This in from CNN Business: "Mark Mobius has said he cannot take his money out of China due to the country's capital controls, cautioning investors to be 'very, very careful' about investing in an economy under a tight government grip."
He goes on to say: "I have an account with HSBC in Shanghai. I can't take my money out. The government is restricting flow of money out of the country… I can't get an explanation of why they're doing this … They're putting all kinds of barriers. They don't say: No, you can't get your money out. But they say: give us all the records from 20 years of how you made this money… This is crazy.”
Well, yes, yes it is, but then, that's the CCP for you. What caught my attention about this is that we've been told China was the place to invest for years by… Mark Mobius:
- in 2015, Mark Mobius sees China stock market as ready for MSCI inclusion
- again in 2015, Story of China Still Intact Despite Market Downturn
- in 2018: Emerging markets maven Mark Mobius to launch a new firm with sights on China
- as recently as last year: We’re in a relatively bullish situation in China, says Mobius Capital’s Mobius
The MSCI thing was particularly irritating; those of us with emerging markets index funds (and some common sense) had to go over our portfolios & be sure we weren't suddenly investing in China.
Why do our institutional leaders love China so much?