Print

Mail

wiki links

World Business Quick Take

■ Bourses
Regulators force settlement
The financial hole left by the clumsy typing of a trader on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose to an estimated US$330 million under a settlement imposed by regulators yesterday. The news came as the government urged the operator of Asia's largest bourse to take steps to shore up its management after the fiasco that saddled Mizuho Securities with a huge loss due to a simple slip of a finger. In the fast-paced, high-stress world of financial market trading, "fat-finger syndrome," when a dealer taps the wrong information into a computer, is one of the risks of the trade -- but rarely has such disastrous results. Mizuho Securities punched in an order to sell 610,000 shares in a telecoms firm at ?1 each instead of the intended one share at 610,000.

■ Labor issues
Delta Air, pilots agree
Delta Air Lines Inc said late on Sunday it has reached a tentative agreement on wage reductions with its pilots' union. The agreement, subject to ratification no later than Dec. 28, provides for a 14 percent hourly wage reduction and reductions in other pilot pay and cost items equivalent to approximately an additional 1 percent hourly wage reduction. The interim reductions with the 6,000 Air Line Pilots Association members at Delta would take effect on Thursday and remain in place while the parties attempt to reach a comprehensive agreement. The company and ALPA will ask a bankruptcy court to suspend a hearing on the company's motion to reject the existing Delta-ALPA collective bargaining agreement. "This agreement reflects the resolve of Delta people to work together to help save the company," said Ed Bastian, Delta's chief financial officer.

■ Electronics
TCL to sell units to Legrand
TCL Corp will sell two units to France's Legrand SA, the world's biggest maker of power sockets and switches for homes and offices, for 1.7 billion yuan (US$209 million). Legrand will fully acquire TCL International Electrical (Huizhou) Co for 1.46 billion yuan and TCL Building Technology (Huizhou) Co for 234.3 million yuan, China's biggest publicly traded consumer-electronics maker said in a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange yesterday. TCL estimates it will make a gain of 1.2 billion yuan if the deal is completed by Dec. 30, it said in the statement. The transaction still needs approval from shareholders and regulators. The company on Oct. 28 forecast a loss for the full year after posting a nine month-loss of 1.2 billion yuan.

■ corporations
M&A deals at record high
Corporate merger and acquisition deals in Asia up to last month rose 39 percent to a record US$370 billion and were the main driver behind a double-digit jump in transactions globally, a study said yesterday. The study by accounting firm KPMG showed that there were 24,806 deals worth US$2.06 trillion globally from January to last month, up 19 percent from 20,888 transactions worth US$1.74 trillion during the same period last year. "The significant rise in deal numbers shows that this year's growth is underpinned by a real improvement in activity levels and not simply skewed by a few larger deals," KPMG said. With 6,921 deals worth US$370 billion, the first 11 months of this year was the busiest-ever period in Asia for corporate deal makers.

This story has been viewed 1322 times.