■ BANKING
Virgin eyes Northern Rock
Britain's Virgin Group, controlled by entrepreneur Richard Branson, is in talks to take over troubled bank Northern Rock, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday. The mobile phones-to-flights group could lead a consortium including Middle East and US investors that would inject cash in exchange for a controlling stake and stabilize funding at the troubled bank, the source said. The group could make a proposal as early as today, but the timing was uncertain, he said. Northern Rock shares jumped as much as 6 percent on the report.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Toyota loses Lexus chief
Toyota Motor Corp has suffered its second high-profile defection in little more than a month after Ford Motor Co poached a senior executive from the Japanese automaker's luxury Lexus division. The No. 2 US automaker announced late on Thursday that it had hired Lexus group vice president Jim Farley, who has spent nearly two decades at Toyota. Farley, 45, will become head of marketing and communications at Ford. The announcement comes about a month after Chrysler announced that it had poached Toyota veteran Jim Press just months after he was made Toyota's first foreign director.
■ FOREX
FATF criticizes Iran's laws
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international anti-money laundering watchdog, yesterday highlighted lax Iranian regulation against money laundering and financing terrorism. FATF, which groups 34 countries, issued a statement calling on Tehran to take action. "The Financial Action Task Force is concerned that the Islamic Republic of Iran's lack of a comprehensive anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism [AML/CFT] regime represents a significant vulnerability within the international financial system," it said. "FATF calls upon Iran to address on an urgent basis its deficiencies." The statement went on to say: "FATF members are advising their financial institutions to take the risk arising from the deficiencies in Iran's AML/CFT regime into account for enhanced due diligence ... FATF looks forward to engaging with Iran to address these deficiencies."
■ ENERGY
EDF mulls Inter RAO stake
French electricity utility EDF is in talks to acquire a minority stake in Russia's Inter RAO electricity exporter, the Kommersant reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the situation. The sources did not know the exact size of the stake which EDF could acquire, though one of them told the daily that EDF would not take less than 25 percent in the company. The paper said talks were still at an early stage. Analysts estimate that Inter RAO was worth between US$2 billion and US$3.5 billion indicating that EDF would have to pay US$500 million to US$875 million for 25 percent of the utility.
■ RETAIL
Wal-Mart keen on Malaysia
US retail giant Wal-Mart is keen to open stores in Malaysia, Deputy Trade Minister S. Veerasingam said yesterday, amid a drive to lure investment and boost economic growth. He declined to elaborate further amid reports the company had formally applied to enter the Malaysian market. He said German company Metro, one of Europe's largest retailers, had applied for permission to set up operations.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from