■TRADE
Seoul passes India pact
South Korea yesterday ratified a free trade deal with India that promises to slash tariffs on goods and services between two of Asia’s biggest economies. The agreement was passed in a vote by the National Assembly, two officials in the body’s secretariat said. An official vote tally was to be released later in the day, they said. The two countries signed the deal, known officially as a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, in August in Seoul.
■HOTELS
Hyatt IPO raises US$950m
Hyatt Hotels shares surged on Thursday, raising almost US$1 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) despite the tourism industry crisis, in Wall Street’s second largest flotation this year. The leading US hotel chain offered38 million shares at US$25 each for a total of US$950 million. The Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels, which is 85 percent owned by the wealthy Pritzker family, became the 18th company to launch an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange this year. Hyatt operates hotels in 45 countries.
■STEEL
POSCO building in Turkey
South Korean steelmaker POSCO said yesterday it had begun building a plant in Turkey to produce steel for automobiles. The plant, when completed by June, will have an annual capacity of 170,000 tonnes of steel for automakers that include Ford, Renault, Fiat, Hyundai Motor, Toyota and Honda, POSCO said in a statement. The company, the world’s fourth largest steelmaker by output, currently has 41 steel processing facilities in 12 countries.
■BANKING
Credit still tight: bank head
Bank of America Corp on Thursday said the credit environment would remain difficult into next year, as unemployment was likely to continue to rise. Brian Moynihan, head of the bank’s consumer and small business banking units, told investors that Bank of America was starting to see some stabilization in the credit card business, but challenges remained. In the third quarter, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America lost more than US$2.2 billion as loan losses kept rising, providing evidence that consumers are still struggling to pay their bills.
■FINANCE
Fannie Mae posts huge loss
US state-controlled mortgage lender Fannie Mae posted on Thursday another multibillion-dollar quarterly loss and said it needed an additional US$15 billion in taxpayer funds. Fannie Mae reported a net loss of US$18.9 billion in the third quarter, 35 percent smaller than a year ago but sharply higher than its US$14.8 billion loss in the second quarter. Combined losses to date stand at US$56.8 billion.
■TELECOMS
Droid hits markets
A Motorola Droid smartphone based on Google-backed software hit the US market yesterday, taking aim at mobile device powerhouses such as Apple, Nokia, and Research In Motion (RIM). Droid, which will work on the Verizon telecom network, joins growing ranks of smartphones based on an open-source operating system backed by Internet titan Google. Market tracking firm Gartner predicted that there would be at least 40 models of Android phones within a year, and that they would be the second place mobile platform by the end of 2012.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the