■ BANKING
Virgin eyes Northern Rock
Britain's Virgin Group, controlled by entrepreneur Richard Branson, is in talks to take over troubled bank Northern Rock, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday. The mobile phones-to-flights group could lead a consortium including Middle East and US investors that would inject cash in exchange for a controlling stake and stabilize funding at the troubled bank, the source said. The group could make a proposal as early as today, but the timing was uncertain, he said. Northern Rock shares jumped as much as 6 percent on the report.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Toyota loses Lexus chief
Toyota Motor Corp has suffered its second high-profile defection in little more than a month after Ford Motor Co poached a senior executive from the Japanese automaker's luxury Lexus division. The No. 2 US automaker announced late on Thursday that it had hired Lexus group vice president Jim Farley, who has spent nearly two decades at Toyota. Farley, 45, will become head of marketing and communications at Ford. The announcement comes about a month after Chrysler announced that it had poached Toyota veteran Jim Press just months after he was made Toyota's first foreign director.
■ FOREX
FATF criticizes Iran's laws
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international anti-money laundering watchdog, yesterday highlighted lax Iranian regulation against money laundering and financing terrorism. FATF, which groups 34 countries, issued a statement calling on Tehran to take action. "The Financial Action Task Force is concerned that the Islamic Republic of Iran's lack of a comprehensive anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism [AML/CFT] regime represents a significant vulnerability within the international financial system," it said. "FATF calls upon Iran to address on an urgent basis its deficiencies." The statement went on to say: "FATF members are advising their financial institutions to take the risk arising from the deficiencies in Iran's AML/CFT regime into account for enhanced due diligence ... FATF looks forward to engaging with Iran to address these deficiencies."
■ ENERGY
EDF mulls Inter RAO stake
French electricity utility EDF is in talks to acquire a minority stake in Russia's Inter RAO electricity exporter, the Kommersant reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the situation. The sources did not know the exact size of the stake which EDF could acquire, though one of them told the daily that EDF would not take less than 25 percent in the company. The paper said talks were still at an early stage. Analysts estimate that Inter RAO was worth between US$2 billion and US$3.5 billion indicating that EDF would have to pay US$500 million to US$875 million for 25 percent of the utility.
■ RETAIL
Wal-Mart keen on Malaysia
US retail giant Wal-Mart is keen to open stores in Malaysia, Deputy Trade Minister S. Veerasingam said yesterday, amid a drive to lure investment and boost economic growth. He declined to elaborate further amid reports the company had formally applied to enter the Malaysian market. He said German company Metro, one of Europe's largest retailers, had applied for permission to set up operations.
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
TRIP TO TAIWAN: The resumption of group tours from China should be discussed between the two agencies tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday reassured China-based businesspeople that he would follow former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) cross-strait policy to facilitate healthy and orderly exchanges with Beijing and build a resilient economy. “As president, I have three missions. First, I will follow president Tsai’s ‘four commitments’ to ensure that the country continues to exist and survive,” Lai told participants at a Lunar New Year event in Taipei hosted by the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). Lai said his second mission is to uphold the “four pillars of peace” by bolstering national defense, developing a growing and resilient economy, building partnerships with
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his