豪政府、3500億円拠出し住宅ローン証券購入 住宅市場テコ入れ

豪政府、3500億円拠出し住宅ローン証券購入　住宅市場テコ入れ

　【シドニー＝高佐知宏】オーストラリアのスワン財務相は26日、40億豪ドル（約3500億円）を拠出して豪州国内で発行された住宅ローン担保証券（ＲＭＢＳ）を購入すると発表した。購入先など詳細は不明だが、財務相は「世界的な信用収縮で冷え込んだ豪住宅市場を活性化させるため」と説明している。

　豪州のＲＭＢＳ市場は1990年代に四半期ベースで約180億豪ドルまで一時拡大したが、米国の信用力の低い個人向け住宅融資（サブプライムローン）問題が表面化した2007年半ば以降は25億豪ドル程度にまで縮小している。

　一方、豪準備銀行（中央銀行）は25日、豪金融機関について「米住宅関連資産への関与は限られており、今後も高い収益性を維持する」との見解を発表した。 (23:40)

--------------------------------
三浦元社長の移送一時的に停止、新たに人身保護請求審理へ
特集 ロス疑惑

　１９８１年のロス疑惑「一美さん銃撃事件」を巡り、米自治領北マリアナ・サイパンで拘置中の元輸入雑貨会社社長、三浦和義容疑者（６１）（日本で無罪確定）の弁護側は２６日、北マリアナ連邦地裁に、ロサンゼルスへの三浦元社長の移送取り消しと即時釈放を求める人身保護請求を行った。

　連邦地裁は移送を一時的に停止し、２９日に審理する。三浦元社長の弁護側などが明らかにした。

　三浦元社長の移送を巡っては、北マリアナ上級裁判所が１２日、移送許可を決定。北マリアナ最高裁も２３日、弁護側の上訴を退けたため、弁護側が「身柄拘束は憲法違反」として、新たに連邦地裁への請求を行った。

　ロサンゼルス郡上級裁判所は２６日午後（日本時間２７日午前）、三浦元社長が逮捕状の破棄を求めた訴訟で、逮捕状が有効かどうかの判断を示す。

------------------------------------
【ロス疑惑】三浦容疑者「１勝１敗」今後どうなる？ (1/2ページ)
2008.9.27 22:18
三浦和義容疑者三浦和義容疑者

　【ロサンゼルス＝松尾理也】ロス疑惑銃撃事件で逮捕され、米自治領サイパン島で拘置中の元会社社長、三浦和義容疑者（６１）＝日本で無罪確定＝が逮捕状の無効を申し立てた裁判で、ロサンゼルス郡地裁のバンシックレン裁判官は２６日、殺人罪での逮捕を「日本で無罪判決を受けており、同じ罪で２度裁かれることを禁じる一事不再理規定に反する」として無効とする一方、共謀罪での訴追は有効とする決定を下した。「入り口」段階の法律論争をめぐって半年以上も足踏みを続けてきた事件の審理がいよいよ動き出すか、注目される。

　▼終身刑も

　「殺人罪での訴追が認められなかったことは喜ばしい。共謀罪が認められたことには失望している」。三浦容疑者の弁護人、ゲラゴス氏の表情は硬かった。一方、逮捕直後は「１カ月もすれば移送は完了する」と楽観していながら、ゲラゴス氏の攻撃に防戦一方だった検察側は安堵の表情を浮かべた。

　カリフォルニア州刑法では殺人での共謀罪は禁固２５年から終身刑と重い。検察関係者は「いたずらに殺人罪での訴追にこだわって上訴するよりも、決定をはずみに速やかな移送にこぎつけ、本裁判の開始を目指すのではないか」と話す。

　サイパンの弁護団は現在、三浦容疑者の移送を阻止する構えをとっている。サイパン自治領最高裁がゴーサインを出し、移送間近かと思われたが、弁護側は新たにサイパンにある連邦地裁に人身保護請求を申し立てた。現在は再び移送が停止されている状態だ。

------------------------------
Long View: Testing times for true believers in a bull run

By John Authers, Investment editor

Published: September 26 2008 20:31 | Last updated: September 26 2008 20:31

Writing anything about this financial crisis is nerve-racking. People may be reading how financial journalists wrote about this crisis decades from now, and things we now accept as unquestioned orthodoxy may come to be ridiculed. I am acutely conscious of this as I covered Washington Mutual for the Financial Times in the late 1990s.

WaMu on Friday became the biggest bank failure in US history (a title it will hopefully keep for a while). Its decline, as has been amply documented, lay in its huge portfolio of mortgages and mortgage-backed bonds.

A decade ago, assumptions were different. The last WaMu story I wrote covered a day when its share price fell 5 per cent in June 1999. It fell because investors were worried that it was retreating from its policy of levering up by buying mortgage-backed securities.

Analysts told me that retreating from leverage would harm WaMu’s revenues in the short term, along with its earnings and its share price.

The implicit assumption was that leverage was good. Shareholders punished companies and executives when they paid down their debt and took less risk.

This should remind us of the breadth of the failure of the global markets system that we are now witnessing. Shareholders themselves egged on the lending binge in the US, and did so before the stratospheric growth in the credit derivatives market.

Bearing this in mind, let us make some assumptions about what the next few days may hold.

Let us assume that the politicians agree on some form of a bail-out for the financial system.

The reason for the assumption? If the failure of WaMu, the quintessential Main Street bank, does not make clear that the “Wall Street” crisis will have real implications on Main Street, then the credit market suggests that other banks will come under the same pressure. That could force lawmakers to do something.

Let us also assume that a bail-out, in whatever form it finally passes, would have the following effects; it would allow the money markets to unfreeze and it would stem the threat of panic over the banking system. It should thus avert the scenario of a return to the 1930s, in which regulators allowed a market dislocation to turn into the Great Depression by allowing banks to fail.

Compared to the present outlook, these outcomes would be good. But that is all a bail-out would achieve. Beyond that, the world after a bail-out will not look pretty for investors.

Long-term valuation measures do not give a strong “buy” signal. Over the past century, the best long-term market-timing signals have come from cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratios. These adjust for the short-term profit cycle by taking a share price’s multiple of the long-term average of a company’s profits.

There are various ways to calculate this, but the version used by Andrew Smithers, of Smithers & Co. in London, is typical. By his reckoning, the US stock market entered this week about 40 per cent above its long-term “fair value”. Over history, this measure has had to move well below its long-term average to send a clear buying signal.

Further, long-term market bottoms tend to happen when an economy is in recession. But the latest revised figures for US growth show that a recession had not started even by the end of the second quarter – cheap money from the Fed, a devalued dollar and tax rebates had delayed this hour of reckoning.

A US recession in the months to come, with credit so constricted, seems close to a certainty. This will limit corporate earnings, which are still supposed, according to brokers’ estimates, to grow quite well next year.

There is relative value to be found elsewhere. Both Europe and the emerging markets now look cheap, at least compared with the US.

The MSCI emerging markets index now trades at an earnings multiple more than 25 per cent cheaper than that of the MSCI World index of developed markets; and the FTSE-Eurofirst index trades at less than half the multiple of the S&P 500.

When this bear market comes to an end, there will be great value opportunities in Europe and in the emerging world. But the problem is that both have grown much cheaper relative to the US, even as concern over the US has intensified. A year ago, the emerging markets were actually at a premium to the developed world, while Europe was only at a 10 per cent discount to the US.

The markets believe that a US recession would be worse for the rest of the world than it would be for the US. Hopeful concepts of “decoupling” from the US have been jettisoned.

With funds flowing on that assumption, stocks outside the US could keep cheapening relative to the US, even with a bail-out.

There will be bargains for those alert enough to find them. There always are. But, whatever happens now in Washington, a broader creation of wealth lies further in the future. The assumption that resolving this scare will lead to a new bull market should be tested; just like the old assumption that leverage was good for WaMu.

----------------------------
Price fixers could face US-style lawsuits

By Michael Peel, Legal Correspondent

Published: September 26 2008 23:01 | Last updated: September 26 2008 23:01

Companies involved in price-fixing would face the prospect of large US-style consumer damages claims under plans that are close to being endorsed by the government, competition lawyers say.

The proposals – which lawyers say could be published as early as next month – would be an important step towards the emergence of mass “class action” lawsuits in which big groups of people file joint claims running into billions of pounds.

The plan would be strongly supported by consumer bodies but treated with suspicion by business groups, which fear its scope could be extended beyond price-fixing to include potentially costly damages claims in other fields.

John Cridland, deputy director-general of the CBI, the business lobby group, said companies were worried that legal “mission creep” would allow consumers to bring big lawsuits against companies alleging wrongdoing in areas such as financial services, pharmaceuticals and employment.

He said: “We are very nervous about the proposals because we think the government may open a Pandora’s box. British business at chief executive level gets very worried about moves towards American class action litigation.”

Competition lawyers told the Financial Times that the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform was close to launching its plans, including a key proposal to assume that consumers joined damages lawsuits unless they specifically opted out. A document was expected to be published for consultation soon, with a view to changing the law next year.

The lawyers said the proposals would mirror closely those floated last month by the Civil Justice Council. These balance plans to introduce an automatic consumer opt-in to lawsuits against safeguards, such as judicial scrutiny of claim groups and their funders to make sure they are bona fide.

The DBERR plans would be a victory for consumer groups, which claim existing laws stifle the public’s rights by making it all but impossible for lawyers to assemble big groups of claimants and win large payouts.

Deborah Prince, head of legal affairs for Which?, the consumer group, said it would be “bloody marvellous” if the government followed the thrust of the CJC recommendations, which were “absolutely spot on”.

A handful of previous price-fixing consumer damages lawsuits – over goods ranging from airline tickets to replica football shirts – have failed to generate the hoped-for interest, amid lawyers’ complaints the system is stacked against claimants.

In a case involving a conspiracy by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to fix the prices of passenger fuel surcharges, only a small fraction of an estimated 6m eligible consumers have claimed refunds of up to £20 per return flight.

The business department confirmed it planned to make proposals on competition this autumn, although it declined to say when these would be published. It also declined to comment on the detail of its plans.

Lawyers said the DBERR’s proposals had been held up because of consultation with other ministries.

.........................................

The big payouts

In the US companies frequently pay out more than $1bn (£540m) in damages to settle class action lawsuits. Big cases include:

● Visa and Mastercard paid more than $3bn to settle a class action case brought by millions of merchants, who claimed they were unlawfully forced to accept the companies’ debit cards as well as their credit cards

● Microsoft paid $1.1bn to settle a class action claim that it overcharged consumers for Windows, the computer operating system. Consumers and corporations in California received vouchers for rebates on hardware or software as part of the deal

●El Paso Natural Gas, the energy company, paid $1.1bn over allegations that it manipulated the market for natural gas pipeline transmission capacity into California

Source: Global Competition Review

-----------------------------
Gulf funds poised to pounce on US assets

By Roula Khalaf in London

Published: September 27 2008 02:19 | Last updated: September 27 2008 02:19

Arab sovereign wealth funds are likely to pounce on distressed US assets after the government bail-out plan eases the extraordinary tensions in financial markets, according to one of the top intermediaries in the Gulf.

Gary Long, the president of Investcorp, the private equity group which channels petrodollars from some of the biggest private and institutional investors in the Gulf and invests them in western markets, said private investors and sovereign wealth funds were taking a different attitude to the Wall Street meltdown.

Wealthy private investors, “shell-shocked” by the crisis in the US financial system, were now expected to become more cautious and conservative. But institutions, including sovereign wealth funds, will be looking for opportunities.

“Institutional investors recognise that after a period of turmoil there will be a time when market opportunities will be great, so they are seeing what’s happening as such a period,” Mr Long told the Financial Times.

“But it’s hard to hide if you’re a [private] investor. Every market is embattled: even the local stock markets, even real estate markets have been questioned. So private investors are going to be a little more conservative as opposed to chasing high returns,” he added.

In recent weeks, the Middle East’s SWFs, flush with oil-fuelled liquidity, have been remarkably quiet as some of the US financial stocks they had rushed to rescue over the past year were devastated by the global crisis.

Facing pressure at home, the $200bn (€137bn, £108bn) Kuwait Investment Authority earlier this week revealed that it had lost $270m on its Citibank investment but recorded no losses on its investment in Merrill Lynch, which has been bought by Bank of America. The KIA had ploughed $5bn into the two banks in January.

American institutions scouring the oil-rich Gulf for capital have also been rebuffed, according to regional bankers.

Sovereign funds are not in the business of bailing out faltering banks, they were told, particularly at a time when they were under domestic pressure to intervene at home and shore up tumbling equity markets that were suffering from a spillover effect of the global turmoil.

But people close to some of the region’s sovereign wealth funds say that while they do not want to be seen as white knights, they are not sitting on the sidelines.

“Now the crisis is being dealt with, once that phase is mapped out, it will take years to bring back balance to the market and assets will be available at more reasonable valuations. So if you have cash it could be an interesting opportunity,” says one person close to the $50bn Qatar Investment Authority.

Mr Long, meanwhile, said he expected sovereign wealth funds also to join hands with private equity firms in investing in distressed US assets. This year one Gulf fund set up a $1bn partnership with Investcorp to buy mezzanine debt related to US commercial property.

“The bigger sovereign wealth funds have always had most of their investments through intermediaries,” he said.

-----------------------------
Cold comfort in eating a Big Mac

By Gillian Tett

Published: September 26 2008 21:09 | Last updated: September 26 2008 21:09

Do you trust the smiling face of Ronald McDonald more than Uncle Sam? If the markets are a guide, the answer might be “yes”.

This week, the cost of insuring against a US default via credit derivatives hit record levels. on Friday, London dealers were quoting between 23 and 28 basis points, meaning it costs €23,000 ($33,600) to €28,000 a year to insure €10m in bonds. But the quotes for McDonald’s were about 25bp-26bp.

Yes, you read that right: the entity that brought us big fries and the floppy clown commands as much gravitas in the credit world as the mighty US of A.

These CDS prices might seem weird: it is extremely unlikely the US will default. But there are at least two factors making investors jittery. One is the rising cost of US bail-out plans. If you spend $50bn here (to support money market funds), $85bn there (to rescue AIG), another $30bn (to complete the Bear Stearns deal) and then $700bn (for a bail-out), soon you are talking serious numbers.

More specifically, the rescue proposals from Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, are threatening to push gross US debt well above 70 per cent of GDP for the first time since 1954.

But raw maths is not the only problem; the more pernicious challenge is psychological. Recent events have left investors so dazed and confused. Many no longer know what America is supposed to stand for, or what institutions they can trust. Just look at Washington Mutual, the fourth largest US retail bank, which collapsed and was partly acquired by JPMorgan. This event was an appalling shock, because WaMu was once considered a secure bastion.

However, another, less obvious, consequence is that it also shook sentiment in the bond world, even in an ultra-dull but important corner of finance known as the “covered bond” sector.

The US has very recently begun to look to covered bonds as a white knight of mortgage finance. Two US banks, WaMu and Bank of America, were trail-blazers in this arena. Consequently, an information black-out for much of on Friday on the fate of these bonds, which investors had thought were almost risk-free, sparked fears of losses. Lawyers, regulators and bond investors were tossed into uncharted waters.

If this was an isolated case, the shock would be manageable. What makes it pernicious, however, is that investors keep being chucked into uncharted waters on a daily basis. Last week, for example, the world’s biggest bastion of free-market capitalism suddenly appeared to back a massive, quasi-socialist, bail-out plan. Before that, Lehman Brothers collapsed, creating unprecedented chaos for creditors and trading partners.

Then an American money market fund “broke the buck”, even though such funds were never supposed to do that. And even before the WaMu shock, a list of other “safe” assets – such as auction rate securities – had suddenly turned lethal too.

It is little wonder then that there was such a clamour for gold coins on Thursday that the US Mint ran out of stocks. Nor is it a surprise that investors consider Ronald McDonald such a safe bet. After all, the great thing about hamburgers is that people keep eating these, even – or especially – when the world turns upside down.

Better still, when you order a Big Mac, you know what to expect. That is blatantly not the case with bundles of mortgage debt. And after the events of last week, such certainty is now also lacking from US banks and its policy-making world. Moreover, whatever rabbit Mr Paulson might pull out of his hat, the sad truth is that it will take months – if not years – to rebuild this shattered trust. Better keep stocking up on comfort food, be it a Big Mac, chocolate, or anything else.

-----------------------------
Loans success exaggerated at World Bank

By Chris Giles in London

Published: September 27 2008 03:31 | Last updated: September 27 2008 03:31

The management of the World Bank tended last year to inflate the reported success of its lending to the poorest countries while the organisation was consumed by wrangles over the leadership of Paul Wolfowitz, its president until June 2007.

The Bank also struggles to address the big global issues of climate change and communicable diseases when these conflict with the interests of individual poor countries, according to the annual assessment by the Bank’s watchdog.

In its annual review of development effectiveness, the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank said on Friday that the medium-term outcomes from Bank lending had improved, but there had also been a dip in performance in 2007.

“A single year’s data is not, by itself, a cause for alarm, but vigilance is needed to ensure that it does not foreshadow a persistent decline,” the report said.

When the Bank was suffering enormous internal strife last year, the group also found it had developed a tendency to inflate the reported success of its lending.

The gap between the Bank’s own evaluation of the success of its lending projects and those from the independent monitors doubled last year, prompting the group to suggest: “[World Bank] management is less likely to identify problem projects and take timely remedial action.”

One of the prime concerns of the Bank’s official watchdog – which reports to the Bank’s donor countries – is that, while the Bank’s senior management prioritises global challenges such as climate change, much of the Bank’s day-to-day operations on the ground may conflict with these global ambitions.

When it was in a borrowing country’s self-interest to support a global challenge, for example in efforts to stop an infectious disease, the group said the Bank’s standard practices “work well”. However, it was far less effective when the benefits seemed far flung to a country while domestic costs of tackling a global challenge were immediate.

Global warming is the most important example of the Bank’s difficulties combining a strategic ambition with its lending operations. “To date ... the Bank has not been able to call on an attractive large-scale funding programme or invoke an international framework to encourage comprehensive action on climate change,” the report said.

The group recommended that the Bank’s management dedicate budgets specifically for such ambitions.

However the management rejected the recommendation, saying that the core mission of the Bank was “growth and poverty reduction” and other issues needed to be put in that context.

-------------------------------
Medvedev bolsters links with US foe

By Catherine Belton in Moscow

Published: September 26 2008 18:40 | Last updated: September 26 2008 18:40

Russia and Venezuela signed several energy pacts on Friday as Moscow sent a clear signal to Washington it was strengthening ties with the US foe amid a deepening diplomatic chill over Georgia.

The two presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Hugo Chávez, pledged closer co-operation as Mr Chávez visited Russia for the second time in just over two months. His visit came as a fleet of Russian warships were sailing towards the Venezuelan coast for naval exercises.

The exercises will mark the first such action in the US’s backyard since the end of the cold war. They show Russia’s increasing frustration at what it sees as US meddling in its near abroad, including over Georgia and the positioning of the US missile defence shield near its borders.

Russia is still bristling at the US condemnation of its military intervention against Georgia over the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia, insisting its intervention was a just response to an attack launched first by Georgia. Analysts fear the war of words could strengthen hawkish anti-western elements in the Russian government.

Sergei Markov, the Kremlin-linked political analyst, said all taboos on co-operating with enemies of the US had been lifted.

“After such insolent and false positions of the US over South Ossetia, limits on co-operating with enemies of the US have ceased to exist,” he said.

Russia also agreed this week to lend Venezuela $1bn (€682m, £540m) to buy military equipment, boosting growing arms sales that have seen Russia sell $4.4bn in weaponry to Mr Chávez’s regime between 2005 and 2007.

Dmitry Trenin, analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Centre, said Russia wanted to send a symbolic message to the US. “This is sending a message to the US saying, ‘Get off my back or I will poke you in the eye and see if it hurts or not’,” said Dmitry Trenin, analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Centre. “They don’t want a confrontation but they are certainly pushing back.”

“They are trying to make the US see there are some red lines. This is a symbolic message – but if there are miscalculations on either side, we could have an incident that no one wants,” he said.

Mr Trenin said tension was mounting over US warships anchored in the Georgian port of Poti in the Black Sea – there ostensibly to provide humanitarian aid.

“Both sides need to be extremely careful. They need to establish rules where they keep demonstrations at the level of demonstrations and not worse.”

The energy agreements signed on Friday included a broad memorandum calling for the creation of a joint Russian-Venezuelan consortium between PDVSA (Petroleos De Venezuela) and Russia’s Gazprom, Rosneft, TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz and Lukoil to develop fields in Venezuela as Russia seeks access to US energy markets.

Just hours after Mr Chávez’s visit, Mr Medvedev turned up the military rhetoric, announcing plans to build an upgraded nuclear deterrent system by 2020, including a space defence system and nuclear submarines. The plan would also bring all units to a state of constant combat readiness.

Speaking to army chiefs after military exercises, Mr Medvedev said, the conflict with Georgia had proved the need to push ahead with the upgrade. “Just recently we have had to rebuff an aggression unleashed by the Georgian regime and, as we found, a war can flare up suddenly and can be absolutely real. And local, smouldering conflicts, which are sometimes even called ‘frozen conflicts’, will turn into a real military conflagration,” he said.

--------------------------------
Russia joins UN move to condemn Tehran

By James Blitz in London

Published: September 27 2008 02:29 | Last updated: September 27 2008 02:29

Russia has moved to reaffirm the unity of the world’s leading powers in confronting Iran over its nuclear programme by backing a new United Nations Security Council resolution that condemns Tehran.

Earlier this week, Russia looked as though it might be extending its recent disagreements with the west into fresh areas by scuppering plans for a meeting of foreign ministers from major powers to discuss the Iran dossier.

But in a surprise move, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, on Friday held an impromptu encounter with his counterparts at the UN in New York and gave his backing to a new Security Council resolution reasserting that Iran must suspend its uranium enrichment programme.

The new resolution – backed by the US, Russia, China, UK, France and Germany – was set to be tabled at the Security Council on Friday night. The resolution does not detail any new sanctions to be levied on Iran, something that Russia opposes at this stage.

However, western diplomats believe it will make clear to the Iranians that whatever differences Russia and the west may have in other spheres, the leading powers are united in seeking a suspension of the uranium enrichment programme.

Western diplomats say Russia’s decision to cancel an earlier foreign ministers’ meeting planned for Thursday was prompted by anger that the US and its allies had moved to cancel a regular session of the G8 in New York. In the aftermath of Russia’s incursion into Georgia, meetings of the G8 have been suspended until Moscow is deemed to be complying with international demands that it withdraws from Georgia.

However, western diplomats say Mr Lavrov later came to realise that the scuppering of Thursday’s meeting by Russia had badly damaged the international community’s longstanding battle to force the Iranians to back down on uranium enrichment.

Earlier this year, the six powers offered Iran a refreshed package of incentives to suspend uranium enrichment, in return for which Tehran would get significant economic assistance.

Diplomats say that the passage of a new UN resolution would now show the Iranians that recent international divisions over Georgia do not give Tehran an excuse for continuing to ignore the offer.

Some diplomats say the passage of a new UN resolution may also be a platform from which the European Union can make the case for a new raft of EU sanctions.

Pressure on the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany to pass a resolution on Iran this week was particularly intense because Tehran was last week heavily criticised by the UN’s atomic energy watchdog.

In an unexpectedly sharp criticism of Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said its attempts to get Tehran to clear up allegations that it militarised its nuclear programme had reached a “dead end”.

------------------------------
Saudi religious police get tough on fashion

By Abeer Allam in Riyadh

Published: September 27 2008 02:42 | Last updated: September 27 2008 02:42

In an attempt to reassert their power, Saudi Arabia’s religious police have ordered shopkeepers in downtown Riyadh to get rid of all adorned abayas, the black robes worn by women in the kingdom, as shopping picks up ahead of the Eid religious holidays next week.

Salesmen in Al-Maagaliah market, just across the block from the headquarters of the religious police, or mutawa’a, this week were turning away frustrated shoppers who wanted abayas with a hint of colour or decoration, telling them that shopowners could face fines or prison.

In recent years, the signature flowing robe that covers Saudi women from head to toe started to show some form with trimmed sleeves, beads or colour, a sign of relaxation of the strict social norms in the conservative kingdom.

Though the changes were subtle, abayas provoked a tug of war between the liberal voices lobbying to give women more choice and conservative religious institutions determined to impose their austere ways through the religious police.

Liberal commentators say the religious police who roam shopping malls and public places are using the crackdown to demonstrate their continued authority after recent moves that have curbed their arbitrary powers.

After allegations of gross violations of human rights led to media uproar, the mutawa’a have been banned from chasing suspects without an escort from the regular police. They have also been forced to carry government-issued identification cards.

Women’s rights activists, however, are concerned that the crackdown on the abaya marks a setback after early symbolic gains achieved since King Abdullah came to power in 2005.

“They [the mutawa’a] want women to be faceless, nameless and shrouded in blackness,’’ said Samar Falan, a women’s rights activist and writer based in the city of Jeddah.

“We kept quiet when we should have confronted the radicals. I believe Muslim women should dress modestly and cover their hair, but they do not have to look gruesome.”

Saudi women have been pushing for more rights, and the government has sought to promote the participation of women in the workforce. But with every step forward comes another step back.

The mutawa’a does impose its morality on men too, forcing them sometimes to cut their hair or choose more modest shirts. But while men have a range of dress options – western attire or traditional white Saudi garb – women essentially have none.

“They should focus on fighting vices, not women,’’ says Buthaina Nassr, another activist. “I do not understand why they force us to wear black in such a hot country while men can wear white.”

-------------------------------
Putin erases border between Russia and South Ossetia
26.09.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/kremlin/106464-putin_ossetia-0

The recently signed interstate agreement between South Ossetia and Russia provides a legal base to erase the border between the two nations, Itar-Tass reports with reference to a statement from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

“I think we will have to sign several other documents which, on the one hand, will ensure Russia’s interests from the point of the external boundary security and, on the other hand, will give people an opportunity to communicate freely without administrative obstacles,” Putin stated at a meeting with regional leaders of the ruling United Russia party.

“In essence, we will liquidate the border between the Russian Federation and the Republic of South Ossetia. We will give people an opportunity to feel safe, grow children, develop their country, their republic and to communicate freely without any formalities on the state border,” the prime minister said.

Putin pointed out that it did not go about the incorporation of South Ossetia into the structure of the Russian Federation. However, he added, Russia would provide all necessary help for the maximum reintegration of the Ossetian nation.

“I think that it will be enough if we assist in the economic restoration of South Ossetia,” the prime minister specified.

It is worthy of note that the Constitution of the Russian Federation does not prevent South Ossetia’s incorporation into Russia. However, the position the S. Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity has not been distinctive for its definiteness. Before Russia signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with S. Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity announced his intention to retrieve the unity with North Ossetia and join Russia. However, the president rejected his own statement the same day and said that he had been misunderstood.

“We are not going to refuse from our independence that we obtained at the cost of countless victims. South Ossetia does not intend to join Russia,” Kokoity said.

-------------------------------
ＡＩＧ、エジソン生命とスター生命の売却検討

　米保険最大手アメリカン・インターナショナル・グループ（ＡＩＧ）が経営再建策の一環で、日本のＡＩＧエジソン生命保険とＡＩＧスター生命保険の売却を検討していることが26日、明らかになった。両社の2007年度の保険料収入は合計で6000億円超。米金融危機が国内生保の再編につながる可能性が出てきた。

　2社自体は経営が悪化しているわけではなく、売却されても保険の契約はそのまま引き継がれる見通しだ。(07:00)

-------------------------------
日本とベトナム、ＥＰＡ大筋合意　来週前半にも

　日本とベトナム両政府が、来週前半にも関税の撤廃などを盛り込んだ経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）の締結で大筋合意することが26日分かった。日本からの輸出では10年以内に主な自動車部品や鉄鋼製品などの関税が撤廃され、輸出の増加が期待される。輸入では魚介類や衣料製品などが対象となり、国内消費者にも価格低下などのメリットがありそうだ。

　日越のＥＰＡ交渉は2007年1月に始まった。9月中旬にハノイで開かれた第9回会合で、日本からの自動車部品や鉄鋼などの主要品目についてほぼ合意した。その後、両政府間で事務作業などを進めており、交渉が決着する状況となった。両国の貿易額の9割強で関税が撤廃される見通しだ。(07:00)

--------------------------------
米シティのサムライ債販売、市場混乱で再説明

　金融危機の余波を受け米シティグループの円建て外債（サムライ債）を販売している証券会社が投資家への説明に追われている。販売期間中に債券の価値が大きく変わった理由を説明する義務が生じたからだ。通常は購入時に価格変動の可能性などを説明すればよいが、今回はリスクがあることを改めて念押しする珍しい事態となった。

　シティ債は過去最大級となる3150億円のサムライ債。しかし投資家は米金融機関の信用力に神経質になっており、シティが7月に発行した既発サムライ債の利回りはリーマン破綻前の12日の年3.17％から19日には4.32％まで急上昇した。

　今回のシティ債の発行条件は年3.22％。三菱東京ＵＦＪ銀行債（3月発行）の1％を大幅に上回り、東京市場で流通している個人向け債券の利回りとしては極めて高い水準にある。金融商品取引法に関連するルールでは販売期間中に債券利回りが0.5％以上変わった場合、リスクを再説明するよう求めており、シティ債を扱う日興コーディアル証券や東海東京証券などは顧客へ説明を始めた。

-------------------------------
新興国株投信振るわず　金融危機、個人マネーに打撃

　市場の混乱で、個人マネーの傷口が広がっている。今年3月末から直近までの投資信託の運用成績を調べたところ、個人に人気のあるロシア、中国などＢＲＩＣｓを中心に新興国の株式で運用する投信が軒並み30―40％も下落した。米金融危機で資金流入はさらに細り、新興国には株価下落が広がっている。リスクをとって運用してきた個人の投資意欲が一段と減退しそうだ。

　調査会社ＱＵＩＣＫ・ＱＢＲが純資産残高100億円以上の559本の追加型投信を対象に、今年3月31日から9月19日にかけての運用成績を調査した。下落率が大きかった50の投信のうち、49が海外株式を運用対象とするものだった。特にロシア、中国など新興国株式で運用する投信ほど下落率が大きい。この間、ロシア株の代表的な指数であるＲＴＳは4割弱、上海総合は4割強それぞれ下落した。

-------------------------------
ＡＩＧ関連投信　新規購入・解約申し込み、再開の動き広がる

　アメリカン・インターナショナル・グループ（ＡＩＧ）の関連証券を組み入れ、解約の受け付けを停止していた投資信託で受け付けを再開する動きが広がっている。野村アセットマネジメントは26日、「野村コモディティ投信」など3本の投資信託の新規購入と解約の申し込み受け付けを再開すると発表。大和証券投資信託委託など、主要な運用会社も受け付けを再開している。

　これらの投信はＡＩＧの関連会社が発行する仕組み債を組み入れていたが、ＡＩＧが米政府の管理下に入った影響で仕組み債が売買できない状況が続き、投信の新規購入や解約もできなくなっていた。26日までに仕組み債の売買が再開されたため、投信の売買も再開した。(07:00)

-----------------------------
水産庁、クロマグロ漁獲抑制を交渉へ　韓国などと

　水産庁は26日、クロマグロの国際漁業管理に関する水産業界向け説明会を東京・霞が関で開いた。メキシコ、韓国などの関係国間で、蓄養ビジネス向けを含めたクロマグロの漁獲を抑制する交渉に乗り出す方針を明らかにした。

　日本近海に産卵場がある太平洋のクロマグロの資源状態について「黄色のランプがついている状態」（宮原正典審議官）と説明。蓄養向けを含めて日本国内での漁獲を増やさないよう指導し、蓄養向け漁獲が増えているメキシコや最近蓄養が始まった韓国にも漁獲抑制を要請。その他の国には蓄養を控えるよう求める方針を説明した。(07:00)

-------------------------------
全信組連、仙北信組に７億円の資本支援

　全国信用協同組合連合会（全信組連）は仙北信用組合（宮城県栗原市）に対して7億2000万円の資本支援を実施することを決めた。同信組の発行する優先出資証券を9月末までに引き受ける。仙北信組の2008年3月末の自己資本比率は5.17％で、不良債権比率は14.49％。資本注入を受けることで経営基盤の強化をねらう。(07:00)

