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World Business Quick Take

■BANKING

FSA censures Citigroup

Citigroup Inc was ordered to suspend some operations in Japan for a month, the nation’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) said. The US bank had inadequate internal controls, the regulator said. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co is in the final stages of talks to buy Citigroup’s Nikko Asset Management Co for more than US$1 billion, the Nikkei reported yesterday. The two companies aim to reach a deal next week, the business daily reported in its evening edition, without naming its sources.



■AUTOMOBILES

Hummer deal unlikely

China’s planning agency is likely to reject a Chinese company’s bid to acquire General Motors Corp’s Hummer unit, in part because its gas-guzzling vehicles conflict with Beijing’s conservation goals, state radio reported. The National Development and Reform Commission is also likely to say Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp (四川騰中重工機械), a maker of construction machinery, lacks expertise to run Hummer, China National Radio said late on Thursday. It cited no source.



■COMPUTING

PC shipments to rise

Gartner Inc analysts are predicting this holiday season will be sweeter than last year’s for the personal computer industry. The technology research group predicts some growth in PC shipments in the final three months of this year, though it did not say how much. PC shipments dropped about 7 percent in the first quarter and Gartner says it expects 10 percent declines from last year’s levels in the next two quarters. For next year, Gartner forecasts PC shipments will rise about 10 percent from this year.



■FRANCE

Confidence edges up

French consumer confidence edged up again this month, but still remains weak, official data showed yesterday. The INSEE statistics body said its consumer confidence index for households rose to minus 37 points this month from minus 40 points in May. The index hit a record low of minus 48 points in July last year. This month, French households were more positive about the outlook on their finances, with this index rising sharply to minus 13 points from minus 23 points in May.



■SOUTH KOREA

Another surplus logged

South Korea logged a current account surplus for the fourth straight month last month as imports fell faster than exports during the ongoing global economic slump, the central Bank of Korea said yesterday. The current account surplus stood at US$3.63 billion in May, compared with US$4.25 billion a month earlier. For the first five months, the accumulated current account surplus amounted to US$16.46 billion.



■UNITED STATES

Swap deals extended

The US Federal Reserve said on Thursday it was extending US dollar swap deals with 13 central banks into next year following a review of liquidity programs aimed at promoting “financial stability.” The deals were clinched beginning last year as the Fed and other key central banks moved to boost lending and unblock the global credit squeeze. The extension of the US dollar swap arrangements through Feb. 1 applies to the central banks of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, the UK, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and the European Central Bank.


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