■ Finance
SGX announces alliance
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) said yesterday it will form an alliance with the Korea Exchange, a move in line with its long-term plan to forge partnerships with regional bourses. A memorandum of understanding to formalize the alliance will be signed tomorrow, SGX said in a statement. The alliance will include discussions on setting up a derivatives co-trading link with Korea Exchange, SGX said. SGX has formed working partnerships with other bourses including the Jakarta Stock Exchange and Bursa Malaysia.
■ Banking
Mitsubishi UFJ profits fall
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the world's largest bank by assets, said yesterday its net profits fell by 28.7 percent in the six months to September because of reduced gains from bad loan write-backs. The bank reported interim net earnings of ¥507.2 billion (US$4.3 billion) after combined profits of ¥711.7 billion a year earlier at Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and UFJ Holdings which merged in October last year. The drop was primarily due to a decline of ¥211.8 billion in the reversal of allowances for loan losses which are accounted for as extraordinary gains, the bank said. Net gains on debt securities also declined by ¥65.7 billion from a year earlier.
■ Steel
Evraz to buy US steel firm
The Russian steel giant Evraz is to buy US firm Oregon Steel Mills for US$2.3 billion, providing the Russian group with a "footprint" in North America, Evraz said yesterday. The two companies "have signed a definitive agreement under which Evraz will acquire Oregon Steel for US$63.25 per share, or an aggregate price of approximately US$2.3 billion," Evraz said in a statement. The deal follows speculation about Evraz's plans to create a Russian powerhouse with extensive international holdings.
■ Conglomerates
Kim decides not to appeal
The former chairman of collapsed South Korean conglomerate Daewoo has not appealed an eight-and-a half-year prison sentence for embezzlement and accounting fraud within the legal timeframe, a court official said yesterday. Kim Woo-choong had a week to contest the Seoul High Court's Nov. 3 conviction, which also ordered him to pay back 18 trillion won (US$19 billion) and pay a fine of 10 million won. Daewoo collapsed under massive debts in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, when the South Korean government was forced to accept a US$58 billion International Monetary Fund bailout. It was unclear why Kim decided not to appeal.
■ Real Estate
Blackstone agrees buyout
Blackstone Group LP, manager of the world's largest buyout fund, agreed to buy Equity Office Properties Trust, the largest US office landlord, for about US$20 billion in the biggest-ever real estate acquisition. Equity Office shareholders will receive US$48.50 a share, an 8.5 percent premium to Friday's closing price of US$44.72, the companies said in a statement released by Business Wire on Sunday. The Equity Office board unanimously approved the offer for the real estate investment trust on Sunday night. Including the assumption of Equity Office debt, the total value of the transaction is US$36 billion, making it the biggest leveraged buyout in history.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
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