野村の海外戦略 膨らむマンパワー リーマン事業買収で再構築急ピッチ

野村の海外戦略　膨らむマンパワー　リーマン事業買収で再構築急ピッチ (1/2ページ)
2008.10.2 18:51
野村ホールディングス本店の入るビル野村ホールディングス本店の入るビル

　破綻（はたん）した米証券大手リーマン・ブラザーズのアジアおよび欧州・中東部門を買収した野村ホールディングス（ＨＤ）が、海外戦略・人事体制の再構築を急ピッチで進めている。野村グループの投資銀行部門を指揮する山道裕己・野村証券専務は産経新聞の取材に対し、懸念された人材流出について、「かなり抑えられた」と自信を示したほか、Ｍ＆Ａ（企業の合併・買収）業務で提携する英系投資銀行との関係見直しも示唆した。

　野村のアジア部門と欧州・中東部門の従業員は６月末で約３０００人だが、今回のリーマン買収で新たにリーマンの従業員約５５００人を雇用する。野村が重点地域に掲げる欧州やアジアで、欧米の一流金融機関と互角に渡り合う上で必要なマンパワーが一気に膨らむことで、海外戦略の先行きに自信を深めている。

　ただ、もともと流動性が高いリーマンの人材をつなぎ止められるかが喫緊の課題。山道専務は「すでにアジアの人員はかなり抑えた。欧州ももくろんでいた程度には抑えられた」と人材流出は予想の範囲内にとどまったという。欧州で年間４０兆円ものＭ＆Ａ分野のアドバイザリー（助言）業務を行うリーマン出身者について、山道専務は「相当な勢力になる」と期待を寄せる。その上でアジア、欧州・中東部門の人員再配置について、「野村籍、リーマン籍に限らず、各地域で最適の人選で業務を遂行する」方針だ。

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野村、米リーマンのインド拠点買収　2000人受け入れ

　野村ホールディングスは2日、破綻した米証券大手のリーマン・ブラザーズから、証券決済などのバックオフィス業務やＩＴ（情報技術）開発を手掛けるインド拠点を数十億円で買収することで大筋合意した。2000人強の社員も引き継ぐ。すでに買収で合意したリーマンのアジア、欧州部門に続き証券業務のインフラとなる後方部門も取り込み、世界戦略を加速する。

　リーマンは北米、欧州、アジアの世界全部門で、証券決済や受け渡し事務、資産の時価計算などのバックオフィス業務を切り離し、インドのムンバイに設けた子会社に集中。同拠点は優秀な技術者が豊富な土地柄を生かし、証券売買システムなど自社で活用するＩＴの開発業務や、調査部門の機能を担当するなど、リーマンの最先端のシステム開発を担う心臓部となっていた。(07:00)

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三菱ＵＦＪ証券と米モルガン日本法人、経営統合を検討

　三菱ＵＦＪフィナンシャル・グループ（ＦＧ）傘下の三菱ＵＦＪ証券が米大手証券モルガン・スタンレー日本法人と経営統合を検討していることが3日、明らかになった。三菱ＵＦＪＦＧはモルガンに90億ドル（9500億円）出資することを決めている。日本の証券業務を一体運営することも含めて、来年6月末までに証券業務の具体的な戦略作りを目指す。

　モルガンは企業買収や合併の仲介業務に強い。三菱ＵＦＪ証券はモルガンのノウハウと顧客基盤を共有することで、日本での証券業務を拡大したい考えだ。

　三菱ＵＦＪＦＧは9月29日、モルガンに出資することを決めた。三菱ＵＦＪは出資効果を引き出すために証券業務の一体運営をモルガンに提案する見通しだ。証券2社の統合が実現すれば、第2位の大和証券グループ本社に肉薄する国内3位の証券会社が誕生する。(12:06)

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MUFG, Morgan Stanley to merge Japan securities ops: report
AFP
AFP - Friday, October 3 05:43 am

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's largest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. has reached a basic accord with Morgan Stanley to merge their securities houses in Japan, according to a news report.
(Advertisement)

The move follows the Japanese megabank's decision to buy a 21 percent stake in the ailing Wall Street giant for nine billion dollars, public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday, quoting unnamed informed sources.

Under the accord, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. and Morgan Stanley Japan Securities Co. will merge, creating a heavyweight player in the Japanese financial services industry, the report said.

Further details such as a timing of the merger and a possible expansion of their businesses into other Asian countries will be discussed later, it said.

Mitsubishi UFJ said that it was still considering the options for its relationship with Morgan Stanley.

"No decision has been made as of this time," it said in a brief statement.

Mitsubishi UFJ and Morgan Stanley have said they would come up with a "concrete strategy" by June next year for a global business alliance, with the Japanese bank sending a director to the Wall Street firm's board.

Japanese financial institutions have weathered the global financial crisis better than many of their Western peers thanks to cautious lending practices following their own bad loan crisis a decade ago.

Japan's largest brokerage Nomura Holdings has also seized the opportunity of Wall Street's meltdown to buy the Asian, European and Middle Eastern operations of collapsed Wall Street titan Lehman Brothers.

Morgan Stanley Japan Securities, which has more than 1,600 employees and is strong in asset management for corporate clients, made a net profit of 3.2 billion yen (31 million dollars) in the year to March.

Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, which has 6,500 workers in Japan and overseas, posted a net profit of 8.1 billion yen last year.

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三菱ＵＦＪ証券とモルガン日本法人が合併…野村に匹敵

収益４０００億円の巨大企業へ

　三菱ＵＦＪフィナンシャル・グループが、傘下の三菱ＵＦＪ証券とモルガン・スタンレー日本法人の合併を検討していることが３日、分かった。三菱ＵＦＪはすでに米証券大手モルガン・スタンレーに約９５００億円出資することを決めており、シナジー（相乗）効果を高めるため、合併を検討しているもようだ。実現すれば、法人向けビジネスで国内トップの野村ホールディングスに匹敵。三菱ＵＦＪは国内での証券業務でトップになるという悲願に一歩近づく。ただ、専門家の間には合併を不安視する向きもある。

　モルガン・スタンレーの日本法人、モルガン・スタンレー証券は、国内で企業買収の仲介業務や債券の引き受けなど、法人・機関投資家向けの投資銀行業務に特化したサービスを展開している。２００８年３月期の売上高に相当する純営業収益は１５７４億円。

　一方の三菱ＵＦＪ証券は三菱ＵＦＪフィナンシャル・グループの完全子会社。法人向け業務とともに個人向けの株式売買仲介なども行っており、０８年３月期の純営業収益は２４３６億円となっている。

　合併が実現すると、「モルガン・スタンレー証券が得意とする法人向けビジネスでは、野村に匹敵する規模になる」（金融アナリスト）とみられている。

　また、両社の純営業収益を単純合算すると約４０００億円となり、国内証券２位の大和証券グループ本社の純営業収益４４７４億円に肉薄することになる。国内証券トップの野村ホールディングスの純営業収益は７８７２億円。

　三菱ＵＦＪは９月２３日、サブプライムローン問題に関連して損失拡大が懸念されているモルガン・スタンレーの発行済み株式の約２０％を取得することで基本合意。その後、２９日に、普通株式３０億ドル（約３１５０億円）と、転換権付き永久優先株式６０億ドル（約６３００億円）を取得することで正式合意した。

　米国の名門金融機関を巨額投資で支援するという内容で、三菱ＵＦＪは「今後は具体的な提携戦略を加速していく」（水野俊秀専務）と強調。三菱ＵＦＪ証券とモルガン・スタンレー証券の合併が実現し、相乗効果を発揮できれば、三菱ＵＦＪは出資の果実を確保できることになる。

　ただ金融界では、「石橋をたたいても渡らない」と言われるほど意思決定に慎重な三菱ＵＦＪが、約９５００億円もの投資を電撃的に決めたことに対しては、「ブランドに弱い三菱グループ出身の経営陣がモルガン・スタンレーの看板に目がくらんだ」「投資銀行の雄であるモルガン・スタンレーを日本人の経営陣にコントロールできるはずがない」といった冷ややかな声もある。

　また、三菱ＵＦＪの判断は、野村ホールディングスが経営破綻した米証券４位のリーマン・ブラザーズの一部部門を買収したのとは対照的。

　野村はリーマンのアジア・太平洋部門と欧州・中東部門を約２４０億円で買収したが、買収対象にリーマンが保有する株式や債券などの資産は含めなかった。リーマンが保有している資産の価値が今後も値下がりし、損失が拡大することを避けるためだ。実際、リーマンの日本法人、リーマン・ブラザーズ証券は、約３兆４０００億円の負債を抱えたまま民事再生法の適用を申請した。

【“資産をまるごと”に不安の声】

　これに対し、三菱ＵＦＪ証券とモルガン・スタンレー証券を合併させれば、三菱ＵＦＪはモルガン・スタンレーが日本で保有している資産をまるごと抱え込むことになる。三菱ＵＦＪは野村が避けたリスクをあえて抱え込むという選択をするというわけだ。

