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World Business Quick Take

■ BANKING
ANZ appoints new chief
Australia's third-largest bank, Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group, announced yesterday that HSBC regional chief Mike Smith would take over its top job from Oct. 1, in a move expected to consolidate the bank's push into Asia. ANZ chairman Charles Goode said Smith, 50, would succeed John McFarlane as the bank's chief executive. Goode said ANZ undertook a global search before selecting Smith, who is currently chief executive and president of HSBC in Hong Kong, chairman of the Hang Seng and HSBC Malaysia banks, as well as global head of commercial banking for the giant HSBC.

■ BANKING
Citigroup ups stake in Nikko
Citigroup Inc has increased its stake in Nikko Cordial Corp to over two-thirds in terms of voting rights, giving it full control of Japan's third-largest brokerage, officials said yesterday. The US banking giant spent ?117 billion (US$961 million) to raise its stake in Nikko Cordial to 68.23 percent earlier this month, Citigroup spokeswoman Chikako Ooki said. It previously owned 61.08 percent of voting rights. Raising its stake above the key threshold allows Citigroup to call the shots at the scandal-tainted Japanese brokerage. With more than two-thirds of the voting rights, Citigroup no longer faces the prospect of a shareholder veto of its actions at Nikko Cordial.

■ PRODUCT SAFETY
Toothpaste recalled
A Florida company issued a US-wide recall of toothpaste it imported from China and distributed to wholesalers, saying that the product may contain a poisonous chemical. Gold City Enterprise LLC said the roughly 170,000 recalled Shir toothpaste products may contain diethylene glycol, a thickening agent used in antifreeze and as a cheaper substitute for the sweetener glycerin. No injuries or illnesses have been reported. The recalled toothpaste brands are Shir Fresh Mint Fluoride, Shir Fresh Ice Shir Mint Fluoride and Shir Fresh Cool Shir Mint Fluoride.

■ CRIME
Murakami claims innocence
Controversial investor-activist Yoshiaki Murakami declared his innocence yesterday on insider trading charges in the final hearing of a case that touched the central bank chief. Murakami, 47, a former bureaucrat turned aggressive fund manager, told the Tokyo District Court that the allegations against him were "a castle built on sand." "Hearing the prosecutor's claims, I cannot help but to think there was another Yoshiaki Murakami," he said. The court said it would hand down the verdict on July 19. Prosecutors have asked for a maximum three-year sentence and a fine and other penalties totalling ¥1.153 billion (US$9.2 million).

■ COMPUTERS
Number of PCs growing
The number of personal computers in use worldwide will top 1 billion by the end of next year and grow to 2 billion by 2015, a market research firm said on Monday. Forrester Research said its report expects an average annual growth rate of 12 percent in computers put in service between 2003 and 2015, with much of that coming from emerging markets and programs in place to reach previously untapped markets. Forrester said that the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China would account for more than 775 million new PCs by 2015.


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