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World Business Quick Take

■ Management
Boeing CEO sacked
Boeing Co's board has ousted Harry Stonecipher as president and CEO because of his relationship with a female company executive, Boeing officials announced yesterday. Board chairman Lew Platt said the ouster came after an investigation by internal and external legal counsel, which found that Stonecipher had violated the company's code of conduct. "The board concluded that the facts reflected poorly on Harry's judgment and would impair his ability to lead the company," Platt said. According to a news release, the board asked for and received Stonecipher's resignation on Sunday and appointed chief financial officer James Bell, 56, as interim president and CEO. Stonecipher will also leave the company's board. The release did not identify the woman, and said only that she did not report directly to Stonecipher.

■ Stock exchanges
Deutsche rescinds LSE offer
German stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse AG is withdrawing its preliminary US$2.6 billion offer for the London Stock Exchange, the company said in a press release on Sunday. The company said the LSE wasn't in a position to recommend a deal at a price Deutsche Boerse finds acceptable. Deutsche Boerse had made a preliminary cash offer of £5.3 (US$10.05) per share for the LSE on Jan. 27. But Deutsche Boerse said it may make a new bid for the London bourse "if Euronext or another third party announces an offer for the London Stock Exchange or in such other circumstances as are permitted by the UK Takeover Code." In the statement, company chief executive Werner Seifert said he still believes a merger with the LSE would benefit Deutsche Boerse stakeholders, but added "a significant portion of our shareholder base is focused on return of capital in the short term."

■ Aid
Retain China loans: panel
Japan should avoid setting a date for ending its yen loans to China as it would risk further damaging already chilly ties between the neighbors, an advisory panel said yesterday. Most members on the panel -- made up of academics, officials from non-government organizations and journalists -- are opposed to setting a deadline for ending the loans, which the government is reported to be considering, a panel member told reporters. Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told the panel that Japan should review its aid policy in view of China's robust and fast-developing economy, although he gave no details of any plans to stop the assistance, including the loans. Japan has cut low-interest loans to China for three consecutive years.

■ Real estate
Shanghai imposes new tax
Shanghai imposed a 5.55 percent tax on the profit from sales of apartments within the first year of their purchase, to try to thwart real-estate speculation that's blamed for driving up property prices. The tax, which took effect yesterday, comprises a 5 percent capital-gains tax and a 0.55 percent special levy to finance city construction, education and river dredging, the government said in a statement posted on its Web site. The rule applies to sellers of both new and second-hand homes. Shanghai is China's fastest-growing property market, where housing prices jumped 10.4 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the government. Lending to the real estate industry last year accounted for three-fourths of new loans.

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