　明治大学政経学部の高木勝教授は「三菱ＵＦＪ証券とモルガン・スタンレー証券の合併は平時なら大ヒットといえるが、サブプライム問題（に端を発した金融危機の収束）が道なかばの現状では、合併して大丈夫だろうかと思わざるを得ない。三菱ＵＦＪは本体のモルガン・スタンレーにも出資し、筆頭株主になるが、モルガンの本体自体がサブプライム問題でおかしくなっている。そのような状況下での合併は三菱ＵＦＪにとって大きなカケ。うまくいけば合併メリットは大きいが、うまくいかなかったときはその弊害も大きい」と指摘する。

◇

　三菱ＵＦＪフィナンシャル・グループは「先般当社とモルガン・スタンレーが公表しました戦略的資本提携にかかる具体的戦略につきましては、２００９年６月３０日をめどに、これから検討していく方針であり、現時点で決定した事実はございません」とのコメントを発表。三菱ＵＦＪ証券とモルガン・スタンレー日本法人との合併検討を否定はしなかった。

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リーマン破綻の余波続く　信用リスク商品に損失も

　米金融危機を受けて国内の信用リスク市場が動揺している。焦点は経営破綻した米大手証券リーマン・ブラザーズ関連の取引。既に、同社向けの融資や社債を購入した金融機関の損失が表面化しているが、信用デリバティブを組み込んだ金融商品でも想定外の損失計上を迫られる可能性もある。

　国内の銀行や保険会社が公表したリーマン向け融資債権や社債などの保有額は合計で4400億円超。このうち担保や損失回避の取引で補えない分は2300億円以上に達する。

　これとは別に、金融関係者が警戒しているのが「合成ＣＤＯ」と呼ばれる金融商品だ。通常の債券などの金利に、リーマンの信用リスクを対象にしたクレジット・デフォルト・スワップ（ＣＤＳ）に伴う保証料率を上乗せする。(07:00)

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Japan's Norinchukin invests in France's Credit Agricole
AFP
AFP - 53 mins ago

TOKYO (AFP) - Norinchukin Bank said Friday it had invested 30 billion yen (285 million dollars) in France's Credit Agricole SA, becoming the latest Japanese bank to buy into a struggling Western counterpart.
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Norinchukin said it had acquired a 0.5 percent stake in Credit Agricole under an agreement with France's biggest retail bank, whose profits have been hit hard by the global financial crisis.

Norinchukin, the bank for agricultural, forestry and fishermen's cooperatives in Japan, bought the shares on the market so the move will not raise any fresh capital for Credit Agricole.

The two banks said they would consider ways to strengthen cooperation in their international operations.

"A closer partnership will allow collaboration on issues that are common to global co-operative banks and a joint approach to investing in business opportunities worldwide," they said in a joint statement.

Credit Agricole's investment banking subsidiary, Calyon, has felt the pressure from the global credit crunch stemming from a collapse in high-risk subprime loans in the United States.

Last month Credit Agricole announced 500 job cuts at Calyon. In June it raised 5.9 billion euros (8.15 billion dollars) to shore up its resources after suffering subprime-related losses.

Japanese banks, which have been more risk-averse than US and European banks, have extended their reach during the ongoing global crisis.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is buying 21 percent of troubled Wall Street titan Morgan Stanley while Japan's top brokerage Nomura Holdings is taking over the Asian, European and Middle Eastern operations of collapsed Lehman Brothers.

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農林中金、仏銀大手アグリコルに300億円出資　投資業務などで連携

　農林中央金庫は3日、フランスの大手銀行、クレディ・アグリコルに対して300億円出資したことを明らかにした。市場を通じアグリコルの株式1270万株を取得。出資比率は0.5％になる。両行はいずれも農業系金融機関だが、これまで出資関係はなかった。出資に伴って業務面での連携も強め、投資部門などの収益力向上につなげる。

　農林中金が3日午後、正式に発表する。クレディ・アグリコルは昨夏以降の金融市場の混乱で多額の損失を計上。今夏には59億ユーロ（約8500億円）の増資を実施している。今回の出資は第三者割当増資ではないため、アグリコル側に新規資金が入るわけではない。

　両行は今後、資産運用や投資業務などを軸に業務面でも提携を進めていく方針。アジア地域の金融機関への共同出資なども検討していく。(15:01)

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Brussels keen to defend single market

By FT Reporters

Published: October 2 2008 22:37 | Last updated: October 2 2008 22:37

From co-ordinated deposit guarantee schemes to government-backed capital injections for banks, ideas on how to extricate Europe from its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression are in greater supply than credit itself.

Beneath the various proposals lies a common message: European Union states and their financial institutions are so interconnected that only a co-ordinated, EU-wide response is likely to be effective.

However, the desirability of a common response rubs up against the political reality that each EU government is responsible to its own national voters and deposit-holders, who demand first claim on its attention. For the European Banking Federation it would be a positive step if Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, and the other EU leaders due to meet in Paris this weekend were to relax the fair value accounting rules.

The EBF views the fair value measurement of financial assets as “pro-cyclical” in the current crisis and believes it has aggravated the impact of the US subprime mortgage debacle on Europe.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission took steps this week to introduce less rigid rules, prompting Charlie McCreevy, the EU internal market commissioner, to say: “If other parts of the globe are going to change this particular area, then we will not be found wanting in Europe, as our banks would be at a competitive disadvantage.”

German politicians, meanwhile, say the Paris meeting should harmonise EU rules on bank deposit guarantees – a stance which policymakers at the European Commission and European Central Bank are sympathetic to.

Michael Meister, a legislator and finance expert in the Christian Democratic party, said stronger guarantee mechanisms were needed so every country would be able to tackle not just one bank’s possible failure but a chain reaction involving several.

“Today’s guarantee mechanisms are simply not tailored to the kind of situation we are facing,” Mr Meister told the Financial Times. “We should also think about better co-ordination, which implies looking into the ECB’s role and maybe even a supranational supervisor.”

Germany’s rules guarantee deposits up to €20,000 ($27,700, £15,700), the minimum under EU law, but Mr Meister said that should rise to at least €50,000. Social Democrats in the country’s governing coalition have called for a €70,000 limit.

For the Commission, it is supremely important to ensure that, whatever actions the EU’s 27 national governments take, they do not threaten the integrity of the single European market.

Specifically, the Commission wants to look at Ireland’s blanket guarantee of the debts and deposits of its largest banks, announced on Tuesday to general European surprise, which some experts have said risks destabilising lenders in other countries and undermines the EU’s bedrock principle of fair competition.

“When Europe was confronted with a banking crisis in the 1930s, governments decided to go national, to retreat from the European markets and close their borders,” said Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner. “Protectionism was not the solution at the time. Let’s not make the same mistake twice.”

Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, said European financial institutions were so vulnerable that individual national responses to the crisis might not suffice.

“We have already seen the first troubled European banks being rescued in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Considering the exposure of European institutions, we might have to start thinking of a systemic plan for Europe if things don’t improve on the other side of the Atlantic.””

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Trichet signals change of course on interest rate cut: analysts
AFP
By William Ickes AFP - Thursday, October 2 04:26 pm

FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB Thursday had considered cutting interest rates, signalling a sharp change of course amid unprecedented turmoil on global markets.
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"We have examined two options," Trichet told a press conference in Frankfurt after the bank left its main lending rate unchanged at 4.25 percent.

"One, letting interest rates (be) unchanged, another one decreasing interest rates.

"Our unanimous conclusion was that we were right in maintaining interest rates as they are but we examined the two options," Trichet said, stressing: "We are in a situation of exceptionally high level of uncertainty."

Analysts highlighted the abrupt change from previous meetings when the ECB chief had emphasized risks that inflation could spiral out of control and that it was the ECB's first duty above all to control rising prices rather than bolster a slowing economy.

On Thursday, an ECB statement read by Trichet said: "The most recent data clearly confirm that economic activity in the euro area is weakening, with contracting domestic demand and tighter financing conditions.

"The economic outlook is subject to increased downside risks, mainly stemming from a scenario of ongoing financial market tensions affecting the real economy more adversely than currently foreseen."

In light of weaker demand, inflationary pressures "have diminished somewhat but they have not disappeared," Trichet said.

"Trichet took a giant step towards a rate cut," Commerzbank chief economist Joerg Kraemer said of his remarks.

UniCredit Markets chief economist Aurelio Maccario said the "ECB meeting brought about a significant change in the central bank's stance."

Though interest rates were was unchanged, "certainly the time of the first rate cut is now very close," Maccario said.

The ECB "can cut rates anytime from November onwards, either because of a further deterioration in the financial markets situation or because of a worsening macro (economic) outlook," he said.

The economist felt Trichet would have made it clear if lower interest rates were likely next month but concluded: "We are left with the belief that a rate cut by the end of the year is a virtual certainty."

At the Natixis brokerage, economist Sylvain Broyer said: "We expect the easing cycle to be of greater scope and to materialize sooner" than most had previously expected.

With Germany's IG Metall union seeking its biggest pay raise in 16 years for 3.6 million workers, Trichet warned again that excessive wage agreements could keep inflation higher than the bank's target of just below 2.0 percent.

But even at the current level of 3.6 percent, down from a record 4.0 percent in July, inflation can no longer be the bank's only concern.

A series of massive bank failures and rescues in the United States and Europe have left markets in a state of near panic, with governments rushing to put in place costly safety nets to protect their economies from serious damage.

The US Senate overnight passed a 700-billion-dollar (500-billion-euro) plan to rescue the country's entire banking sector from problems that emerged more than a year ago when the market for high-risk, or subprime, mortgages collapsed.

The plan is highly controversial, with many arguing it is a bailout of the banks that caused the problem in the first place while supporters say that not to pass it will lead to a global recession or worse as the banking system collapses.

Trichet spoke of "a situation that we have never encountered before," and underscored repeatedly the exceptional level of uncertainty facing the financial community.

Those problems have spread to the "real economy," with eurozone manufacturing activity contracting in September for the fourth month running and unemployment starting to creep back up in several countries.

Trichet vowed to keep inflation in check to underpin economic recovery and called on governments to shoulder their responsibilities as well.

Asked if he backed a mooted European Union fund similar to the one being debated in the United States, the ECB chief did not answer directly but said: "In exceptional cases when financial stability is at stake ... there are cases where we need decisions by governments, that's clear."

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Blanchflower says rates must come down
Reuters
Reuters - 49 mins ago

LONDON (Reuters) - Interest rates need to come down to reflect the deteriorating economic outlook, Bank of England policymaker David Blanchflower told a regional newspaper.
(Advertisement)

Giving an interview with the Gloucestershire Echo, he confirmed he would be calling for a cut in interest rates at the central bank's policy meeting next week.

"We are a committee of nine and we will make a decision on Thursday," he is quoted as saying.

"But my view is that the interest rate must come down and I will be telling that to the committee. But it's Cheltenham and it's like betting on the races."

Blanchflower is well known for his dovish views on interest rates and voted to cut rates by 50 basis points at last month's meeting.

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Sarkozy recoils from EU-wide €300bn bail-out

By FT reporters

Published: October 2 2008 15:53 | Last updated: October 2 2008 20:04

President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday distanced himself from a proposed €300bn EU bank rescue scheme that has divided EU governments and left his efforts to galvanise Europe’s response to the financial crisis in tatters.

“I deny the sum and the principle [of the rescue scheme],” said Mr Sarkozy, France’s president, as other EU figures lined up to criticise the apparently French idea of a bail-out fund.

Mr Sarkozy had hoped to forge a common front at a summit with his German, British and Italian counterparts in Paris on Saturday, while encouraging his guests to be open-minded about bold solutions given the gravity of the crisis.

But the furore – led by the German government – over the bail-out fund proposal has put paid to that. The summit is now likely to focus on the existing efforts to tighten regulation of ratings agencies and improve co-ordination between supervisors, and a review of mark-to-market accounting rules.

One possible face-saving initiative could be to agree on common standards for bank deposit insurance. EU officials believe that harmonising the protection for savers would discourage other member states from following Ireland and offering blanket guarantees to banks. Greece on Thursday became the latest EU country to propose more protection for savers.

France’s EU partners have been privately sceptical about the need for Saturday’s meeting, predicting that little would emerge, and fearing bold but ill thought-out proposals.

British officials made clear that Gordon Brown, prime minister, believed national governments had the primary role in resolving the crisis and was opposed to “grand European solutions”.

Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, said the EU’s structure was ill-suited to a common bail-out scheme.

“We do not have a federal budget, so the idea that we could do the same as what is done on the other side of the Atlantic doesn’t fit with the political structure of Europe.” Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, will want to be seen supporting Mr Sarkozy in proposals for greater regulation. But with the desperate state of Italy’s public finances – debts of more than 103 per cent of gross domestic product – he will not be in a position to offer much in terms of an EU bail-out package.

However, the Dutch government said it would continue to press its idea for a €300bn ($415bn, £235bn) scheme whereby each of the EU’s 27 member states would set up its own rescue fund worth up to 3 per cent of gross domestic product.

The funds would be set up according to a common model and governments would co-ordinate with each other in the case of a rescue.

“In essence, we think it would be a good thing for all European states to put aside money so that they would be able to do the same thing with distressed banks as we did last weekend with Fortis,” said Wouter Bos, Dutch finance minister.

“If all European countries simultaneously show that they are prepared, that would send a terrific signal of confidence to European citizens.”

French officials were furious at what they felt was a deliberate German government plan to sabotage Saturday’s meeting by publicly attacking an apparently French plan. French officials insist there never was a French proposal for a €300bn EU-wide fund and that what was under consideration was the Dutch proposal.

But even that now appears off limits. “Maybe they will talk about it for half a minute before moving swiftly on,” said a French official.

Meanwhile, Spain, Belgium and other EU countries that are not invited to Saturday’s meeting, have warned Mr Sarkozy and his guests that they will have no authority to take decisions on behalf of the 27-nation bloc as a whole.

EU finance ministers, who have spent the last 12 months working on a regulatory “road map”, have not been invited either.

By Ben Hall in Paris, George Parker in London, Bertrand Benoit in Berlin, Tony Barber in Brussels, Michael Steen in Amsterdam and Guy Dinmore in Rome

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Brown attacks Irish banks over guarantee

By George Parker and Peter Thal Larsen

Published: October 2 2008 21:43 | Last updated: October 2 2008 22:39

Gordon Brown on Thursday piled pressure on Ireland to stop banks using a new €400bn (£313bn) government guarantee to poach business from British rivals, amid signs that it could trigger a flight of funds across the Irish Sea.

Mr Brown wants Dublin to stamp out at once aggressive marketing campaigns by Irish banks and take measures to cap the market share of institutions now among the safest in Europe.

Ireland’s decision to prop up its six biggest lenders by guaranteeing all their debts and deposits was passed into law on Thursday, in the face of anger across Europe about the impact that it would have on the EU’s single market.

British bankers said there were already signs that some Irish lenders were approaching corporate and private banking customers in the United Kingdom and encouraging them to move their money.

Companies and wealthy individuals are seen as prime targets because they are more likely to have cash balances in excess of the £35,000 at which the UK government guarantees deposits.

Mr Brown raised his concerns with Brian Cowen, Irish prime minister. Downing Street wants to avoid a public row but officials say Mr Brown is determined “to restrict the inflows into these Irish institutions”.

British officials pointed Dublin to the example set when the government nationalised Northern Rock last February: the bank promised it would not use its taxpayer guarantee to boost its market share of retail deposits above 1.5 per cent.

Mr Brown has also asked that Ireland extend its guarantee to British banks with retail units in Ireland, including Ulster Bank, part of Royal Bank of Scotland, and HBOS. Ireland has indicated it may do so.

The Irish decision will be discussed by Mr Brown and other European leaders at a Paris summit on Saturday on the financial crisis, convened by Nicolas Sarkozy, French president.

Brian Lenihan, Irish finance minister, promised that there would be “no predatory pricing” and told the Financial Times that he was willing to work on a bilateral basis with Britain.

He was referring to the Irish regulator the actions of Irish Nationwide, the building society, which was on Thursday approaching City workers touting government guarantees and attractive interest rates on bonds.

“We now represent the safest place to deposit money in Europe with a AAA guarantee from a country with the lowest national debt to GDP ratio of any AAA country,” wrote Michael Fingleton, Jr, an Irish Nationwide executive, in an e-mail to employees of a large investment bank.

An Irish Nationwide employee confirmed that it was offering UK customers 6.75 per cent interest for a six-month bond with a minimum investment of £20,000.

Tens of thousands of savers on Thursday continued to transfer money from the UK to accounts run by Irish banks – including Post Office accounts run by Bank of Ireland. Moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website, said it had experienced three times the normal level of account opening and inquiries, with Irish banks accounting for 25 per cent of savings traffic.

There were signs also of a broader flight to safety by British savers. Northern Rock said it had withdrawn several savings offers after a rush of customers.

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Ireland ‘had to act quickly’ on guarantees

By Peter Thal Larsen, Banking Editor

Published: October 2 2008 16:39 | Last updated: October 2 2008 16:39

Brian Lenihan has had a baptism of fire. Just four months after taking over as Ireland’s finance minister, the former barrister this week found himself in the global market spotlight after the Irish government decided, late on Monday night, to guarantee the deposits and debts of the country’s six largest financial institutions.

The unprecedented decision was greeted with a mixture of shock and anger outside Ireland. European governments and the European Commission expressed surprise that Ireland would take such a dramatic unilateral step. British politicians and bankers were furious at a move they believe creates an uneven playing field both in Britain – where Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks offer accounts – and in Ireland, where Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS have local subsidiaries. After frantic lobbying, the Irish government on Thursday signalled it would consider applications from foreign banks with large branch networks in Ireland to be included in the guarantee.

Mr Lenihan insists Ireland did not want to strike out on its own, but needed to act quickly.

”Our government and I would have preferred a European approach to guaranteeing confidence and stability of the banking sector,” he says in an interview with the Financial Times. ”But in the absence of a European approach a small sovereign state like Ireland is obliged to ensure the stability of the banks that are orphaned with us.”

Ireland’s banks are caught in a perfect storm. They are heavily exposed to both residential and commercial property in a country that has enjoyed a dramatic housing boom. At the same time, they rely on the capital markets for a significant proportion of their funding. Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers the debt markets shunned any financial institution perceived as risky, leading to a growing risk of a loss of confidence in Irish banks.

When the US Congress on Monday unexpectedly rejected the US government’s bail-out, the Irish government decided it had no choice but to guarantee the liabilities of the country’s six largest banks – worth a combined €400bn.

”We believed we had to take firm, decisive action to show that Ireland was open for business and would remain open for business,” Mr Lenihan says.

Nevertheless, the move is fraught with problems. Aside from straining relations with Britain, it could be extremely costly. If the Irish government had to honour its guarantee, the national debt would balloon from 25 per cent of gross domestic product to 242 per cent, according to analysts at Collins Stewart.

It is also far from clear how Irish banks will be prevented from abusing the guarantee, which runs for two years. Mr Lenihan says the banks will be charged for the guarantee, but will not be drawn on how this will work in practice.

Ireland’s move could also fall foul of European rules on state aid. But Mr Lenihan says Ireland has learned from the UK, which sought approval from Brussels for the nationalisation of Northern Rock, the mortgage lender.

”We’ve taken great care to ensure that we’re in compliance with our obligations that do permit an intervention when there is a risk of a systemic failure,” he says. ”We’re satisfied what we’ve done is in accordance with the European rules.”

In response to the crisis, the Irish government is also seeking to relax competition rules so that it can approve bank mergers it deems in the national interest. But Mr Lenihan rules out investing directly in banks, as the Belgian government did this week when rescuing Fortis and Dexia. ”If the state were to become involved in the capitalising of banks that is a much more radical step.”

For a small country, he says, the risks of a loss of confidence meant it had to intervene to support up the entire system. ”Our assessment was that intervening on a case by case basis where you have only six institutions would precipitate a collapse. If you’ve a very small number of banks, the dangers are very great.”

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Exodus as UK savers shift to Irish safe haven

By Matthew Vincent

Published: October 3 2008 04:15 | Last updated: October 3 2008 04:15

Tens of thousands of savers are seeking to transfer their cash out of the UK and into Irish banks – including the Post Office accounts run by Bank of Ireland – to gain the unlimited deposit protection recently afforded them by the Irish government. The first three days of this week have seen three times the normal level of new accounts and inquiries about Irish banks, according to price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, with Irish institutions accounting for 25 per cent of all the savings-related traffic to the site. The number of inquiries was “into tens of thousands”, a spokesman for the site said.

Bank of Ireland confirmed that it was seeing an increase in new accounts, and the Post Office – whose Instant Saver, Fiveyear Saver and Growth bonds are operated by Bank of Ireland – said it has seen customer demand accelerate this week.

“That trend has continued across the range of our products, but our joint venture products with Bank of Ireland have been very popular,” said a spokesman.

Anglo Irish Bank is also understood to have seen a significant rise in account opening by UK savers.

“They’ve definitely experienced an increase in the number of customer inquiries,” said a person familiar with the bank, “but the uplift is difficult to assess at this stage, as they operate predominantly by post.”

A combination of high interest rates and a 100 per cent guarantee has made Irish accounts attractive, as the UK government has yet to implement its proposal to increase deposit protection from £35,000 ($61,765) to £50,000.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if the likes of Anglo Irish have seen an upturn, as their products offer great rates and security,” said Michelle Slade of independent savings monitor Moneyfacts. “We’ve had a 66 per cent increase in traffic to our webpages, with people e-mailing to ask about Irish banks and whether money transferred there is safe.”

Kevin Mountford of moneysupermarket.com said savers were making a simple calculation. “What you’re looking at is a safe haven and reasonable rates – Anglo Irish has a 6.4 per cent savings product, which is only 20 basis points off the best in the market.”

This influx of savers into Irish banks may now be further increased by the decision of Northern Rock to close accounts to new customers, to prevent a breach of competition regulations.

As a nationalised bank Northern Rock also offers 100 per cent government deposit protection, but it was forced to withdraw its e-saver online account and fixed rate bond on Wednesday, and a further four accounts on Thursday, to avoid attracting more than 1.5 per cent of total UK savings.

“Northern Rock is withdrawing all its leading products because of the guarantee,” said Mr Mountford. “They were paying between 0.75 per cent and 1 per cent below the best in the market. But people want security.”

However, the British Bankers’ Association claimed reports of a savings exodus were exaggerated.

“As for money going across the border, it’s not supported by any evidence that we can see,” said Brian Mairs. He pointed out that 96 per cent of all UK savings accounts were fully protected, as they were under the £35,000 compensation limit. The new £50,000 limit would cover another 2 per cent.

But reports of cash outflows are already having an impact on the perceived value of UK banks by stock market investors. Graham Spooner, investment adviser at The Share Centre, said he was recommending that clients avoid buying Royal Bank of Scotland, over fears that its Northern Irish subsidiary Ulster Bank would see more customers move to banks south of the border.

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The Short View: Hedge funds

By John Authers, Investment Editor

Published: October 2 2008 19:15 | Last updated: October 2 2008 19:15

Wall Street’s eyes are on Washington, but there are increasingly anxious glances towards Greenwich, Connecticut, the capital of hedge fund land.

Hedge fund accidents have been remarkable for their absence throughout the crisis. While investment banks had acute difficulties, there has been no big hedge fund collapse. The industry as a whole got through the first half of the year with decent investment returns.

But not any longer. In aggregate, hedge funds had a terrible third quarter. Many had relied on the “long energy, short banks” trade and failed to get out when it suddenly reversed in July. And they had a bad September, as the credit crisis entered its acute phase.

Hedge Fund Research’s HFRX index showed that “market directional” hedge funds, which attempt to beat the market, lost 8.9 per cent last month and were down 11 per cent for the year.

Their “long” positions have performed terribly. Goldman Sachs’ basket of the 50 stocks most widely held by hedge funds underperformed the S&P 500 by 11 per cent during the third quarter, down 19 per cent.

The stocks with the highest concentration of hedge funds among their shareholders fell 12 per cent, but stocks with the lowest concentration fell only 2 per cent, beating the market.

Regulators have taken away a crucial advantage by banning much short selling, the only way to make good money over the past few weeks. And funds’ investors were allowed to yank funds away from them at the end of the quarter.

With funds losing cash and forced to pay down debts, the market bet is now that they must make a disorderly retreat from their favoured stocks.

That contributed to sharp falls yesterday in tech, resources and transport stocks, all hedge fund favourites. Much now depends on Greenwich’s continuing ability to avoid a major hedge fund accident.

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The Short View

By John Authers

Published: October 3 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 3 2008 03:00

ca-pit-u-la-tion (ka-pich'a-la'shan)n. The act of surrendering or giving up. -American Heritage Dictionary

Markets capitulated yesterday. They signalled surrender on the long-cherished belief that the global economy could continue to grow despite the financial crisis in the US.

The change in tone from the European Central Bank was a trigger. So was gossip that hedge funds needed to raise cash and were selling their profitable positions in cyclical, materials and emerging markets stocks exposed to global growth.

The results were spectacular. US stocks settled slightly above the lows set on Monday, but Brazil's Bovespa index is now down 48.7 per cent in four months and fell 11.7 per cent yesterday in dollar terms. It is now back to its low of August 2007, when the credit crisis began, having doubled and halved in the interim.

Industrial metals fell 5.1 per cent and are down 42.1 per cent from the peak, according to Dow Jones-AIG; agricultural commodities fell 4.6 per cent, off 35.4 per cent from the top; and energy-related commodities fell 4.1 per cent and are now down 40.5 per cent from the top.

The dollar was a perverse beneficiary. Money is coming home from the commodity plays with which US investors had bet that the rest of the world had "decoupled" from the US.

As for the trade of going long energy (such as the S&P GSCI energy index) and short US banks (like the KBW banking index); that trade would have quadrupled your money in the 12 months to July 14 this year; and halved it since then.

This is a ray of hope. The KBW index remains almost 50 per cent above the intraday low it plumbed in July. Markets yesterday bet that the US steps back from a full-blown banking crisis, but capitulated to the belief that a severe global slowdown is now unavoidable.

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US embassy in London to relocate

By Jim Pickard

Published: October 2 2008 17:23 | Last updated: October 2 2008 17:23

The US embassy in London is to relocate from the glamorous environs of Mayfair to the more gritty “Nine Elms” quarter in Vauxhall, south of the river Thames.

Robert Tuttle, the US ambassador to the UK, said on Thursday afternoon that he had signed a conditional agreement with Ballymore, an Irish property developer, to acquire the new site. Nine Elms is not far from the headquarters of MI6, the secret intelligence service.

The US government has rejected other options including the renovation of the current embassy in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, he said. Instead it had decided to move to a modern, secure and “environmentally sustainable” headquarters elsewhere.

“I’m excited about America playing a role in the regeneration of the South Bank of London,” said Mr Tuttle.

The embassy insisted on Thursday that it had signed an “initial” agreement only and it would depend on approval from the US Congress and from local planning authorities. The Grosvenor Square building would be put up on the market “almost immediately”, it said.

When news of the possible sale first broke over a year ago the embassy was expected to reach more than £300m given its plum location. Since then, however, property prices have plunged and it could fetch less than £200m.

Built in the late 1950s and opened in 1960, the nine-storey building - which employs 750 staff - is the largest US embassy in the world.

The freehold of the site is owned by Grosvenor, the private company of the Duke of Westminster.

Property agents have long believed that the departure of the US government could raise the value of property in the area, given the potential security threat to the embassy.

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Gas deal seals Moscow-Berlin entente

By Chris Bryant in Berlin and Charles Clover and Catherine Belton in Moscow

Published: October 2 2008 14:08 | Last updated: October 2 2008 19:32

Russia and Germany on Thursday moved to restore close bilateral relations after tensions in the Georgia conflict by endorsing a significant gas exploration deal between two of the countries’ key energy players.

Angela Merkel, German chancellor, speaking after talks in St Petersburg with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, said there had not been a “chill” in relations with Moscow, although she did repeat that Russia’s August incursion into two Georgian enclaves had been “unacceptable”.

Mr Medvedev, who in August said that Russia was “not afraid of a new cold war” over Georgia, was conciliatory, saying: “In my view, nothing dramatic happened, quite the contrary. The flow of events we are seeing now shows that we are capable of agreeing on different issues even while the international situation is very complicated as a result of the Caucasian crisis.”

In the gas deal signed on Thursday, Eon, the German energy giant, agreed with Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, to acquire a stake in one of the world’s largest gas fields. After four years of hard-fought negotiations Eon will receive an almost 25 per cent stake in Yuzhno Russkoye, a Siberian field, and in return will give up almost half of its 6.5 per cent stake in Gazprom.

Eon’s acquisition will see it join BASF, the German chemical company, which has already secured a stake in the Yuzhno field via its energy arm Wintershall.

Significantly, the deal saw Gazprom drop demands for participation in distribution assets in Germany – a cornerstone of Russia’s call for reciprocity in granting direct access for European companies to its vast energy reserves.

Dr Jens Schreiber, Eon spokesman, told the FT: “There was also a political will (in Moscow) to see this deal done. The Russian government wanted to give a signal that foreign investors are welcome.”

”Russia can’t allow relations with Europe to freeze,” said Valery Nesterov, energy analyst at Troika Dialog, the Moscow investment bank. Mr Nesterov said Russia hoped granting Eon access to Yuzhno Russkoye would help break through mounting opposition in Germany to the Nord Stream pipeline, a controversial project to pump Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany that BASF and Eon are developing in conjunction with Gazprom. Yuzhno Russkoye is the main field that will supply the pipeline.

The gas deal sees Eon return a 3 per cent stake to Gazprom at a time when the stake is bound to climb in value after Gazprom’s market capitalisation has been halved to $175bn (€122bn, £97bn) since May. “Gazprom will probably be able to sell this on with a significant profit in future,” Mr Nesterov said.

Eon sees the Yuzhno deal as an important step in expanding its footprint in the valuable Russian gas market, Europe’s biggest supplier.

Russia stressed last month that good relations with Germany were central to its foreign relations. Sergei Lavrov, foreign minister, said in a speech: “Russian-German reconciliation is one of the major factors in the construction of new Europe. And we will allow no one to drive a wedge between our peoples.”

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Ukraine discord mars Russia gas talks

By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev and Catherine Belton in Moscow

Published: October 2 2008 18:34 | Last updated: October 3 2008 07:33

Ukraine’s agreement with Moscow on a three-year transition to world prices for Russian natural gas supplies coincided with last-ditch efforts to save Kiev’s tottering pro-western coalition.

Yulia Tymoshenko, the Ukrainian premier who is already under pressure from a deadline that could make or break her coalition, faced a seemingly irritated Russian prime minister in Moscow on Thursday.

Vladimir Putin criticised Kiev for siding with Tbilisi during Russia’s military intervention in Georgia, challenged its pro-western foreign policy and expressed frustration with its domestic political turmoil.

“Unfortunately, rather than occurring on the backdrop of improved relations, our meeting comes amid difficult conditions,” Mr Putin said at his residence outside Moscow. With Ms Tymoshenko at his side, Mr Putin referred to the “indecisiveness of decision-making” in Kiev which, he added, was “itself due to the internal political situation”.

In Kiev, allies of Ms Tymoshenko and of Viktor Yushchenko, the president, were engaged in last-minute efforts to preserve their coalition. The scale of the challenge they face was underlined by a fresh bout of wrangling between the two rivals after the president commandeered the aircraft that was meant to take the premier to Moscow.

At the end of the talks, Ms Tymoshenko said both sides agreed to set a three-year transition period towards market prices on gas Kiev purchases from Russia. A top Ukrainian official said Ukraine would next year pay between $250-300 per 1,000 cubic meters, significantly lower than the $500 rate Gazprom said it charges Europe.

Ms Tymoshenko also said both sides agreed to remove middlemen companies from their multi-billion-dollar gas trade.

Her negotiations were closely watched in Kiev, where politics has been paralysed by the bitter rivalry with Mr Yushchenko.

His party quit their coalition last month, in part to protest against Ms Tymoshenko’s refusal to condemn Russia for its “aggression” against Georgia. Ms Tymoshenko denies siding with the Kremlin and accuses Mr Yushchenko of stirring up conflict with Russia.

She has called for a compromise with Mr Yushchenko and on Thursday her party joined parliamentary allies of the president to cancel legislation last month that curtailed the president’s powers.

Should a deal not be reached by Friday, Mr Yushchenko could call snap parliamentary elections.

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Bitter wage talks begin in Germany's key metalworking sector
AFP
AFP - Thursday, October 2 06:03 pm

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany's biggest industrial trade union IG Metall started wage talks with employers Thursday seeking an eight-percent pay hike for 3.6 million workers in the metalworking and electronics industries.
(Advertisement)

The demand, during the first round of pay negotiations, is the highest the union has sought in 16 years and has jacked up tensions with industry as Germany faces an economic slowdown.

Representatives from IG Metall and the employers' federation gathered in the western city of Darmstadt for talks that would initially cover the states of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland for a 12-month period.

The meeting was concluded without result and the parties will gather again October 23.

In Germany pay negotiations begin simultaneously in several regions and the first to reach an accord serves as a guideline for the rest of the country.

Current pay accords in the auto, IT and household goods industries expire on October 31 so the outcome will be closely watched by all sides, including car makers like BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen, and industrial giants like Siemens.

IG Metall argues that manufacturing workers have failed to benefit from several years of robust economic growth, and has threatened warning strikes from November if its demands are not met.

"Conditions in the parts of the economy that produce goods and services are stable," union chairman Berthold Huber told the Thursday issue of the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"I am not saying things will keep moving upwards, but I know that our much talked about traditional industry with its manufacturing output and force for innovation has moved this country forward.

"Look at countries such as the United States and Britain that have jeopardised it. It is a complete disaster."

IG Metall estimates that profits in the metalworking and electronics sectors soared 220 percent between 2004 and 2007.

The chief negotiator for the three states' chapters of employers group Gesamtmetall, Eduard Kulenkamp, rejected the union's demand for an eight-percent wage hike out of hand Thursday as "irresponsible" in light of a looming economic downturn.

Gesamtmetall has offered a smaller, unspecified pay hike and a one-off payment.

The European Central Bank has also warned against too generous pay increases which could spur rising inflation.

The negotiations are likely to be extremely acrimonious and set the tone for other pay settlements across Europe's largest, export-driven economy.

Economy Minister Michael Glos said last week the German government would have to "markedly revise downward" its economic growth forecast for 2009 -- currently at 1.2 percent -- due to the global financial crisis.

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経産相、電気・ガス料金制度見直しを表明

　二階俊博経済産業相は3日の閣議後の記者会見で、電気やガス料金の制度について見直しを検討すると正式に表明した。原油など燃料価格の変動を四半期ごとに自動的にそのまま反映させる「燃料費調整制度」などが対象。中旬に総合エネルギー調査会（経産相の諮問機関）で議論を開始する。太陽光発電など新エネルギーを大幅導入した際に、既存の電力網とつなぐための費用負担なども議論する。

　経産相は燃料費調整制度について、原油高などで「（1996年の）制度の創設時には想定できなかった環境変化が生じている」と指摘。早期に結論が得られることが望ましいとの考えを示し、来年中に見直しを実施する方針も強調した。

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ＳＢＩとテマセク、アジア金融株投資ファンドを設立

　ＳＢＩホールディングスはシンガポールの政府系投資会社テマセク・ホールディングスと共同でアジアの金融機関の株式に投資するファンドを設立した。総額は当初6000万ドル（約63億円）で来春にも1億ドルに増額する方針。中国や東南アジアでは米金融危機による株価下落で割安な金融株は多いと判断した。

　ＳＢＩとテマセク子会社のフラトン・ファンド・マネジメントが3000万ドルずつ拠出した。地域は日本を除くアジアのほぼ全域で主に上場株が対象。テマセク側が投資候補先を選定し、まず銀行や証券会社など5―10社に投資する。(07:00)

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京樽、10店強を閉鎖へ　レストラン形態の１割

　吉野家ホールディングス傘下で持ち帰りすしチェーンの京樽は、レストラン形態の店舗のうち少なくとも約1割に当たる10店強を年内に閉鎖する方針を固めた。消費不振やガソリン高で郊外店の売り上げが落ち込んでいるため。踏み込んだ店舗リストラで収益回復を急ぐ。閉鎖によって2008年12月期の連結最終赤字は約1億円の従来予想より拡大する。

　閉鎖対象はすしレストランの「海鮮三崎港」や和食レストランの「わのか」などの不採算店。同社は和食レストランや回転すしなどを7種類、約110店運営している。主力の持ち帰りすしチェーン「京樽」は全国に約240店ある。

　持ち帰り事業が健闘している一方で、レストラン事業の既存店売上高は8月が前年同月比5.1％落ち込むなど前年割れが常態化している。(17:46)

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鋼材、2年半ぶり下落　中韓の余剰品流入

　Ｈ形鋼や薄鋼板など主要鋼材の流通価格が2年半ぶりに下落した。下げ幅は1―2％。建設用など国内向けの不振が主因だ。需要が減少している中国や韓国から低価格品の流入も増えた。東京製鉄など電炉の値下げも響き、流通業者の値下げが広がっている。鋼材価格は年初から5―6割上昇し、7月には最高値を付けたが、景気減速の影響で国内の素材価格の調整色が強まってきた。

　今回値下がりした卸業者を経由する流通取引は鋼材全体の2―3割。自動車や家電メーカー向けは直接取引が多い。需給に敏感な流通価格の反落は、高炉と家電メーカーの再値上げ交渉にも影響しそうだ。(07:00)

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ブラジル鉄鉱石鉱山の落札、日本企業連合が有力に

2008年10月3日10時9分

　ブラジルの鉄鉱石鉱山の競争入札で、新日本製鉄など国内鉄鋼大手５社と伊藤忠商事の企業連合の落札が有力になった。金額は最大１兆円に膨らむ見通しだ。鉄鉱石は新興国の需要増と資源メジャーの寡占化を背景に急騰しているが、今回の買収が実現すれば、安定調達や価格交渉力の向上につながりそうだ。

　買収対象になっているのはブラジル南東部に鉱山を保有するナミザ社。親会社の現地鉄鋼大手ＣＳＮが、ナミザ株の競争入札を実施している。

　鉄鋼世界最大手のアルセロール・ミッタルや中国、ロシアの有力企業も入札に参加しているが、「世界的な金融不安で、海外勢はファンドなどの融資が受けにくくなっている」（関係者）とされ、資金に余裕のある日本勢が最有力候補に浮上しているという。

　ナミザの０８年の生産量は７５０万トンだが、計画では１１年に１６５０万トンまで増える。現在の日本鉄鋼業界の使用量の１割強に当たる規模だ。

　国内鉄鋼大手が買うブラジル産や豪州産の鉄鉱石は今年度、前年度より６～８割値上がり。鉄鉱石世界３位の英豪ＢＨＰビリトンが２位のリオ・ティントを買収する動きもあり、寡占化で一段の値上がりが懸念されている。資源大手への依存を減らす狙いもあり、日本勢は異例の連合で今回の入札に臨んでいる。

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土屋ホーム、ロシア極東で住宅販売　12年度売上高20億円に

　土屋ホームは2日、11月からロシア極東地域で大型注文住宅の建設事業に乗り出すと発表した。サハリン州にモデルハウス1棟を建設し、富裕層向けに販売を始める。同社の海外進出は初めて。2012年度をメドに年間70―80棟を販売し、ロシアでの売上高20億円を目指す。

　モデルハウスは2階建て（延べ床面積280平方メートル）で年内にユジノサハリンスクに完成予定。寒さを防ぐ高気密の外断熱工法などを強みとする。販売価格は1億円前後を予定しており、まず10年度に15―20棟の販売を計画。約5億円の売上高を見込む。

　ロシア向けに外装製品を輸出する東邦工業（札幌市、加藤勝彦社長）や、サハリン州の現地商社と提携。現地商社が建築関連の認可取得やロシアでの販売を担当し、土屋ホームは完全子会社を通じ日本から大工を派遣して施工を受け持つ。代金の前払いとし、事業リスクを避ける。

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業務用ちまきにも汚染米　ＪＴフーズが自主回収

　事故米の不正転売問題で、日本たばこ産業の子会社「ジェイティフーズ」（東京）は3日までに、販売する業務用のちまき商品の原料に汚染米が混入していたとして、自主回収を始めた。

　同社によると、汚染米は商品の製造を委託したアンゼンフーズ（静岡県沼津市）が西田米穀（静岡市）から仕入れたもち米に含まれていたといい、西田米穀は不正転売していた三笠フーズ（大阪市）と浅井（名古屋市）から購入していた。

　西田米穀については、農水省が9月18日、三笠フーズが不正転売した流通先の1社として公表したが、汚染米は消費者には出回っていないとしていた。農水省のその後の調査で、流通の事実が判明したという。

　ジェイティフーズは1日から取引業者に個別に自主回収の案内を始めたが、出荷から時間が経過し、大半がすでに消費された可能性が高いという。商品名や出荷量などは明らかにしていない。〔共同〕(14:40)

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１００万件超の可能性…消された年金問題、舛添厚労相

　社会保険庁の職員が年金記録改ざんに関与していたとされる「消された年金」問題をめぐり、舛添要一厚労相は３日午前の記者会見で、厚生年金の全オンライン記録約１億５０００万件のうち、標準報酬が５等級以上大幅に引き下げられた記録が７５万件に上ることを明らかにした。他のケースもあり、改ざんの疑いがある記録は１００万件を超す可能性が出てきた。

　厚生年金受給額は、社保庁に記録されている標準報酬で決まる。これが社保庁職員の関与で低く改ざんされれば、サラリーマンが受け取る年金は減額される。「消えた年金」と違う、「消された年金」である。

　標準報酬月額は現在３０等級に区分されており、５等級の引き下げ幅は、現行では３万６０００円から１５万円に相当する。

　他のケースとしては、標準報酬引き下げと同日か翌日に、厚生年金からの脱退処理が行われた記録が１５万６０００件、６カ月以上さかのぼって記録が変更されたものが５３万３０００件あった。３条件のうち１つでも当てはまる記録を単純に合計すると１４３万９０００件。重複分を除いても改ざんの疑いがある記録が１００万件を超す可能性があるという。

ZAKZAK 2008/10/03

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トヨタ：「裁判員休暇」新制度導入　給与保証、期間従業員も対象

　トヨタ自動車は来年５月に始まる裁判員制度に対応し、従来の特別休暇制度が適用されていない期間従業員も含め、裁判員に選ばれた社員の給与を全額保証する「裁判員特別休暇」制度を新たに導入することを決めた。期間従業員に特別休暇を認めるのはトヨタとして初めて。

　トヨタには冠婚葬祭時などに給与を全額保証する特別休暇制度があるが、対象は正社員やパート（約１００人）などに限られていた。新制度は、裁判員に選ばれた労働者に対する不利益な扱いを禁じた裁判員法に対応し、正社員やパートに期間従業員（約７０００人）を含めた直接雇用者全員を対象に、裁判員休暇中の給与を全額保証する。【中井正裕】

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サリドマイド：３日にも再承認　薬害被害者、苦渋の協力

　半世紀前に世界的な薬害禍を起こしながら、血液のがんの治療薬として３日にも承認が決まる見通しのサリドマイド。製薬会社が制作した新たな患者用の教育ビデオに、サリドマイド被害者が出演している。薬の副作用で生まれながらに両手が短い増山ゆかりさん（４５）＝千葉県柏市＝で、承認を切望する患者のために協力を決意した。ビデオでは「悲劇を二度と繰り返さないで」と訴えている。

　かつて「悪魔の薬」とまで言われたサリドマイドが、多発性骨髄腫の治療薬として脚光を浴び始めたのは００年ごろ。「あの薬が人を救うなんて信じられなかった」と増山さんは言う。

　日本では、販売目的でなければ未承認薬の個人輸入や医師の処方が可能で、サリドマイドについては、既に患者団体が窓口となり輸入を始めていた。ずさんな管理や転売のうわさも耳に入ったが、国は使用実態すら調べていなかった。「放置していいのか」と強い疑念がわいた。

　被害者らでつくる財団法人「いしずえ」が０２年、被害者に調査したところ、使用を認めて厳しいルール作りを求める意見が５８％、全面禁止を訴える声が３４％と割れた。「私たちは命や健康の尊さを身をもって知っている。サリドマイドが本当に人を救うなら、役に立ってほしい」。増山さんは前者を選び、患者団体と連絡を取り合って情報収集を進めた。

　０６年、藤本製薬（大阪府松原市）がサリドマイドの製造承認を申請すると、「いしずえ」は米国に倣った厳格な安全管理基準を策定するよう求めた。厚生労働省は基準が適正かどうかを議論する異例の検討会を設け、増山さんも委員として参加。藤本製薬から来ていたビデオ制作への協力にもＯＫした。

　薬害被害者の自分がサリドマイドの復活に手を貸すのは「理不尽」とも感じるが、これが薬の管理の大切さを見直す転機になればいいと思う。ビデオの中の増山さんは「苦しむのは私たちで終わらせたい。患者さんや家族の方々、治療にかかわるすべての医療者に、悲劇を繰り返さないため最善を尽くしてほしい」と語り掛けている。

　藤本製薬は「サリドマイド被害者の方の協力には感謝している。今後、管理手順をチェックする第三者評価機関にも加わってもらいたい」と話している。【清水健二】

　【ことば】サリドマイド

　鎮静・催眠剤として５７年から世界約５０カ国で販売された。６１年に、服用した女性から手足の短い子が生まれることが判明。各国が販売を中止する中、日本では６２年９月まで回収されず、認定患者は３０９人に上った。妊娠初期の女性が１錠でも飲むと胎児に危険があるため、多発性骨髄腫の治療に当たっては、患者や医師、薬剤師を登録制にし、患者に診察のたび妊娠検査結果などの報告を求めることにしている。

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劣化ウラン弾：国連が初報告　ボスニア「がん死亡率４倍」

　【ニューヨーク小倉孝保】国連の潘基文（バンギムン）事務総長が、「人体への悪影響」も指摘される劣化ウラン弾について、「使用の影響」に関する初めての報告をまとめたことが２日、分かった。１９カ国と国連機関の意見を列記する形で、国連本部として現状認識を初めてまとめた。近く国連総会に提出する。毎日新聞が入手した報告によると「がんの死亡率が通常の４倍になった」「使用は国際人道法違反」との厳しい意見があった。総会での規制議論のたたき台になるとみられる。

　報告は「劣化ウラン弾使用の影響」と題し、昨年末の国連総会で劣化ウラン弾の影響調査を求める決議が採択されたことを受け、国連軍縮局が作成した。国連の求めに応じ意見を提出したのは日本、ドイツ、イタリア、ボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナなどと、国際原子力機関（ＩＡＥＡ）、国連環境計画（ＵＮＥＰ）、世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）など。

　米国など安保理常任理事国やインド、パキスタンなどの核保有国、イラク、クウェートなど被害が疑われる国の意見はなかった。

　報告によると、ボスニアは、ボスニア紛争中の９４年、米軍が劣化ウラン弾を使用した地域で住民を調査した結果、他の地域の住民に比べ「がんの死亡率が４倍になった」とし「調査が必要」と主張した。アルゼンチンは「使用一時中止を」、カタールは「禁止すべきだ」としたほか、セルビアは「使用は国際人道法違反」と批判した。

　一方、ドイツやスペインなど旧ユーゴスラビア連邦の平和維持に派兵した国は「帰還兵への調査の結果、健康への影響は認められない」と主張。日本は国際機関を通じた調査を注意深く見守るとの姿勢を示した。

　また、ＩＡＥＡは、放置された劣化ウラン弾に住民が直接触れないよう規制すべきだと指摘。ＷＨＯは、報告件数が少なく結論が出せないとしたうえで、放置された劣化ウラン弾に子どもが触れて被ばくする危険に言及し、対策を求めている。

　【ことば】劣化ウラン弾

　原子炉や核兵器に使うため天然ウランを濃縮した後に残る核廃棄物「劣化ウラン」を弾頭に備えた弾丸。比重が大きく貫通する力が強いため、主に戦車や装甲車を攻撃する際に使われる。着弾時に微粒子が拡散し、がんや白血病などの健康被害が生じる▽燃焼時にも微粒子が飛散し、大気や土壌が汚染される－－とも指摘される。非政府組織によると、少なくとも米英仏など２０カ国が保有する。

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ロシア最後の皇帝、９０年ぶり名誉回復

2008年10月2日19時4分

　【モスクワ＝星井麻紀】ロシア革命直後の１９１８年に、ボリシェビキによって銃殺されたロシア最後の皇帝、ニコライ２世一家の名誉回復が１日、ロシアの最高裁幹部会によって認められた。

　インタファクス通信などによると、幹部会は「銃殺は政治弾圧だった」として名誉回復を認定した。最高裁は昨年１１月、「国が皇帝一家の殺害に関与した証拠がない」として、名誉回復を求める子孫の主張を退けたが、上級審である幹部会への異議申し立てが実った。

　皇帝の遺骨はソ連崩壊後の９８年、当時のエリツィン大統領主導で歴代皇帝が眠るサンクトペテルブルクに埋葬され、「ロシア社会の和解の象徴」とされた。

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米朝食シリアル、糖分が半分以上の商品も　消費者団体
2008.10.2 21:13

　［ワシントン　１日　ロイター］　米消費者同盟（ＣＵ）は１日発行した報告書「コンシューマーリポーツ」で、米国で主に子ども向けとして売られている朝食用シリアルについて、重量の半分以上が糖分の商品もあると指摘した。

　同報告書によると、人気の高い１１商品では、一食分の糖分がシロップがけドーナツ１個分とほぼ同じ。ケロッグ＜Ｋ．Ｎ＞の「Ｈｏｎｅｙ　Ｓｍａｃｋｓ」とクラフト・フーズ＜ＫＦＴ．Ｎ＞の「Ｐｏｓｔ　Ｇｏｌｄｅｎ　Ｃｒｉｓｐ」は重量の５０％以上が糖分で、そのほか９商品は少なくとも重量の４０％が糖分だとしている。

　また一部のブランドは、米国市場向け商品の糖分と塩分を海外向けの同じ商品よりも高めにしているという。

　ただ同団体は、朝食用シリアルが健康的な食事になる可能性にも言及しており、朝食を摂る人は摂らない人に比べて体重の問題が少なく、一日を通じて認識力も優れているとしている。

　また、ケロッグの広報担当者は、同社がこのほど多くの米国向けシリアル製品について、栄養面で改善されるよう見直しを行ったと電子メールを通じ説明。さらに、「コンシューマーリポーツの情報では、ヨーグルト製品はＨｏｎｅｙ　Ｓｍａｃｋｓの一食分より多くの糖分と塩分を含んでいる」としている。

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09:38 GMT, Friday, 3 October 2008 10:38 UK
US think tank 'to open in Tehran'
Iranian women walk past anti-US mural

Washington has given rare approval for a research body to open an office in Iran, although it stressed United States policy had not changed.

The American Iranian Council was given a licence to establish a presence in Tehran by the US Treasury Department.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control enforces US sanction on Iran.

The AIC is a policy think tank devoted to improving relations between the US and Iran, which have been mutually hostile since Iran's 1979 revolution.

A spokesman for the US state department, which guides the policy for issuing non-governmental organisation (NGO) licences to places under US sanctions, like Iran, Sudan and Cuba, said the move did not signal any change in policy.

"We look forward to helping promote respectful, rational and direct dialogue between the US and Iran"
Brent Lollis
AIC executive director

US and Iran have had no diplomatic relations since the US hostages crisis in 1980 when Islamic revolutionary students took over the US embassy in Tehran.

The executive director of the think tank, which based at Princeton, New Jersey said the licence would allow it to become only US-based peace and conflict resolution NGO operating in Iran.

"We look forward to helping governmental officials, NGO officials, and especially common citizens in working with us to promote respectful, rational and direct dialogue between the US and Iran," Brent Lollis announced on the group's website.

A US official quoted by the Reuters news agency said the establishment of an AIC office in Tehran would encourage cultural exchange and "mutual understanding" between peoples while "trying to isolate the Iranian regime".

Iran has in the past year accused the US of using academic exchanges and think-tanks to undermine the Islamic republic and it has charged three visiting US-Iranian scholars with espionage.

It is not known if the AIC has been given permission to set up its office in Tehran.

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14:54 GMT, Wednesday, 1 October 2008 15:54 UK
Iran backs Syria at nuclear body
Ali Asghar Soltanieh

An Iranian envoy says Tehran has dropped its bid for a seat on the board of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Iran wanted to make way for its regional ally Syria to become a board member instead.

Iran and Syria have both been accused by some countries of engaging in clandestine nuclear activity.

Iran says it will continue enriching uranium, which it says is for civilian purposes only, despite the latest UN resolution calling on it to stop.

"The Islamic Republic has officially refrained from pursuing its right to be nominated to the board to pave the way for the membership of Syria," Mr Soltanieh said in remarks carried by the state-run al-Alam website.

The International Atomic Energy Agency board comprises of 35 members elected annually by the body's highest policy-making body, the General Conference of all member states.

Syria and Iran had both been competing for the seat reserved for a Middle Eastern and South Asian country.

US allegations

Opposition to Syria's election - and Iran's before it's withdrawal - is led by the US, which wants the seat to go to its close ally Afghanistan.

Unless the regional group can agree on a single candidate, the assembly will hold a vote at the end of this week's conference.

Correspondents say it would be an unprecedented and highly divisive move in a body that prides itself on consensus.

Syria has the backing of the Arab League, which makes up a significant proportion of the regional group.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been investigating Syria over US intelligence allegations that it was building a secret, plutonium-producing reactor.

Israel destroyed the site in an air strike in 2007.

Preliminary inspections by an IAEA team have shown no evidence of the US allegations. Syria denies any nuclear proliferation or hiding any activities from the watchdog.

