■FINANCE
Merrill Lynch sees last day
New York City investment bank Merrill Lynch has seen its last day. As of yesterday, the company became part of the North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. At the closing bell on New Year’s Eve on the fifth floor of the World Financial Center in Manhattan, Merrill Lynch & Co’s employees held what’s known as a clapoff: Hundreds of them stood and applauded solemnly to pay tribute to their company. Merrill Lynch lost billions of dollars in the subprime mortgage crisis.
■COMPUTERS
Ricoh, IBM team up
Ricoh Co and IBM Corp will tie up to sell products such as copiers and computer servers in the US, sharing their marketing networks, the Nikkei Shimbun reported. Marketing staff from both companies will conduct joint visits to clients in the US starting early this year, the newspaper report said, without citing a source. With the tie-up with IBM, Ricoh is aiming at boosting its sales by ¥100 billion during the next two to three years, the Nikkei report said. The two companies will also jointly develop software to be used for Ricoh’s copiers and printers, the report said.
■FINANCE
Kookmin to offer new loans
Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s biggest, will provide 1.5 trillion won (US$1.2 billion) in new loans to small and medium-sized companies to ease cash shortages as the economy slows. The bank will lend 500 billion won to manufacturing clients with stable credit, Kookmin said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. A further 1 trillion won will go to small and medium-sized enterprises whose credit is more than 95 percent guaranteed by state-run loan guarantors. Starting tomorrow, Kookmin will also enable companies to get larger discounts on interest rates and will defer the repayment of principal on foreign-currency loans made to invest in facilities.
■FINANCE
China may issue bonds
The Chinese government may issue bonds on behalf of local authorities next month to raise funds for projects to spur growth and increase employment, the China Business Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. The Ministry of Finance will make an official announcement at the central fiscal work conference on Jan. 5, the newspaper said. The State Council will determine each local government’s quota on Jan. 20 and the bonds are scheduled to be sold on Feb. 1, the report said. The bonds will be traded on China’s interbank and securities markets, the report said. The National People’s Congress will monitor how local governments spend the money raised in the debt offerings.
■SINGAPORE
PM pessimistic on 2009
The economy cannot avoid being hit by the global economic recession and will face difficult prospects this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said in his New Year’s message on Wednesday night. The global economic recession, the most serious in 60 years, would be followed not by a quick rebound, but by several more years of slow growth, Lee said. He said he expected the first half of this year to be difficult for the country, with more companies downsizing, resulting in job losses. The country registered 1.5 percent economic growth, which was below the widely projected 2.5 percent growth, Channel News Asia reported yesterday.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
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