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PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions
25 Jan 2008 00:28:21 GMT
 Source: Reuters
SINGAPORE, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print/Web site editions on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)

-- A lone rogue trader was being blamed for the biggest fraud in investment banking history after Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> revealed his actions had cost it 4.9 billion euros and forced it into an emergency 5.5 billion-euro cash call on shareholders

-- Yasuo Fukuda, Japan's prime minister, is on Friday expected to pledge that Japan will cut carbon emissions by roughly one-fifth by 2020 and earmark $10 billion to help developing countries pay for environmental technology.

-- Singapore, Norway and Abu Dhabi have been asked by the International Monetary Fund to take the lead in drawing up disclosure benchmarks for sovereign wealth funds, Lee Kuan Yew, the former Singapore prime minister and chairman of one of the world's biggest sovereign funds, has said.

-- The U.S. economy may not be growing at all, but it is not yet clear that it is falling into recession, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has told the Financial Times.

-- Private equity companies, including TPG [TPG.UL], value investors such as Wilbur Ross and asset management firms are all considering launching new bond insurers in a move that could hamper efforts to aid troubled incumbents such as Ambac <ABK.N> and MBIA <MBI.N>.

-- Seven former Citibank <C.N> employees have been charged by the Singapore government with breaking client confidentiality laws in a case that reflects fierce recruitment competition among private banks and Singapore's need to uphold tough bank secrecy rules.

-- Arab Gulf states have agreed with Asian labour-exporting countries recommendations designed to minimise exploitative recruitment practices that some pressure groups claim leave many migrant workers in circumstances approximating bonded labour.

WALL STREET JOURNAL (www.wsj.com)

-- Top US lawmakers unveiled an economic stimulus package and vowed to bring a vote at "the earliest date". U.S. President George W. Bush hailed the deal as a temporary set of incentives that will boost the economy.

-- Societe Generale said "elaborate fictitious transactions" by a purported rogue trader led to a $7.2 billion loss. The French bank identified the trader as 31-year-old Jerome Kerviel.

-- China is all but certain to notch a second straight year of annual growth above 11 percent, yet the prospect of a U.S.-led global slowdown looks likely to force a shift in China's priorities.

-- Hyundai Motor <005380.KS> reported its net fell 31 percent, but analysts said a stabilizing won will help buoy first-quarter results.

-- Nokia <NOK1V.HE> reported its net surged 44 percent, helped by strong cellphone sales in emerging markets such as India and China.

-- Chalco <2600.HK> <601600.SS> shut two aluminium-production plants because of a worsening power shortage in China's Guizhou province.

-- LG Electronics <066570.KS> reported a surge in fourth-quarter net profit due to strong handset sales and hefty gains from its investment in LG.Philips LCD.

-- Chinese officials announced a crackdown on workplace accidents, even as officials maintain there have been no major accidents at Olympic sites.


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