■ MINING
Ecuador axes concessions
Ecuador’s constitutional assembly on Friday approved a decree revoking most of the mining concessions in the country, following up on the leftist government’s pledge to take greater control over natural resources. The decision by the government-controlled assembly, which is writing a new constitution, suspended 3,100 of the 4,112 active concessions in Ecuador and 1,220 concession requests. Affected companies include Canada’s Aurelian Resources Inc, EcuaCorriente and Iamgold Corp. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who is a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said the decree would not “impede future concessions, but rather, the current ones, the majority of which are awful.” “The current dilemma is not whether to say yes to mining, but to seek economically, socially and environmentally responsible mining,” he said in a presidential statement.
■ INVESTMENT
US bank raises US$5.88bn
US investment bank JPMorgan Chase quietly raised US$5.88 billion on Wednesday, the same day it published first-quarter earnings, a filing with the US market regulator showed. The capital infusion was neither mentioned in the bank’s earnings statement nor discussed by executives in its ensuing conference call. The document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed JPMorgan Chase issued preferred stock, which enjoys priority over common stock in the distribution of dividends and other assets. The shares are to pay a fixed dividend of 7.9 percent for 10 years, after which the rate floats.
■ BANKING
RBS expecting fresh losses
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Britain’s second-largest bank, is to announce around £4 billion (US$8 billion) in fresh losses linked to the credit crunch, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The report came after media said on Friday that the bank was set to ask shareholders for a massive cash boost after being hit by subprime-linked losses and surging costs related to its takeover of the ABN Amro bank. It points to the pressures currently facing some of the world’s largest financial institutions.
■ FOOD PRICES
Malaysia to lift production
Malaysia’s government said yesterday it would spend 4 billion ringgit (US$1.3 billion) to increase food production and tackle price hikes as the country faces spiraling global oil and food costs. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he would also set up a high-level anti-inflation committee to tackle these issues, state news agency Bernama reported. However, he did not say how the money would be allocated.
■ FINANCE
Fannie Mae officials to pay
Former Fannie Mae chief Franklin Raines and two top executives have agreed to a US$31.4 million settlement with the government over their roles in a 2004 accounting scandal. Raines, the company’s former chief financial officer Timothy Howard and former controller Leanne Spencer were accused in a civil lawsuit of manipulating earnings over a six-year period at Fannie, the largest US financier and guarantor of home mortgages. None of the three acknowledged wrongdoing in the settlement announced on Friday. The amount agreed to under the settlement is far less than what the government was seeking when it sued the executives in December 2006, and it appeared little of the money would come out of their own pockets.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
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
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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