PRIVATIZATION: The government hopes the move will be a shot in the arm for the banking sector, although critics said it could result in a lack of services in small towns
Japan broke up its sprawling post office yesterday, spinning off a bank with the world's largest savings at the start of a privatization process set to reshape the country's financial services industry.

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EU ministers were yesterday to examine plans to scrap the vestiges of national monopolies for postal services, including a proposal for total liberalization for mail delivery by 2011.

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CORPORATE SENTIMENT: While the index for large manufacturers remained unchanged from June, a drop in confidence was reported at smaller firms
Recent global market turmoil and uncertainty about the US economy haven't dented confidence at Japan's major manufacturers, a closely watched Bank of Japan survey showed yesterday.

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Sunday warned that a global economic downturn was looming, triggered by the "lunacy" of public debt.

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Olympic host Beijing plans to close down at least 1,000 small unlicensed coal mines and sack all the workers ahead of next year's Olympic Games, state media reported yesterday.

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UBS SA, the largest Swiss bank, said yesterday it would post a pretax loss of up to 800 million Swiss francs (US$690 million) in the third quarter, mainly because of losses linked to the US subprime mortgage crisis.

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■ ELECTRONICS
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