■BANKING
Blackstone eyes UK market
US investment group Blackstone is examining the possibility of entering the UK banking market, chief executive Stephen Schwarzman said on the sidelines of a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday. Last week sources familiar with the matter said that Blackstone, one of the world’s leading buyout firms, had applied for a British banking license and was working with fund manager Cambridge Place on a venture called The Home and Savings Bank. Schwarzman declined to comment on whether Blackstone had applied for a UK banking license, but when asked whether he was looking to enter the UK market, he said: “We are looking at one potential situation.” He added that the group was “looking at buying financial assets in other places in the world.”
■LIGHTING
Philips back in the black
Royal Philips Electronics NV, the world’s largest maker of lights, reported a net profit of 251 million euros (US$355 million) for the fourth quarter, citing lower one-time charges and job cuts. The net profit reverses a loss of 1.18 billion euros in the same period a year ago, which included 629 million euros in impairment charges on assets. Fourth-quarter sales fell 3.4 percent to 7.26 billion euros. The company said its earnings were higher at all main divisions, despite sales declines. Philips has shed 5,474 jobs in the past year.
■FINANCE
AIG unit taps new chairman
Douglas Steenland, the former CEO of Northwest Airlines Inc, replaced Steven Udvar-Hazy as chairman of American International Group Inc’s International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC), the company said on its Web site. Udvar-Hazy, who remains CEO of the airplane-leasing unit he founded, may leave the company as early as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. John Plueger, ILFC’s president and chief operating officer, may be named Udvar-Hazy’s successor, the newspaper said. AIG has been trying to sell the Century City, California-based leasing business as the insurer seeks to raise capital — part of a plan to repay its US$182.3 billion bailout by the US government.
■INTERNET
MySpace helping artists
Social networking site MySpace, which has enabled many artists to launch their careers, is now helping to pay them back millions of dollars in “lost” royalties for songs and performances. MySpace CEO Owen van Natta said on Sunday the firm had signed a groundbreaking deal with performance rights group SoundExchange to track down some 25,000 major, independent and unsigned artists owed more than US$14 million in unpaid royalties. Van Natta said he planned to use the MySpace platform to put the artists in touch with SoundExchange, a non-profit performance rights organization that collects royalties for the streaming of music on Internet or satellite radio on behalf of sound recording copyright owners.
■OIL
Prices dip below US$75
Oil prices stayed below US$75 a barrel in Asia yesterday, dampened by falls in regional stock markets and on Wall Street over US President Barack Obama’s plans to restrict big banks. Benchmark crude for delivery next month dipped US$0.02 to US$74.52 a barrel at midday Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost US$1.54 to settle at US$74.54 on Friday.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,