■INSURANCE
AIA submits IPO documents
AIA Group Ltd, the main Asia unit of American International Group Inc (AIG), submitted preliminary documents to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for an initial public offering (IPO), two people familiar with the filing said. The filing means that New York-based AIG may aim to hold the IPO late next month or in early November, said one of the people, who declined to be identified. AIG in July hired Mark Tucker, former chief executive officer of Prudential PLC, to lead AIA as the unit prepares for an IPO. The company turned to a share sale after London-based Prudential backed out of a deal to buy AIA for US$35.5 billion.
■CHEMICALS
Chinese mull Potash bid
Chinese and other investors have approached at least one big Canadian pension manager about a bid for Canada’s Potash Corp to rival BHP Billiton’s US$39 billion hostile offer. Alberta Investment Management Corp said it was not interested, because the economics did not work. China’s state-owned chemicals giant Sinochem (中國中化) has reportedly hired HSBC to evaluate options and chatter persists that sovereign wealth funds, such as China’s US$300 billion China Investment Corp (中國投資公司), may also be seeking a bid of some kind.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Roche to cut costs, jobs
Swiss giant Roche said yesterday it was launching a cost-cutting program which could lead to job cuts. The company said in a statement that “mounting pressures to curb healthcare costs” in the US and Europe were among the reasons for the move. It added that more details on the measures and their potential impact on jobs would be announced before the end of the year. The pharmaceutical giant currently employs 80,000 people.
■AVIATION
New low-cost airline mulled
Air France-KLM is considering setting up a “low-cost” domestic carrier to meet intense competition in the French market from budget rivals, company sources said on Thursday. The new airline, dubbed “Air France Express,” could be established next year with bases in the southern cities of Marseille, Nice and Toulouse if agreement can be reached with unions, the sources said. “Studies are underway to find some way to fight off the ‘low-cost’ airlines. Among ideas being considered, is setting up a new entity within Air France-KLM,” one of the sources said, asking not to be named.
■SOUTH KOREA
Economy grows 1.4 percent
The economy grew 1.4 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier, slightly less than earlier predicted because of weaker construction investment, the South Korean central bank said yesterday. The Bank of Korea revised its GDP figure for the second quarter from an earlier prediction of a 1.5 percent quarter-on-quarter expansion. It said Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew 7.2 percent last quarter compared with a year earlier.
■COMPUTERS
NASA launches iPad app
NASA has landed on the iPad. Nearly a year after launching a free application for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, the US space agency has created a program for the latest device from Apple. The NASA App HD for the iPad is available for free at Apple’s App Store. The NASA iPad application features live streaming video from NASA TV, launch schedules, current mission information, maps, on-demand video from NASA archives, feature stories, thousands of images and more.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday released the first video documenting the submerged sea trials of Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine prototype, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, showing underwater navigation and the launch of countermeasures. The footage shows the vessel’s first dive, steering and control system tests, and the raising and lowering of the periscope and antenna masts. It offered a rare look at the progress in the submarine’s sea acceptance tests. The Hai Kun carried out its first shallow-water diving trial late last month and has since completed four submerged tests, CSBC said. The newly released video compiles images recorded from Jan. 29 to
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
Taiwanese trade negotiators told Washington that Taipei would not relocate 40 percent of its semiconductor production to the US, and that its most advanced technologies would remain in the nation, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said on Sunday. “I told the US side very clearly — that’s impossible,” Cheng, who led the negotiation team, said in an interview that aired on Sunday night on Chinese Television System. Cheng was referring to remarks last month by US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, in which he said his goal was to bring 40 percent of Taiwan’s chip supply chain to the US Taiwan’s almost
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