■ Electronics
Siemens offices searched
Investigators probing suspected corruption at Siemens AG have searched the offices of top managers, including CEO Klaus Kleinfeld, officials said on Monday. Prosecutors searched the offices of the electronics conglomerate across Germany last week as part of an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of company funds and possible bribery. Anton Winkler, a prosecutor in Munich, and a spokesman for Siemens said Kleinfeld's office was among those searched. The prosecutors are investigating 12 people, including two former Siemens managers, on suspicion that they embezzled more than 20 million euros (US$25.6 million) from the company's landline communications unit, COM. Four of the suspects are in custody.
■ Finance
Mitsubishi settles suit
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc said yesterday it had agreed to pay ¥2.5 billion (US$21.2 million) to Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co to settle a two-year legal battle over the scrapping of a partial merger in favor of a deal to create the world's largest bank. Sumitomo Trust had agreed in principle in May 2004 to buy the trust banking unit of then UFJ Holdings Inc, which was buckling under a mountain of bad debts. But in a merger battle that was unusually bitter by Japanese standards, UFJ later abandoned the plan in favor of a full merger with Mitsubishi.
■ Aviation
Korean Air to buy 25 planes
South Korea's flag carrier Korean Air said yesterday it would buy 25 aircraft from Boeing Co for around US$5.5 billion, the largest aviation deal in the nation's history. Under the agreement, Boeing will deliver 15 passenger aircraft and 10 freighters to Korean Air Co -- the world's biggest mover of air cargo -- over a 10-year period beginning in 2009, the airline said in a statement. Korean Air will purchase 10 long-haul 777-300s and five medium-range 737-900/700 passenger jets, as well as 10 freighters, five 747-8Fs and five 777-200s. It has an option on an additional eight planes: four 777-300s, two 747-8Fs and two 737-900s.
■ United States
Paulson issues warning
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called for a "more agile" regulatory framework for publicly traded US firms on Monday, citing a drop in the number of initial public offerings (IPOs). Paulson, in a speech to the Economic Club of New York, said the decline in the number of companies seeking a public listing on US exchanges could raise a challenge to the country's economic competitiveness. Paulson said the US regulatory system had also become "complex and confusing," citing the existence of four separate banking regulators. "Excessive regulation slows innovation, imposes needless costs on investors, and stifles competitiveness and job creation," Paulson said.
■ Automobiles
Proton stirs local interest
Two Malaysian firms are interested in forming a pact with troubled automaker Proton, Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop said yesterday as the government holds talks with PSA Peugeot Citroen and Volkswagen AG. Yakcop said that the government has not excluded local firms from buying the 43 percent stake in Proton held by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the state's investment arm. Local motor giant, Naza Group said it had submitted a letter of intent to buy Khazanah's controlling stake. DRB-Hicom has also expressed an interest.
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
‘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)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary