With the private equity and venture capital markets cratering, there are a ton of startups here that are in need of capital. Hopefully by the time the exchange actually gets up and running, the economy will be in better shape, allowing it a chance of success.

Details from AFP:

China’s securities regulator on Tuesday issued rules for initial public offerings on a long-waited Nasdaq-style second board aimed at helping the country’s cash-hungry start-up companies.

Firms seeking to list on the second board, the growth enterprise market (GEM), should have a net profit of at least 10 million yuan (1.46 million dollars) over the two-year period before listing, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said on its website.

The watchdog said it could not say when it would start accepting applications, only that it would be at an “appropriate time”.

It said there was still work to be done including the establishment of trading rules, setting up a review committee for the board and training traders, lawyers and accountants on how the board would operate.

Paul Midler’s been on top of this baby shampoo case for a while. Looks like it’s heading into freaky territory:

The FT reports:

The Asian Development Bank on Tuesday halved its 2009 growth forecast for developing countries in Asia, warning that an anticipated rebound in 2010 was heavily dependent on a broader recovery of the world economy.

The Asian lender said that Asia excluding Japan was likely to grow 3.4 per cent this year, compared with a forecast of 7.2 per cent in September. The region is however expected to rebound in 2010 to growth of 6 per cent.

The forecast revision follows a plunge in exports starting in the fourth quarter. While some Asian countries have recently slowed down the decline in exports, the ADB’s acting chief economist, Lee Jong-Wha, suggested that it was too early to say whether Asia’s slowdown had bottomed out.

The forecast adjustment is not shocking as every other organization has done the same. What is slightly depressing is that the rebound numbers they are talking about are export dependent. This is what got us into this mess in the first place (i.e. in Asia), so if we need strong overseas markets to pull us out, well, that really does depend on a lot of stuff going on outside of Asia. I certainly do not see the EU doing much to boost demand, and attempts by the U.S. seem rather anemic.

Nice to see that the ADB is keeping their eye out for the number one policy issue here over the short to medium term:

Mr Lee also encouraged Asian governments to target more carefully their fiscal stimulus packages to ensure that their economies become more dependent on domestic demand rather than external demand. “This is a crisis but this may also be the opportunity to rebalance our growth and strengthen our domestic demand,” he said.

Couldn’t agree more.