■FINANCE
Bank discloses exposure
Deutsche Bank said on Thursday it has 3.2 billion euros (US$4 billion) in exposure to government bonds and loans from Greece, Ireland and Italy, three countries struggling to get their finances in order, chief executive Josef Ackermann told shareholders at the group’s annual general assembly in Frankurt. It also had exposure of 500 billion euros to Greek government bonds and loans and another 200 million euros to such investments in Ireland, while it had no exposure to Spain and Portugal. Financial market fears of a European debt crisis have focused on the five countries because of their high deficits, debts or both, which has triggered an unprecedented crisis for the 11-year-old eurozone. According to figures from the Bank for International Settlements at the end of last month, German banks had exposure at the end of last year of US$45 billion to Greece, US$47.5 billion to Portugal and US$237 billion to Spain.
■ITALY
Quarter of economy untaxed
Nearly a quarter of the country’s economy goes untaxed, representing a loss to the state of 120 billion euros a year, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi disclosed on Thursday. “Twenty-two percent of the economy is not declared to tax authorities,” Berlusconi told a meeting of the OECD. He said tax evasion amounted to “at least 120 billion euros.” Stamping out tax evasion and the operation of an underground economy are among austerity measures valued at 24 billion euros unveiled this week by the Italian government as a means of reducing its public deficit.
■AUTOMOBILES
Toyota sales surge
Japanese automaker Toyota yesterday said global sales surged 21.3 percent year-on-year last month, despite millions of safety recalls worldwide that have left it facing a series of lawsuits in the US. The Toyota group, which includes brands Daihatsu and Hino trucks, said it sold 671,921 vehicles last month, up from 554,034 a year earlier, spokesman Paul Nolasco said. The figure was lower than March sales of 876,126, however. The world’s largest automaker said global production jumped 53.8 percent to 667,495 units compared to a year ago, when the industry was in the grip of the financial crisis. Second-largest maker Honda Motor marked its 10th straight monthly increase of domestic sales, which rose 9.5 percent on-year. Third-largest Nissan saw global production rise 57 percent on-year to 319,673, what it called an all time record for April.
■INTERNET
Germany warns Facebook
Germany’s national consumer-protection agency may take legal measures against Facebook if it finds that the social network’s new privacy controls do not meet German data-protection standards. Carola Elbrecht, head of digital projects at the VZBV agency, welcomed the changes to privacy settings announced by Facebook late on Wednesday, but expressed concern that users would still have to actively opt out of default settings making their data public. “This obligates the user, and that’s a transgression of German law,” Elbrecht said on Thursday. “We are currently examining the terms and condition of data storage and usage, and if it again does not comply with German data protection standards we will file for an injunction.” Germany has some of the toughest privacy laws in the world as a result of its experience with state surveillance systems put in place by the Nazis and the former East German Stasi secret police.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
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