■BANKING
FirstFed files for Chapter 11
FirstFed Financial Corp, a savings and loan holding company whose First Federal Bank of California was closed last month by US regulators, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. FirstFed listed assets of US$4.47 million and debt of US$159.7 million in a filing yesterday in US Bankruptcy Court in Woodland Hills, California. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) said on Dec. 18 that First Federal’s 39 branches would be taken over by OneWest Bank FSB, the Pasadena, California-based bank created out of the former IndyMac Bancorp. First Federal had about US$6.1 billion in assets and US$4.5 billion in deposits as of Sept. 30, the FDIC said. FirstFed, ranked among California’s 10 biggest banking companies, accumulated losses during the past two years as falling home prices led option adjustable-rate mortgages to reset at higher monthly rates than borrowers could afford.
■TELECOMS
Court approves Nortel sale
Nortel Networks Corp won court permission to auction its Internet telephone business with an opening bid of US$282 million from Genband Inc, which makes equipment for Internet calling. Bankruptcy judges in the US and Canada approved rules for the auction, including as much as US$13.6 million in fees for Genband, which is co-owned by Equity Partners III LP, an investment manager for JPMorgan Chase & Co. The two judges, acting in a joint hearing linked by audio and video, overruled an objection to the fees, agreeing with Nortel that the payments were needed to lock in Genband’s bid. The incentive fees were necessary because “this is a fragile business,” Nortel chief strategy officer George Riedel said on Wednesday in court in Wilmington, Delaware. The unit lost as much as US$17 million in the last quarter and the outlook for future business is becoming less certain, he said.
■BANKING
Ex-SG trader to face trial
Former Societe Generale (SG) trader Jerome Kerviel is expected to stand trial in June on charges connected to a multibillion-euro trading scandal, a Paris court said. Societe Generale accused Kerviel of betting tens of billions of euros of the bank’s money without permission, which led to almost 5 billion euros (more than US$7 billion) in losses once the bank unwound his positions in January 2008. Kerviel argues his superiors knew about his risky transactions. SG says he acted alone. Kerviel was charged with forgery, breach of trust and unauthorized computer use. He faces up to five years in prison and 375,000 euros in fines, if convicted.
■DEFENSE
Lockheed to cut 1,200 jobs
US global security giant Lockheed Martin said on Wednesday it would shed about 1,200 US jobs as part of a restructuring within its electronics systems business. Lockheed Martin announced the job reductions as it unveiled the name and senior-level organizational structure for a new business created in a realignment of two prior stand-alone businesses. Mission Systems & Sensors (MS2) was launched on Jan. 1 and combines the former Maritime Systems & Sensors, supporting maritime forces, with Systems Integration – Owego. The defense industry giant said the new business retains a “unique breadth and depth of support for maritime forces” paired with a significantly expanded portfolio of capabilities in products, processors, and integration expertise. Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide.
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
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
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
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