Capital Risk

There are a number of forms of capital risk, which in the main represents the likelihood that an investor (person or company) will lose some fraction of his investment, up to and including all of it. Two such forms, when doing international investing is currency risk and political risk. Currency risk is the risk that the exchange rate between the [company’s] home nation currency and the currency of the nation in which that [company] is investing will move against the company. This risk exists in any international transaction (treating the eurozone as a financial intranational region).

Political risk is the risk that the government of the invested-in nation will interfere with the repatriation of any moneys—principle or profit—to the company’s home nation.

Enter the PRC. But invest there at your peril.

China has capped the amount of money Chinese holders of bank and credit cards can withdraw outside the country, in its latest effort to discourage people from moving badly needed capital offshore.

So far, this only applies to PRC citizens. Its purpose, though, is to stem the outflow of cash from the PRC’s economy. That means it’s a short walk to limiting a foreign company’s ability to repatriate any part of its principle investment or profit.

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