■ FINANCE
Greenspan joins hedge fund
Former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan is joining the hedge fund Paulson & Co as an adviser, the New York-based company said on Tuesday. Headed by John Paulson, the company said in a statement that the contract was exclusive, barring Greenspan from advising any other investment fund. Greenspan in recent months has signed similar agreements with Pacific Investment Management Corp, a bond specialist, and with the German banking giant Deutsche Bank.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Ex-Mitsubishi chief guilty
A former Mitsubishi president was convicted of professional negligence yesterday in a fatal head-on crash that followed a systematic cover-up of auto defects at the Japanese automaker. Former Mitsubishi Motors Corp president Katsuhiko Kawasoe was sentenced to three years in prison suspended for five years, a Yokohama District Court official said on customary condition of anonymity. The suspended sentence means he won't have to serve time. Kawasoe and three other company officials were suspected of failing to report defects although they knew the problems could cause serious accidents. They were charged in 2004 with professional negligence resulting in death in a 2002 accident in southwestern Japan in which a driver died in a crash after the brakes failed on his Mitsubishi vehicle.
■ MORTGAGES
UK lender rejects proposal
Shareholders in Northern Rock, the ailing British mortgage lender, voted at a special meeting on Tuesday against proposals by two hedge funds that would have forced managers to seek shareholder approval for even small asset sales. The vote was a setback for the fund companies RAB Capital and SRM Global Advisers, two of Northern Rock's largest shareholders, which had hoped to obtain greater influence in the bank's future and keep it from selling assets at "knockdown fire sale prices."
■ INVESTMENTS
PRC sets up Africa fund
A Beijing-backed equity fund that aims to boost Sino-African ties has signed a first batch of investment deals worth more than US$90 million, the China Securities Journal said yesterday. The China Africa Development Fund would invest a total of US$4 billion in Sinosteel and three other Chinese companies with projects in Africa, the report said. They include a glass plant in Ethiopia with an annual production of 40,000 tonnes, a 200,000kw gas-fired power plant in Ghana, a chromite project in Zimbabwe and a building material project, it said. The fund was launched in June and had received US$1 billion from the China Development Bank.
■ METALS
Rio Tinto has record output
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said yesterday its iron ore output last year hit a record 179 million tonnes, up 9 percent on the previous year. The world's third-largest mining company, currently fighting off a takeover bid by rival BHP Billiton, said the increase in iron ore production reflected strong demand from major customers. The company said in its fourth-quarter production report it also saw strong demand in other commodities and expects its iron ore output to increase further this year as new capacity comes on stream.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
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