged businesses and research institutions broadly to participate in venture capital.
“Unfortunately I think if companies that are not professional investors start doing this and are doing this because they are encouraged by the government, it may just be more damaging to the market in the long run because they’re going to lose money and it’s going to stain the venture capital market in China,” Ellis said. “You need professionals doing this.”
The China Securities Regulatory Commission has increased fines for misleading investors and clarified requirements for overseas IPOs. Last year it announced updated rules, effective March 31, 2023, that said domestic companies need to comply with national security measures and the personal data protection law before going public overseas.
Since then, 73 companies have listed in the U.S. and 85 in Hong Kong, Fang Xinghai, vice chair of the commission, said during a conference Wednesday, according to state media.
The IPO processing speed hasn’t been fast enough and will be accelerated, Fang said in the report, adding the commission supports mainland Chinese companies to list overseas, especially in Hong Kong.

Fast-fashion giant Shein, which has tried to distance itself from its Chinese roots, has reportedly shifted its plans for a U.S. listing to one in London amid regulatory scrutiny.

VCs in China for China

China has also sought to develop its domestic stock markets, which are only about 30 years old.
Morgan Stanley equity analysts noted separate comments Wednesday from Wu Qing, head of China’s securities regulator, that capital markets should increase their targeted support for businesses in line with the country’s efforts to develop new technologies.
“We think it implies capital markets could welcome more diverse IPO candidates as long as they can demonstrate innovation and drive productivity growth, although IPO volume might remain low near term given higher standards are also in place,” the Morgan Stanley report said.
Wu took over as CSRC head in February after a volatile downturn in mainland stocks. Markets have since recouped losses for the year so far.
The new policy also called for supporting international investment institutions to establish yuan-denominated funds.
“If foreign funds were able to set up RMB funds more easily, then there is money that wants to do that,” Ellis said.
“There are a lot of China-focused funds that are headquartered in Asia,” she said. “They are USD funds but their management companies also want to manage onshore RMB funds because they feel like they can actually raise money in China for China investments, whereas raising USD from the U.S. and potentially Europe for China-focused funds is now very difficult.” More

Investors may want to consider hedging their emerging market plays, according to one exchange-traded fund expert.
Ben Slavin, global head of ETFs and managing director at BNY, said that while there have been notable inflows into Indian, European and Japanese ETFs, investors should account for the strength of the U.S. dollar.

“You have to look at the impact of the dollar on those returns, depending on whether you want to be hedged or unhedged because it’s a very important driver of where things will go looking forward,” Slavin told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Monday.
One area he pointed to is the levels between the U.S. dollar vs. the Japanese yen.
The iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) gives investors exposure to Japanese equities but does not account for fluctuations between the Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar. It’s grown less than four percent this year.
The WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ), which gives exposure and accounts for fluctuations, has grown more than 20% in that same time frame.
“It’s very important to make that decision about how to allocate, especially as it comes to your views on the dollar. And ETFs have those different options available for investors to allocate one way or the other,” Slavin said. More

New York was the first state to launch a rebate program for consumers tied to home energy efficiency upgrades.
Many more states are expected to roll out similar Inflation Reduction Act programs this summer.
Low-income New Yorkers can get up to $24,000 in combined state and federal funding.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Lev Radin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

New York is launching a program offering homeowners up to $14,000 in total rebates for energy-efficiency upgrades to their property, and more states are expected to follow suit by summer’s end.
The rebate programs are part of the federal Inflation Reduction Act, the largest piece of climate legislation in U.S. history, which President Joe Biden signed in 2022.

The law earmarked $8.8 billion for consumers via two Home Energy Rebates programs.
The financial incentives help consumers reduce or fully offset the cost of upgrades to make their homes more energy-efficient, thereby reducing carbon emissions and cutting homeowners’ future energy bills, state and federal officials said.
Such projects might include installing air sealing, insulation, electric heat pumps and electric stoves, for example.
More from Personal Finance:Here’s how to buy renewable energy from your electric utilityWhat the SEC vote on climate disclosures means for investorsHere’s why FEMA has spent about $4 billion to help destroy flood-prone homes
New York launched part of its rebate program on May 30, making up to $14,000 of federal funds available to low-income households.

When combined with a fledgling state program called EmPower+ — which offers up to $10,000 per low-income household — consumers can access up to $24,000 in total rebates for making energy-efficiency upgrades, according to Doreen Harris, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

‘Several’ states will roll out rebates by September

States, territories and tribes — which administer the programs — must apply for the federal funds.
Seventeen states had applied for Home Energy Rebates funding as of June 14, according to the U.S. Energy Department. New York was the first to roll out funding to consumers.
The Energy Department expects “several more states” to make the rebates available “between now and September,” it said. The agency has approved applications submitted by California and Hawaii, the final stage before rollout.
New York’s launch “is a milestone,” said Kara Saul Rinaldi, CEO and founder of AnnDyl Policy Group, a consulting firm focused on climate and energy policy. “Over the next year we’ll be seeing these programs roll out across America.”

How the rebate program works

The Inflation Reduction Act created two Home Energy Rebates programs: the Home Efficiency Rebates program and the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates, or HEAR, program.
New York’s launch in May was just for part of the HEAR program. It will apply for the second at a later date.
Per federal law, the HEAR program is only available to low and middle-income homeowners.
New York was initially approved for federal funding to low-income, single-family (one- to four-unit) households. They must have an income of 80% or below their area’s median income to qualify.

