■ Regulations
Brokerages investigated
US federal regulators are investigating more than a dozen major brokerage firms for possibly executing some stock trades in ways that favor the firms at the expense of their customers, people familiar with the matter said Monday. Examiners at the Securities and Exchange Commission discovered the trading patterns -- in which the brokerages apparently failed to obtain the best available stock price for customers -- and notified the agency's enforcement attorneys about two weeks ago, two people said, confirming a report Monday in The New York Times. They spoke on condition of anonymity. In an investigation described as preliminary, the SEC examiners also formally notified the firms of the problems, according to these people. They include Ameritrade, E-Trade Financial, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab.
■ Display industry
LG moves into No. 2 spot
LG Electronics Inc of South Korea overtook Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co as the world's second-largest maker of plasma display panels during the third quarter, a researcher said. LG increased shipments in the three months ended Sept. 30 by 20 percent from the second quarter, to 192,892 panels, raising the Seoul-based company's market share to 21.5 percent from 19.6 percent, Displaybank said in an e-mailed statement. Matsushita, which sells products under the Panasonic brand, had an unchanged 21.1 percent market share after shipments rose 9.2 percent, the researcher said.
■ Insurance
Marsh ousts executives
Two top executives of scandal-tarred insurance firm Marsh Inc have been ousted, the company said, the latest casualties of an industry probe by New York's attorney general. Roger Egan, president and chief operating officer of Marsh, and Christopher Treanor, chairman and chief executive of the firm's global placement business, were "asked to step down from their positions" Monday, the company said. "These management decisions were difficult and were not based on any suggestion of culpability," Michael Cherkasky, president and CEO of the firm's parent company, Marsh & McLennan Cos, said in a written release. "However, at the end of the day, Mr. Egan and Mr. Treanor were accountable for the areas of the business that have been the focus of investigations ... and, therefore, we thought it was appropriate to make these changes."
■ Semiconductors
Infineon reports turnaround
German semiconductor company Infineon AG reported yesterday that it returned to the black in fiscal 2004 after three straight money-losing years amid a general recovery in the world chip market, but warned of a slowdown ahead. Infineon chief executive Wolfgang Ziebart said the company is "not satisfied" with the earnings, which came to 61 million euros (US$78.9 million) in the year ending Sept. 30. He cited costs from negative antitrust rulings for having cut into profits. The figure posed a nearly one-half billion euro turnaround after Infineon had lost 435 million euros in fiscal 2003. The final earnings figure came after Infineon managed a 44- million-euro profit in the last quarter through Sept. 30, falling far short of many analysts' forecasts of a fourth-quarter earnings of some 145 million euros.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from