TIER 1
Countries whose governments fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards.
TIER 2
Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards,
but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those
standards.
TIER 2 WATCH LIST
Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards,
but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those
standards AND:
a)
The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant
or is significantly increasing;
b)
There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms
of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or
c)
The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into
compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take
additional future steps over the next year.
TIER 3
Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are
not making significant efforts to do so.
Page54
TIER 1
AUSTRALIA
KOREA, SOUTH
TAIWAN
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TIER 2
JAPAN
TIER 2 WATCH LIST
CHINA (PRC)
TIER 3
KOREA, NORTH
Page199
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JAPAN:
Draft and enact a comprehensive anti-trafficking law prohibiting all forms of trafficking
consistent with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol;
significantly increase efforts to investigate and prosecute forced labor cases and punish
convicted traffickers with jail time;
enact the TITP reform bill;
increase enforcement of bans on excessive deposits, “punishment” agreements, withholding
of passports, and other practices that contribute to forced labor in the TITP;
implement the newly expanded victim identification procedures for front-line officers to
recognize both male and female victims of forced labor or sex trafficking;
enhance screening of victims to ensure potential victims of trafficking are not detained or
forcibly deported for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking;
set aside resources to provide specialized care and assistance to trafficking victims,
including designated shelters for trafficking victims;
aggressively investigate, prosecute, convict, and punish Japanese nationals who engage in
child sex tourism;
and accede to the 2000 UN Transnational Organized Crime Convention and the TIP Protocol.
July 24, 2015, 12:20 A.M. ET
Goldman: Why Won Is The Most Vulnerable
By Shuli Ren
Emerging markets currencies are having a bad week.
The Australian dollar slumped to a six-year low, the Korean won reached a three-year low,
and the Thai baht is heading for the biggest weekly drop in three months. China’s weaker-
than-expected July manufacturing data as well as a commodities slump contributed to the losses.
But according to Goldman Sachs, the Korean won is the most vulnerable, with another 12.6%
downside.
First, the Bank of Korea wants to loosen monetary policies but “the easing may most likely
come through a weaker KRW (given the reluctance to lower rates further because of high
domestic leverage),” wrote Goldman.
The Korean government last month unveiled a series of new measures, such as the new
“foreign equities investment fund” to encourage Korean households to trade overseas assets,
as a way to cool down the won. In the last year, the won has appreciated 6.8% against the
Japanese yen. Korea competes directly with Japan in the exports market. Meanwhile, the
central bank is reluctant to lower rates because Korean households are already over-leveraged
in the housing market.
Second, the won is highly liquid, which makes shorting it easy:
Among EM Asian currencies, KRW has the best combination of low bid-ask spread, low carry cost,
and high liquidity. This offers investors the benefit of separate implementation of the equity
and currency views.
Apart from asking us to buy the U.S. dollar against the won, Goldman suggests that we buy
6-month put on the iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF (EWY) to hedge against large losses.