The HEAR program carries a maximum dollar amount per project. For example, New York is paying the following maximum federal rebates:

Air sealing, insulation and ventilation: $1,600
Electrical service upgrade (panel box): $4,000
Electrical wiring upgrade: $2,500
Heat pump water heaters: $1,750
Heat pumps: $8,000

Low-income households are eligible to offset 100% of their project costs, up to $24,000 of combined federal and state funds.
These rebates are delivered via contractors, who will quote a project’s cost to consumers with rebates applied, according to Harris, of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. NYSERDA has a directory of qualified contractors who can make such upgrades.

New York aims to launch the second phase of the HEAR program in the fourth quarter of 2024, Harris said.
If approved by the Energy Department, the state would expand the rebate program in a few ways, she said: It would be available to moderate income residents, defined as being between 80% and 150% of area median income; to multifamily buildings; and to the purchase of electric appliances like ENERGY STAR-rated electric stoves and electric heat pump clothes dryers, which would be available at the point of sale from retailers.

Home Efficiency Rebates program

By contrast, the Home Efficiency Rebates program is technology-neutral. No state has yet launched such a program, though applications are pending with the Energy Department.
The value of the rebates are tied to how much overall energy a household saves via efficiency upgrades. The deeper the energy cuts, the larger the rebates, up to $8,000.
The program is available to all households, regardless of income More

Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel,on May 6, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. 
Apu Gomes | Getty Images

Shares of Dell Technologies and Super Micro Computer jumped Thursday after Elon Musk revealed that the two hardware makers will provide servers to help his artificial intelligence startup xAI develop a supercomputer.
“Dell is assembling half of the racks that are going into the supercomputer that xAI is building,” Musk said in an X post, adding that Super Micro will also be involved.

Dell shares climbed more than 3% in premarket trading, while Super Micro popped roughly 5%.
Musk has promised to build a $500 million “Dojo” supercomputer in Buffalo, New York, and a “super dense, water-cooled supercomputer cluster” at the company’s factory in Austin, Texas. The technology would potentially help Tesla develop the computer vision and large language models needed for robots and autonomous vehicles.
Musk founded xAI last year as a challenger to Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Alphabet’s Google. Musk also co-founded OpenAI.
Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, said Wednesday in an X post that his firm is building a “Dell AI factory” with Nvidia to power Musk’s AI bot Grok. More

Things are big in America. That is true of houses, cars and food portions. Perhaps most shocking of all is the size of tips. In much of the rest of the world, gratuities are a small gesture for good service. In American restaurants they are de rigueur. And they are becoming more generous and more common. For workers who already get them, tips are growing; for those who do not get them, tips may be coming their way. But this cannot go on for ever. Look closer at the tipflation gripping America and a surprising conclusion emerges: the country may be approaching peak tip.As with so much these days, Donald Trump has a hand in this. At a recent rally in Las Vegas, he casually inserted a radical proposal about halfway through his speech. “For those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy. Because when I get to office we are going to not charge taxes on tips,” he said. It was, he argued, only right to stop the government from going after the earnings of people who provide good service. More

What is income, really? Ask an economist and they might describe “Haig-Simons” income—the value of a person’s consumption of goods and services, plus the change in their net worth over a certain period. A lawyer might refer to Section 61(a) of the IRS Code 26, which defines “gross” income as “all income from whatever source derived”, including but not limited to commission, interest, property deals and wages. An accountant might talk about how to reduce that gross income, via deductions or carve-outs, to a skinnier “taxable income base”.The answer matters. Whether governments should levy taxes on unrealised capital gains, as well as realised ones, is a topic of hot debate. In March, during the State of the Union address, Joe Biden reiterated his commitment to imposing a “billionaire minimum income tax” if re-elected. This would include a 25% tax on unrealised capital gains for Americans with more than $100m in assets, which he expects would raise $500bn (2% of GDP) over a decade. The Supreme Court is also considering the question. Its justices are poised to issue an opinion in Moore v the United States, a case in which the plaintiffs are arguing that a one-off tax on gains from an overseas investment was unconstitutional, since the 16th amendment, which enshrines in America’s constitution the federal government’s right to impose income taxes, does not apply to unrealised income. More

India’s stockmarket swooned upon the news that Narendra Modi, the country’s business-friendly prime minister, would return to power diminished and in a coalition after a recent general election. One benchmark, though, fell especially sharply and has yet to recover: the Bombay Stock Exchange’s index for Public Sector Undertakings (BSE PSU). It comprises 56 companies that have some private ownership but remain mostly owned, and entirely controlled, by the state.This curious corporate structure dates back to India’s independence from Britain in 1947 and the country’s subsequent embrace of state planning, which was extended to encompass, in the Marxist-infused language of the time, “the commanding heights of the economy”. This came to include companies in everything from aviation and insurance to artificial limbs and banking. Only when India’s economy opened to the world in the 1990s did the approach change. Since then, politicians have tried, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, to put firms under private control. More

Owing to the rapid spread of solar power, Spanish energy is increasingly cheap. Between 11am and 7pm, the sunniest hours in a sunny country, prices often loiter near zero on wholesale markets (see chart). Even in Germany, which by no reasonable definition is a sunny country, but which has plenty of wind, wholesale prices were negative in 301 of the 8,760 tradable hours last year.As solar panels and wind farms take over Europe, the question facing the continent’s policymakers is what to do with all the power they produce. Ultra-low—and indeed negative—prices suggest that it is not being put to good use at present, reflecting failures in both infrastructure and regulation. There are three main ways that firms and regulators could establish a more efficient market: sending energy to areas where there is no surplus, shifting demand to hours when energy is plentiful, and storing energy as electricity, fuel or heat. More