■BANKING
RBS faces class action
A New York law firm announced on Saturday it had filed a class action complaint in US court against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for allegedly issuing false statements that exposed shareholders to risky subprime loans. The law firm Murray, Frank & Sailer said it was acting on behalf of shareholders over two separate public offerings made in May 2006 and September 2007. The shares closed at US$5 and US$5.70 on Friday, a fraction of their original offering price of US$25. The lawyers said RBS “failed to disclose risks that RBS’ exposure to the subprime mortgage market was understated,” that “RBS would be forced to take write-downs” that “would substantially decrease RBS’ capital levels,” which “would force RBS to accept a bailout by the British government.” RBS is now 70 percent owned by the British government. The bank has forecast it would make a British corporate record annual loss of up to £28 billion (US$41 billion).
■AUTOMOBILES
Fiat aid package imminent
A bank loan totaling 3 billion euro (US$3.9 billion) to help struggling Italian carmaker Fiat is “almost ready,” ANSA news agency reported on Saturday. The funds are “almost ready and only the technical details are being worked out,” ANSA quoted Enrico Salza, the executive board chairman of Italy’s biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo, as saying. Last Monday, Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne said he expects this year to be the company’s toughest year to date, while also warning that the country’s auto sector could shed 60,000 jobs unless the state comes to the rescue. The massive bank loan comes less than two weeks after Fiat announced a major tie-up with Chrysler, slashed its forecast for this year and said it would cut production this month and next month.
■ECONOMY
Stiglitz gives advice
The US fiscal stimulus plan of more than US$800 billion should contain tax cuts focused more on investment than consumption, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said. “We really need more investment,” Stiglitz, a Columbia University economist, told Bloomberg last Wednesday. “Too much of it is on the side of tax reductions” for consumers. “We know that those tax reductions are not likely to be very effective,” Stiglitz said, adding that the tax benefits for businesses “are not as linked as I would like them to be to investment.”
■STEEL
Union extends talks
The United Steelworkers Union said on Saturday it would extend by 24 hours talks for a new labor contract for US refinery workers, delaying a possible strike that could affect over half of US refining capacity. “Sufficient progress has been made in our deliberations today to warrant a rolling 24-hour extension at all locations,” USW spokeswoman Lynne Baker said in a statement. “Discussions are continuing.” A spokesman for lead refiner negotiator Shell Oil Co said the company expected a successful conclusion to the talks. “Shell is committed to resolving the remaining issues at the negotiating table,” Shell spokesman Stan Mays said. “We are optimistic that a mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached with the USW.” The existing three-year contract was set to expire yesterday morning shortly after midnight. After that, as many as 24,000 workers at US refineries, chemical plants and pipelines could have begun walking off their jobs. Union and industry negotiators meeting in Austin, Texas, had to reach a deal yesterday or face a possible strike.
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