■ Japan
Mizuho to list on NYSE
Megabank Mizuho Financial Group announced yesterday that it will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange next week. The second-biggest bank by assets said its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) will list on the NYSE from Wednesday. Most foreign companies' stocks that trade in the US do so as ADRs. The banking group said the listing is part of efforts to gain investor confidence and promote transparency in corporate governance under its business plan released in April. Mizuho said it has no plans to issue new shares or conduct other fund raising.
■ Economics
IMF ups China forecast
The IMF on Tuesday notched up its economic growth forecast for China to over 10.5 percent, while urging the country to rein in excess investment and reform its currency regime. "We would estimate that growth this year would probably be a little over 10.5 percent," the IMF's mission chief for China, Steve Dunaway, told reporters on a conference call. Chinese exports have outstripped expectations given in the Fund's most recent report on China last month, when the organization predicted Chinese growth this year of 10 percent.
■ Electronics
Sony warns of PS3 scams
Sony Corp issued a warning against false promotional offers for its upcoming PlayStation 3 video game console. A number of Web sites have been promoting pre-orders on discounted or bulk shipments of the game system -- without the cooperation of Sony, the company stated on Tuesday. Company representatives did not name the sites but suggested consumers can avoid potential scams by purchasing PlayStation products only from authorized retailers and resellers, which includes well-known stores such as GameStop, EB Games, Best Buy and Wal-Mart. The PlayStation 3 system, with models priced between US$500 and US$600, is set to go on sale in the US on Nov. 17, though only in limited quantities.
■ Software
Tata expands in Europe
India's top outsourcing company Tata Consultancy Services Ltd has bought a 75 percent stake in Swiss software products company TKS-Teknosoft SA for US$80 million, hoping to gain a bigger presence in the European market. The acquisition would also help Tata Consultancy Services, which writes software for companies such as American Express Co, General Motors Corp, British Telecom PLC, Microsoft Corp and Dell Inc, expand its product portfolio in the banking and financial services segment, a Tata statement said on Tuesday.
■ Banking
China passes graft change
China's legislature has passed an amendment to the banking law aimed at fighting growing corruption as the sector opens up to greater foreign competition, state press said yesterday. The amendment was passed by the National People's Congress on Tuesday and will allow banking supervisory organs to investigate non-financial institutions and individuals connected with financial institutions, the China Daily reported. The amendment is designed to further enhance supervision of the banking sector in the face of rising foreign competition when the sector is fully opened at the end of the year, it said. Last year, a total of 461 cases of bank fraud involving more than 1 million yuan (US$125,000) were discovered.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)