■BANKING
Blackstone eyes UK market
US investment group Blackstone is examining the possibility of entering the UK banking market, chief executive Stephen Schwarzman said on the sidelines of a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday. Last week sources familiar with the matter said that Blackstone, one of the world’s leading buyout firms, had applied for a British banking license and was working with fund manager Cambridge Place on a venture called The Home and Savings Bank. Schwarzman declined to comment on whether Blackstone had applied for a UK banking license, but when asked whether he was looking to enter the UK market, he said: “We are looking at one potential situation.” He added that the group was “looking at buying financial assets in other places in the world.”
■LIGHTING
Philips back in the black
Royal Philips Electronics NV, the world’s largest maker of lights, reported a net profit of 251 million euros (US$355 million) for the fourth quarter, citing lower one-time charges and job cuts. The net profit reverses a loss of 1.18 billion euros in the same period a year ago, which included 629 million euros in impairment charges on assets. Fourth-quarter sales fell 3.4 percent to 7.26 billion euros. The company said its earnings were higher at all main divisions, despite sales declines. Philips has shed 5,474 jobs in the past year.
■FINANCE
AIG unit taps new chairman
Douglas Steenland, the former CEO of Northwest Airlines Inc, replaced Steven Udvar-Hazy as chairman of American International Group Inc’s International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC), the company said on its Web site. Udvar-Hazy, who remains CEO of the airplane-leasing unit he founded, may leave the company as early as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. John Plueger, ILFC’s president and chief operating officer, may be named Udvar-Hazy’s successor, the newspaper said. AIG has been trying to sell the Century City, California-based leasing business as the insurer seeks to raise capital — part of a plan to repay its US$182.3 billion bailout by the US government.
■INTERNET
MySpace helping artists
Social networking site MySpace, which has enabled many artists to launch their careers, is now helping to pay them back millions of dollars in “lost” royalties for songs and performances. MySpace CEO Owen van Natta said on Sunday the firm had signed a groundbreaking deal with performance rights group SoundExchange to track down some 25,000 major, independent and unsigned artists owed more than US$14 million in unpaid royalties. Van Natta said he planned to use the MySpace platform to put the artists in touch with SoundExchange, a non-profit performance rights organization that collects royalties for the streaming of music on Internet or satellite radio on behalf of sound recording copyright owners.
■OIL
Prices dip below US$75
Oil prices stayed below US$75 a barrel in Asia yesterday, dampened by falls in regional stock markets and on Wall Street over US President Barack Obama’s plans to restrict big banks. Benchmark crude for delivery next month dipped US$0.02 to US$74.52 a barrel at midday Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost US$1.54 to settle at US$74.54 on Friday.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘NOT SUBORDINATE’: Only Taiwanese can decide the nation’s future, and people preserving their democratic way of life is not a provocation, President William Lai said Taiwan does not want China’s “one country, two systems,” and must uphold its freedom and democracy as well as resolve to defend itself, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, rejecting Beijing’s latest bid to bring the country under Chinese control. The president made the remarks while attending a commissioning ceremony for Taiwan’s first battalion of M1A2T Abrams tanks in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口). The tanks are made by General Dynamics, a major US defense contractor. China this week said it “absolutely will not” rule out using force over Taiwan, striking a much tougher tone than a series of articles in state media
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