■ FINANCE
Royal Bank may raise funds
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, which reportedly is contemplating going to the market to raise billions of pounds, said yesterday it would make a statement on its plans next week. The Daily Telegraph reported that the bank was looking at a possible rights issue worth between £5 billion (US$9.9 billion) and £12 billion to shore up its position. “RBS notes recent speculation about a possible rights issue,” the group said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. “RBS confirms that its interim management report covering trading performance and capital will be made next week.”
■ STEEL
POSCO to buy stake in mine
South Korean steelmaker POSCO said yesterday it would buy a 13 percent stake in a South African manganese mine as part of a drive to secure a stable supply of raw materials. POSCO, the world's fourth largest steelmaker, said the investment would from 2010 secure an annual supply of 130,000 tonnes of manganese or a quarter of its annual needs. The investment will be made through Pallinghurst, a consortium led by a British mining firm which owns a 49.9 percent stake in the mine. To buy the stake in the mine and finance other projects, POSCO will invest US$200 million in the consortium by issuing new shares in its subsidiary in Australia, the company said.
■ DAIRY
Aussie firm mulls takeover
Australia’s National Foods, a subsidiary of Japanese brewing giant Kirin, was considering a bid for rival Dairy Farmers, the takeover target said yesterday. Dairy Farmers said National Foods had asked the competition watchdog whether it would object to the takeover, which would give it a dominant share of Australia’s milk and dairy market. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had indicated it would take at least eight weeks to assess the potential deal, Dairy Farmers said in a statement. The statement did not say how much National Foods was willing to pay for Dairy Farmers.
■ FOODS
Steel Partners drops sauce
Japan's Bull-Dog Sauce Co said yesterday that the US investment fund Steel Partners had sold its entire stake in the iconic condiment maker after its defeat in a high-profile takeover battle. Steel Partners sold its remaining shares in the company as of March 31 and removed its name from the list of shareholders, a Bull-Dog spokeswoman said. The fund was at the center of a heated takeover tussle last year with Bull-Dog that set off a legal battle that went all the way to the country’s top court. The sauce maker became the first Japanese company to carry out threats of a “poison pill” defense, a tactic to block takeover bids by issuing new shares to dilute the stake of a bidder.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Chrysler rebuts speculation
Chrysler LLC chief executive Robert Nardelli denied reports on Thursday that the US carmaker was in talks with Italy’s Fiat about a possible alliance. “There are no talks,” Nardelli said after a speech in Detroit, Michigan, rejecting reports in Europe that Chrysler was in talks with Fiat. “I don't know where that came from,” he said. Nardelli, however, said he was continuing to develop a strong working relationship with Nissan-Renault chairman Carlos Ghosn. “We're very pleased to have the special arrangements on products with him,” he said.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
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