■ BANKING
RBS may sell bank stake
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), one of three banks bailed out by the British government in October, is considering selling its £2 billion (US$3 billion) stake in Bank of Chinan (BOC, 中國銀行), the Financial Times said yesterday. RBS chief executive Stephen Hester visited Beijing this week to meet with BOC executives and regulators and flagged up a possible divestment of its 4.3 per cent stake, valued at US$3 billion, the paper said. “No final decision has been made about whether the BOC stake will be sold,” the FT quoted a person familiar with the situation as saying. “But the Chinese are now aware of RBS’ thinking on the issue. Selling the stake is among the options.”
■BANKING
BOJ to support credit
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) said yesterday it would provide ¥1.22 trillion (US$$13 billion) in emergency loans to financial institutions as part of a new program to spur lending to the country’s businesses. Under the new program, Japan’s central bank will accept bonds, commercial paper and short-term debt issued by companies as collateral and provide low-interest loans to local banks, hoping to encourage lending back to the companies, said Hidetsu Chida, a BOJ official. There is no limit to the amount of loans the BOJ can provide. It will issue the loans until the end of March in a total of six lending operations. The interest rate for the loans is 0.1 percent, the same as the BOJ’s benchmark overnight rate.
■BANKING
Seoul to help SMEs
The South Korean government plans to give a further 50 trillion won (US$38 billion) in loans and credit guarantees to small and medium enteprises to help stem defaults as the economy faces its first recession in a decade. The government will try to direct funds to companies that can be saved from bankruptcy, the Financial Services Commission said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. More than 60 percent of the funds will be extended in the first half, it said. Korea Development Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea, both state-owned, plan to provide a total of 44 trillion won in loans to smaller firms this year, nearly 40 percent more than last year, the commission said.
■MEDIA
Time Warner facing losses
Time Warner, the world’s largest media conglomerate, said on Wednesday it would take a US$25 billion write-down in its fourth quarter, propelling the firm to its first annual loss in six years. Before Wednesday’s announcement, the firm had expected a profit last year of between US$1.04 and US$1.07 per share. Time Warner, which owns HBO, AOL and Warner Bros, said US$15 billion of the charges stemmed from a decline in the value of the cable TV franchises owned by Time Warner cable. The rest came from declines in the value of its publishing and Internet subsidiaries.
■BANKING
Macquarie warns over profit
Australia’s largest investment bank Macquarie Group warned investors yesterday that exceptionally challenging market conditions last month would hit profits. “During the quarter to 31 December market conditions were exceptionally challenging for almost all Macquarie’s businesses, adversely impacting levels of business activity and profitability,” the bank said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. Macquarie also announced that the sale of its US$1.1 billion margin lending portfolio to Adelaide and Bendigo Bank would be completed yesterday.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique