In early 2015, many economies around the world were already dealing with a downturn in the markets when the price of oil dropped steadily, which had a strong impact on oil-dependent economies in the Persian Gulf region. As the corporate debt market decreased considerably, the airline Emirates (owned by The Emirates Group) decided to try a distinctly new approach by issuing a sukuk, or Islamic bond, with the backing of the United Kingdom’s Export Credits Guarantee Department. If successful, it would become the first sukuk certificate guaranteed by an export credit agency. It would also be the largest-ever debt capital markets offering in the aviation sector with a guarantee from an export credit agency. Surprisingly, the sukuk was not rated by any of the three major global credit rating agencies. Why was the sukuk issued by Emirates not assessed by a major credit agency? If it had been, what rating would it have received? Most importantly, what were the sukuk’s risks and how should such an innovative bond be priced?

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As the Republic of Indonesia, the largest archipelagic nation in the world, was facing significant challenges posed by climate change, the imperative for immediate attention to the region’s climate issues became evident. Indeed, between 2018 and 2020, Indonesia issued three green sukuks, which were Shariah law-compliant debt instruments resembling green bonds. This case explores the specific approach taken by the Indonesian government to secure vital funding for initiatives aimed at mitigating and adapting to climate change in sectors including energy efficiency, renewable energy, resilience to climate change, sustainable transport, and waste and waste-to-energy management. The case also evaluates critical inquiries into the efficacy of the projects funded by the proceeds of green sukuk issuances in combating climate change.

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Stablecoins represent digital assets whose value is pegged to that of a fiat currency, commodity, or financial instrument. As non-volatile assets that enable relatively easy cross-border transfers and minimal price fluctuation relative to the reference asset, stablecoins are especially useful as a medium of exchange.

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This note is about tokenization and tokenized assets. Tokenization refers to the process of creating a representation of a particular asset on a blockchain via digital tokens. Tokenized assets typically derive their value from the value of the underlying asset. This note explores the benefits and risks of tokenization, as well as use cases. Moreover, it explores Security Token Offerings, considerations for tokenized asset issuers, and the Howey Test. It concludes with a consideration of how possible future trends may affect tokenization.

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Contrary to the typical practice of cutting operating expenses by compromising on employees’ benefits, the chairman of Zentaku Kogyo Company Ltd. (Zentaku), David Wu Chongrang, aimed to improve the standard of living of his staff by steadily raising their salaries and benefits. In fact, the key performance indicator David had set for himself was to raise his employees’ salaries regularly to a preset target benchmark. Contrary to conventional approaches, over the past sixteen years (2006–2022) David had reduced Zentaku’s revenue by 28 per cent and the number of employees by two-thirds, while raising the annual gross profit per employee to 239 per cent. Zentaku had achieved more with less by transforming itself through the rigorous implementation of lean production, inspired by the famed Toyota Production System, but Zentaku’s future leadership now faced challenges in sustaining the success Zentaku had achieved. Were the management methods adopted in the past applicable to the younger generation of workers? How could the current management pass the enterprise to the younger generation while ensuring employees remained fulfilled in the workplace?

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Green Consultant, a Singapore-based environmental consulting firm, had worked with several financial institutions before 2023 and was aware that many were interested in expanding their loan portfolios to include more environmentally inclined clients. In January 2023, one such client, a Singapore-based small and medium enterprise (SME) named Chang & Lee Manufacturing (CLM), approached Green Consultant to prepare a business proposal on how the SME could transition to solar energy. A green finance analyst at Green Consultant had one month to deliver a proposal to CLM. He had to consider the type of solar business model, the financing option, and the CLM stakeholders to engage, alongside CLM’s operational and financial conditions, to recommend the most economically feasible solar solution for CLM.

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In June 2023, Zerodha, a leading player in India’s discount brokerage industry, was at a crossroads. Founded in 2010 by Nikhil and Nithin Kamath, who were avid stock traders from a young age, the company had grown significantly by putting customers first. The pandemic and low-interest environment had provided a strong tailwind to the sector as well as the company, especially in terms of the number of customers and revenues. However, the competition was nipping at Zerodha’s heels. Many start-ups offered similar technology interfaces, and some were funded by venture capital. A few were spending aggressively to court customers as well as tech employees. With a debt-free balance sheet built through several years of profitable operations, Zerodha could pursue strategies that required large spending, but the key question was: should Zerodha deviate from its time-tested strategy of being a cost leader and not following the herd in the new post-pandemic environment? 

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Publication Date: 28/08/2023
St. Luke’s Hospital (SLH) started out as a community hospital (CH) to help rehabilitate patients who had undergone or were undergoing treatment at acute-care hospitals. By 2016, SLH’s range of services had increased manifold, making SLH one of the few CHs with a comprehensive suite of services, such as rehabilitative, wound, and dementia care. Beyond inpatient care, SLH also offered outpatient and support services such as day-patient rehabilitation, diagnostics and laboratory services, and home-care services. To meet the growing health-care needs of an aging population, Singapore adopted the CH concept for its national health-care master plan, which projected a tripling in the number of CH beds over the next 10–15 years. As more new public CHs were established, especially in the western region of Singapore—where SLH used to operate as the only CH—SLH had to review its role and future direction. To sustain its competitive advantage, should the organization invest its resources into strengthening its existing capabilities, or diversify into new areas of growth? Tan had to provide his recommendation at the next quarterly board meeting.

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The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is Malaysia’s national private-sector pension program. It has grown into one of the largest pension funds in the world. The success of the EPF and Malaysia as a whole have brought new challenges. As life expectancy increases and the population ages, how can the EPF ensure adequate pension coverage and take care of Malaysians’ increasing retirement needs? As technology replaces the need for branches and customer-facing staff, how and where should the EPF channel its valuable human resources? How should the EPF optimally invest its ever-increasing funds? These are the questions the EPF’s chief strategy officer has to answer as he charts a way forward in the 21st century.

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In the early days of 2021, GameStop, a US video game retailer, saw its share price sky-rocketed with no apparent rational explanation other than an army of small retail investors winning a trading war against a group of bearish hedge funds. At the peak of the battle, Robinhood, an online broker, suddenly stopped its customers from buying the shares of GameStop. This triggered a public outcry as the complex web of relationships between Robinhood and a few large financial institutions, among others, Citadel Securities and Melvin Capital Management, unfolded. Common market practices such as short selling and the payment for order flow (or PFOF) were also called into question. The case discusses how the stock trading ecosystem should and may change after this saga.