■ FINANCE
BNP hires Lehman head
BNP Paribas Securities in Japan said it had hired Adrian Averre, formerly head of vanilla option trading at Lehman Brothers Japan Inc. BNP Paribas appointed Averre, 42, as head of its interest-rate and foreign-exchange trading, Kunihiro Murata, a spokesman at the firm said in an interview yesterday. Averre joined the French bank on March 1 and will primarily focus on expanding the firm's franchise in the yen rates trading area, including linear products, vanilla options and Libor exotics, a press release said. "Adrian's appointment is part of our long-standing commitment and ambition in Japan," Hikaru Ogata, general manager and head of fixed income of the firm, said in the release.
■ COST OF LIVING
Millionaire lifestyle pricey
Britons need a lot more than ?1 million (US$2 million) to enjoy the lifestyle of the rich and famous, a report by the National Lottery by the Centre for Economics and Business Research said yesterday. You need at least ?5.8 million to consider yourself "comfortably rich" in Britain, the report said. That sum allows you to buy a smart house, a luxury holiday villa and a top-of-the-range car. High property prices and rising inflation means a ?1.7 million National Lottery win would require careful spending to make the windfall last. It said ?108.6 million is needed to fund a lifetime of extravagant spending as enjoyed by David and Victoria Beckham and Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie.
■ TELECOMS
Sony Ericsson reviews ties
Sony Ericsson said yesterday that it was reviewing its business ties with NTT DoCoMo, Japan's top mobile telephone operator, which is struggling amid an industry price war. But the company, a joint venture between Japan's Sony Corp and Sweden's LM Ericsson, declined to confirm reports it will stop making handsets for DoCoMo. "It is true that Sony Ericsson is reviewing part of its product development plans with DoCoMo," company spokesman Toshiyuki Kawamura said. But he said the firm would continue to provide products to DoCoMo. The Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday that Sony Corp would stop making mobile phones for NTT DoCoMo and instead focus on overseas markets.
■ FINANCE
Carlyle warns on sales
Listed mortgage-bond fund Carlyle Capital Corp Ltd said yesterday that it is in talks with creditors to prevent the liquidation of some US$16 billion in securities. Carlyle Capital, which shook financial markets last week after missing margin calls with banks on financing for its US$21.7 billion portfolio of residential mortgage-backed bonds, said that it believed some US$5 billion of the securities held as collateral may have already been sold by some of the banks. The fund, an affiliate of the US-based private equity firm Carlyle Group, warned that if it fails to reach an agreement on debt repayments with the remaining lenders who hold around US$16 billion in securities, those lenders may also liquidate their securities. Carlyle Capital's troubles have raised fears that the assets will flood the market, further depressing prices on fixed-income securities, which have dropped sharply in recent weeks as banks pull back on their lending to funds and investment vehicles, leading to forced asset sales.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
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