------------------------------
「松下電器」社名変更控え取り外し　本社屋上の看板

　「松下」に幕――。パナソニックへの社名変更を来月1日に控えた松下電器産業は27日、大阪府門真市の本社社屋の屋上看板から「松下電器」の4文字を取り外した。屋上看板には青地に白の「Ｐａｎａｓｏｎｉｃ」のネオンサインが残った。歴史的な“衣替え”は名実ともに大詰めを迎えた。

　松下は創業90周年を機に、社名とブランド名をパナソニックに統一。国内の白物家電ブランドなどとして80年間続いた「ナショナル」も姿を消す。(13:37)

-------------------------------
スティール、日本株売却　08年累計700億円、運用成績が悪化

　米投資ファンドのスティール・パートナーズが、保有する日本株の売却を進めている。今年1月以降、日清食品やシチズンホールディングスなど10社の保有比率を減らし、その売却総額は約700億円に達した模様。日本株低迷の影響で、スティールの運用成績は悪化しており、投資先の再評価を進めていると見られる。

　スティールは昨年まで投資していた約30社のうち10社の株式を今年に入り売却した。金融庁に提出した株式保有割合の変更報告書をもとに、売却日の終値で売却規模を試算すると、その総額は約740億円。日清食品とシチズンの保有比率の低下が目立っており、2社ともに売却額は200億円を超える計算だ。

------------------------------
家電量販店各社、白物家電の店頭価格上げ　ヤマダは平均７％

　大手家電量販各社は今月末以降、相次ぎ洗濯機や冷蔵庫など白物家電の新商品の店頭実勢価格を引き上げる。最大手のヤマダ電機が昨秋の新商品に比べて平均約7％引き上げるほか、ヨドバシカメラなど他社も3―10％程度上げるもよう。鋼材価格の上昇でメーカーが引き上げる卸値をほぼそのまま転嫁する。

　冷蔵庫などは家電量販店での取扱量が多く、量販店側の価格交渉力が強いとされる。メーカーが求める値上げを量販店側がのむかが焦点だったが、鋼材や樹脂の価格が大幅に上昇していることから、量販店も値上げを容認した。

--------------------------------
豪の「日の丸ガス田」　国際石油帝石、事業費２兆円に膨張

　国際石油開発帝石ホールディングスが豪州で計画する天然ガスプロジェクトの総投資額が2兆1000億円強となり、当初見通しの3倍に増えることが26 日、明らかになった。液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）基地の建設地変更に加え、資材費の上昇や環境対策の費用増が要因。同様の理由でエネルギー開発や石化プロジェクトで投資額などの計画見直しが相次いでいる。資源価格はなお高水準にあるが、今後、開発案件で採算確保が課題に浮上しそうだ。

　同社は仏トタルと共同で豪州のダーウィンにＬＮＧ基地を建設する計画を発表。ガス田開発とあわせた総投資額を200億ドル（約2兆1000億円）強とした。当初は60億ドルを計画していた。投資額は出資比率に合わせて、国際石油開発帝石側が76％を負担する。(07:00)

-------------------------------
三洋、協調融資で1000億円調達

　三洋電機は26日、三井住友銀行など13行と約1000億円の協調融資（シンジケートローン）契約を結んだ。太陽電池や2次電池などへの投資拡大で 2009年3月期も1225億円の設備投資を計画しているが、今回の契約で今期分の資金確保にめどがたつ。三洋がシンジケートローンを組むのは05年3月以来。(07:00)

---------------------------------
松下、薄型テレビの海外販売を拡充　欧米中国、６割増の２万店

　松下電器産業は海外で薄型テレビの販売体制を拡充する。2008年度末までに欧州、米国、中国の主要3市場の販売店数を前年度末より6割多い計2万店に増やす。ＢＲＩＣｓなど新興国向けモデル数も約100種類へと3割拡大。松下は08年度の薄型テレビの世界販売台数を前年度比5割増の1100万台に引き上げる計画。世界規模で販売力をテコ入れし目標達成を目指す。

　米国では販売店を6割増の6900店に増やし、地域量販店との取引を広げる。欧州も6割増の1万1600店、中国は8割増の2160店にそれぞれ拡充、各店舗で薄型テレビ「ビエラ」を展示するようにする。テレビとブルーレイ・ディスク録画再生機などとの連携機能をアピールできる店舗数も3市場合計で 4000店舗に倍増させる。(07:00)

-------------------------------
ＮＨＫ、関連団体を約20に削減検討　９公益法人見直し

　ＮＨＫは10月にまとめる2009年度から5カ年の次期経営計画で、現在29ある関連団体を20程度まで減らす検討に入った。これまで再編を進めてきた子会社に加え、9つある公益法人の見直しに踏み込む。

　ＮＨＫの公益法人はＮＨＫサービスセンターやＮＨＫ放送研修センターなど9つの財団や学校法人で構成。国が公益法人改革に向け認定基準を見直すのに合わせ、公益事業の性格が薄い団体の解散や再編に踏み切る。(07:00)

------------------------------
三浦元社長の逮捕容疑、共謀罪は有効　ロス郡地裁支部

　【ロサンゼルス＝中前博之】1981年の米ロサンゼルス銃撃事件で殺人と共謀の容疑で逮捕され、サイパンで拘置中の元会社社長、三浦和義容疑者（61）＝日本では無罪確定＝が申し立てた逮捕状取り消し請求訴訟で、ロス郡地裁支部（バン・シックレン裁判長）は26日午後（日本時間27日午前）、共謀容疑についてのみ逮捕は「有効」とする判断を言い渡した。近くロス郡地裁で実質審理が始まる見通し。

