■ FINANCE
Northern Rock submits plan
The board of struggling bank Northern Rock PLC said on Friday it has submitted a revised rescue plan involving a larger amount of new equity to the British government. Northern Rock's board in a statement said it will raise at least US$1.4 billion of new equity if the government chooses its plan. It said the revised plan also increased the economic returns that the government would receive for providing ongoing financial support. The board said its revised plan doesn't involve any significant changes to the business plan it previously submitted, which involved reducing Northern Rock's assets and reorganizing its operations.
■ RETAIL
UK's small grocers get help
Britain's competition watchdog said on Friday it wants to appoint an ombudsman to prevent supermarkets from squeezing grocery suppliers. The Competition Commission's provisional ruling called for a new, stronger code of practice for dealings between retailers and suppliers, which the new ombudsman will enforce. The watchdog will spend three weeks consulting retailers and suppliers on the proposals before compiling its final decision. Small business and environmental lobby groups have long complained that Tesco PLC, J. Sainsbury's PLC and other companies are driving small stores out of business.
■ US
Fed moves given thumbs up
Moves by Congress to pump money into the US economy and by the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates will generate a slightly stronger economy this year, economists predicted on Friday. The economy will experience real growth in GDP of 1.9 percent this year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted, a 0.2 percentage point increase over estimates produced by the agency in December. The effect of the fiscal and monetary policy moves more than make up for a softening in the economy since CBO economists finalized their prior forecast of 1.7 percent growth. The agency did not say how much of the anticipated increase in GDP was due to the recently passed economic stimulus bill.
■ FINANCE
Mack given compensation
Morgan Stanley said CEO John Mack received compensation valued at about US$41.7 million last year, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed, a year when the investment bank's profit plunged 57 percent. Mack, one of the highest paid bankers on Wall Street, did not receive a bonus last year because of the company's losses, which reached US$3.59 billion in the fourth quarter, owing to the subprime crisis. But Mack did receive an US$800,000 salary, stock awards valued at US$40.2 million and US$399,153 of other compensation, the filing showed.
■ EDUCATION
Eisner honors professor
Former Walt Disney Co CEO Michael Eisner has donated US$1.75 million to Denison University to honor one of his favorite professors, the school said on Friday. Eisner is a 1964 graduate of the Ohio university. He made the gift from The Eisner Foundation to establish the Dominick Consolo Endowed Professorship. Consolo, an emeritus professor of English, was an active faculty member at Denison from 1958 until 1992. Eisner has said that he was one of the inspirations for Robin Williams' character in the movie Dead Poets Society.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
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