　カリフォルニア州刑法によると、殺人での共謀罪の量刑は禁固25年以上から終身刑。恩赦で軽減される可能性もある。弁護側は上訴を検討中。元社長のロスへの移送時期などは週明けにサイパンで判断が出る見通しだ。(27日　10:16)

-------------------------------
微量の放射性物質、配送中紛失　大阪―京都間で行方不明

2008年9月27日20時41分

　国土交通省と文部科学省は２７日、実験用の放射性物質リン３２の液体１ミリリットルが配送中になくなったと発表した。プラスチック容器（直径５．５センチ、高さ８センチ）を、発泡スチロール製容器と段ボール箱で包んでいた。国内で輸送中の放射性物質の紛失は前例がないという。

　放射性物質は２４日、千葉県市原市の日本アイソトープ協会の施設から、京都府南丹市の研究機関あてに発送された。大阪空港まで航空輸送され、宅配業者が２５日未明、大阪府豊中市の営業所で下請け業者に配送を依頼したところまでは存在を確認しているが、その後行方不明になったという。

　放射能量は３７メガベクレルで、半減期は１４．２日。段ボール箱表面の放射線は自然放射線程度という。しかし、のみ込んだ場合は８８．８ミリシーベルト被曝（ひばく）する可能性があり、放射線業務従事者の年間被曝線量限度の５０ミリシーベルトを超えるという。

------------------------------
社協購入のリーマン社債１億円回収困難に　埼玉・東松山

2008年9月27日19時35分

　米証券大手リーマン・ブラザーズ発行の社債１億円分を埼玉県東松山市社会福祉協議会（会長・坂本祐之輔市長）が所有し、同社の経営破綻（はたん）によってすべて焦げ付く恐れが出てきたことが２７日、分かった。資金運用のため、昨年１１月に国内大手証券会社から購入したという。

　市社協などによると、額面１億円の円貨社債を９９７０万円で購入。購入資金には、市から交付された「地域福祉基金」（３億６９００万円）を充てた。償還日の１２月１９日には元本と、約１４０万円の利払いを受けるはずだった。

　リーマンの破綻を受け、市社協は１０月１日に開く臨時理事会で社債は事実上ゼロとみなし、全額を特別損失として計上したい考えだ。坂本市長は「破綻するとは夢にも思っていなかった。今後のことは理事会とも協議して対応したい」との談話を出した。

-------------------------------
公務員に「協約締結権」へ前向き　甘利担当相

2008年9月26日22時43分

　甘利公務員制度担当相は２６日の報道各社のインタビューで、労働基本権の一部である「協約締結権」を一般の公務員に与えることについて「良いのではないか」と述べ、前向きな考えを示した。６月に成立した国家公務員制度改革基本法では与野党の修正協議により「自律的労使関係制度を措置する」と記されたが、政府内には「人件費増大につながる」と慎重な意見も根強い。

　基本法には、能力や実績に応じた公務員の処遇が盛り込まれており、労働組合側は地位を守るため協約締結権の付与を求めていた。基本法の国会審議では、付与を強く求める民主党側に歩み寄る形で、付与を「検討」としていた政府案を修正し、「措置する」と踏み込んだ経緯がある。具体的な措置は３年以内に結論を出すことになっている。

　一方、行革担当も兼務する甘利氏は、複数の特命担当相がいる内閣府の指揮系統が分かりにくいことから「省庁再々編が必要だ」と語った。

-----------------------------
米大手銀ワコビア、シティなどと合併検討か　米紙報道

2008年9月27日10時17分

　【ニューヨーク＝丸石伸一】経営不安が高まっている銀行大手の米ワコビアが、同業大手との合併を検討している、と複数の米紙が２６日報じた。合併候補として米シティグループのほか、米ウェルズ・ファーゴやスペインのバンコ・サンタンデールの３社の名が挙げられている。

　報道では、ワコビアはシティグループなど３社とそれぞれ合併について予備的な交渉に入った。交渉はどれも初期段階で、合意できるかどうかは不透明という。取締役らが今週末に対応を協議する見通しだとも報じられている。

　ワコビアはほかの米大手と同様、米低所得者向け（サブプライム）住宅ローン関連の損失拡大に苦しみ、直近の０８年４～６月期決算まで２四半期続けて当期赤字を計上した。それでも、保有する住宅ローン関連などの追加損が膨らむことへの懸念などが根強く、株価下落が続いている。２６日の終値は、半年前より７割近く安い水準だ。

　ワコビアをめぐっては、米金融大手モルガン・スタンレーとも合併協議をしていると報じられていた。だが、モルガン・スタンレーは２２日、三菱ＵＦＪフィナンシャル・グループから最大２０％の出資を受けることを発表。このため、ワコビアは別の交渉相手を求めたものとみられる。

-----------------------------
皇太子さま呼び捨て　都議からの批判で石原知事「発言を考えてみたい」
2008.9.27 00:42

　皇太子さまに２０１６年の東京五輪招致の協力を求める際、会見などで「皇太子に協力を求めたい」などと、皇太子さまを呼び捨てにした発言を繰り返してきた東京都の石原慎太郎知事に対し、民主党都議が２６日、都議会一般質問で「公人として礼を失している」などと批判。石原知事は「今後、発言の形について考えてみたい」と述べ、呼称を見直すことも視野に入れた見解を示した。

　石原知事は７月、定例会見で、東京五輪招致活動への皇太子さまの協力について宮内庁の野村一成東宮大夫が「協力は難しい」との見解を示したことに対し「宮内庁ごときが僭越（せんえつ）だ」などと激怒。その際の会見で、「皇太子の意向もただした上でだね、国を代表して皇太子に協力していただこう」などと呼び捨てにする発言を繰り返した。