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「八百長」語源は相撲から

　日本相撲協会広報部によると、「八百長」をめぐって実際の法廷で争われた前例はない。だが明治時代の新聞にも疑惑を報じられるなど、昔から何度も取りざたされてきた。そもそも明治初期に八百屋の長兵衛が相撲の親方と碁を打つ際、親方の機嫌を取るためにわざと負けてごちそうになっていたことが八百長の語源とされているほどだ。

　１９６３年に石原慎太郎・現東京都知事がスポーツ紙上で、秋場所の柏戸と大鵬の横綱全勝対決が八百長だと言明。これに対し、相撲協会は名誉棄損で東京地検に告訴した。両横綱は東京地検特捜部から参考人として事情聴取を受け、八百長を否定。その後、相撲協会は告訴を取り下げた。

　９６年には元大鳴戸親方（元関脇高鉄山）が週刊誌上で疑惑を暴露。相撲協会は同親方が亡くなった後、名誉棄損で週刊誌側を東京地検に刑事告訴したが、嫌疑不十分で不起訴処分になった。

　２０００年には、元大鳴戸親方の弟子だった元小結の板井圭介氏が週刊誌上で告発し、日本外国特派員協会での講演会でも八百長は存在すると発言。また先月２９日には、大麻問題で日本相撲協会を解雇された元幕内若ノ鵬が「アンフェアな取組を強いられた」と証言するなど、八百長騒動は後を絶たない。

　八百長の存在を一貫して否定している相撲協会だが、一方で「故意による無気力相撲」に対しては除名、出場停止などの懲罰規定を設けている。

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大相撲八百長訴訟：朝青龍が出廷し全面否定「真剣勝負」と

　横綱朝青龍を中心に八百長が組織的に行われていると報じた週刊現代の記事で名誉を傷付けられたとして、日本相撲協会と力士約３０人が発行元の講談社などに損害賠償と謝罪広告を求めた訴訟の口頭弁論が３日、東京地裁（中村也寸志裁判長）であり、原告の１人として出廷した朝青龍は「いずれも真剣勝負です」と八百長を否定した。現役横綱が出廷するのは極めて異例。

　問題となったのは、同誌が０７年２月３日号から３回にわたって掲載した「横綱・朝青龍の八百長を告発する！」などと題する記事。朝青龍は、金銭授受を含む八百長報道を全面的に否定して「とても悲しい。真剣勝負でやっているのに残念です。見る目がないですね」と述べた。

　朝青龍の尋問に先立ち、過去に八百長を告白した元小結・板井の板井圭介氏が証人として出廷し「取り組みの８０％が八百長。横綱、大関は７０、８０万円で星を買い、下位の力士は勝ち負けを貸し借りする」と証言した。しかし朝青龍は「信じないです。板井って見たことがない」と反論した。

　また講談社側は大麻所持事件で解雇された元幕内力士、若ノ鵬（２０）＝本名ガグロエフ・ソスラン＝を証人申請し「原告力士との八百長の詳細をまとめた若ノ鵬の陳述書を提出する」と述べたが、中村裁判長は判断を留保した。【銭場裕司】

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石原都知事：相撲協会「八百長ないと言い切れるのか」

　東京都の石原慎太郎知事は３日、定例の記者会見で朝青龍が八百長疑惑を否定したことについて「現役の横綱が出ていって『あります』とは言わないだろう。相撲協会が『いっさい八百長はございません』と言い切れるだけのあれがあるのかね」と皮肉っぽく述べた。

　石原知事は１９６３年、作家としてスポーツ紙に大相撲の八百長疑惑を指摘する記事を掲載、日本相撲協会から名誉棄損容疑で告訴されている（後に取り下げ）。この日「都知事ってのは恒例で横綱審議委員会の委員になるんだけど、私は辞退しました。大相撲にうんざりしているから」と言い放った。

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【大相撲八百長訴訟（１）】「横綱、大関は７０～８０万円で負け依頼」元小結・板井氏 (1/3ページ)
2008.10.3 12:39

　《大相撲の八百長疑惑を報じた「週刊現代」の記事で名誉を傷付けられたとして、日本相撲協会と横綱朝青龍ら力士が発行元の講談社などに損害賠償などを求めた訴訟の弁論が３日、東京地裁（中村也寸志裁判長）で行われた。この日の弁論では、元小結・板井、板井圭介氏やジャーナリストの武田頼政氏が出廷。午後からは、現役横綱の朝青龍が出廷、本人尋問が行われる》

　《講談社側の証人として、平成１２年に日本外国特派員協会で実名を挙げて八百長を告発した元小結の板井圭介氏が出廷。八百長はあると明言し、具体的なやり方を証言した》

　講談社側の代理人「（板井氏が現役時代に）八百長はありましたか」

　板井氏「ありました」

　講談社側の代理人「今もあると思いますか」

　板井氏「思います」

　講談社側の代理人「どう行われるのか」

　板井氏「当時は横綱と大関が（勝ち星を）買い取り、（一番）７０～８０万円で下位の力士に負けるよう頼んでいました。（前頭や幕内は）専門用語で『１勝１敗』と言いますが、借りが残ったら２０万円支払いました」

　講談社側の代理人「貸し借りは原則か」

　板井氏「はい」

　講談社側の代理人「同じ場所のうちにか」

　板井氏「そうですね。１回、（勝ち）星を買うと、『戻してくれ』という人もいるます。戻せない場合は金を払います。１回勝つと１回負けないといけません」

　講談社側の代理人「横綱は」

　板井氏「買うのがほとんどで、『１番つくって下さい』という人もいます。金で負けるより、誰かに勝たせて欲しいという力士もいます」

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【大相撲八百長訴訟（２）】「講談社からお金は？」「一銭ももらってない」 (1/5ページ)
2008.10.3 14:40
証人として出廷した元小結の板井氏証人として出廷した元小結の板井氏

　《「７０～８０万円で負けるよう依頼」「全体の取り組みの７５～８０％が八百長」「真剣勝負しかしないのは若乃花、貴乃花、大乃国だけ」。講談社側の証人として出廷した元小結の板井圭介氏が、次々と“爆弾証言”を放つ。板井氏は引き続き、相撲協会側が提訴したことで事実上八百長にお墨付きを与えてしまったと主張。協会側の対応を批判した》

　講談社側の代理人「（提訴は）許せないと」

　板井氏「というより、やっちゃいけない。『これからも八百長やっていいよ』と言っているようなものですよ。考えられません」

　講談社側の代理人「今後の相撲界を考えて、と」

　板井氏「そうですね」

　講談社側の代理人「証人にになることで有名になりたいとの見方もありますが」

　板井氏「テレビも勘弁してほしいくらい。（有名になるのは）いやです」

　《ここで講談社側の代理人は板井氏の側に寄り、八百長疑惑を報じる過去の週刊誌記事などを集めたファイルを提示した》

　講談社側の代理人「何をご存じですか」

　板井氏「うちの親方らが『週刊ポスト』に八百長疑惑を連載していました。というより、北の湖叩きをやっていました。現役時代の北の湖は男気があってあこがれ、『この部屋に入ればよかった』と思いましたが…」

　《ここで相撲協会側の代理人が反対尋問を始めた》

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【大相撲八百長訴訟（３）】「横綱昇進に１０００万」ライターも具体的証言 (1/4ページ)
2008.10.3 14:54

　《元小結、板井圭介氏に続いて証言台に立ったのは、記事を執筆したノンフィクションライターの武田頼政氏だ。板井氏と比べても見劣りしない大柄な体格の武田氏は、グレーのスーツ姿。黒縁めがねに口ひげ、あごひげという特徴的な風貌で、少し窮屈そうにいすに座ると、自身の経歴について説明を始めた》

　講談社側の代理人「あなたの、ジャーナリストとしての関心分野はどういったものですか」

　武田氏「元々は航空と軍事です。航空雑誌にいましたが、雑誌がつぶれちゃったので、１９８８年に週刊現代のライターになりました」

　講談社側の代理人「本は何か出されていますか」

　武田氏「２年前に（プロ野球の）ジャイアンツの本を出しました。あとは相撲です。オウム真理教の坂本弁護士一家殺害事件については、最初にスクープしたと自負しています」

　講談社側の代理人「（活動分野は）相撲だけではないということですね」

　武田氏「スポーツだけでは食べていけませんので」

　講談社側の代理人「いつから相撲の取材をされているのですか」

　武田氏「１９８８年９月ごろです。ちょうど、その年の３月に若貴兄弟が入門し、デスクなどに『おまえは体が大きいから相撲をやれ』と言われたためです。（若貴兄弟が所属していた）藤島部屋を中心に取材していました」

　講談社側の代理人「それは、何かすぐに記事にするための取材だったのですか」

　武田氏「若貴がどう成長し、出世していくのかを長期的に追うため、朝稽古や巡業先にもついて行きました」

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【大相撲八百長訴訟（４）】「“中盆”が支度部屋を行き来してマッチメーク」　次々飛び出す力士の実名 (1/5ページ)
2008.10.3 16:05

　《相撲界に蔓延（まんえん）する八百長問題を告発する記事を執筆した武田頼政氏は、「朝青龍を軸に八百長が広がった」と証言した。ベテラン記者の口から出た大物力士の実名に、法廷には緊張した空気が漂った》

　《引き続き質問に立った講談社側の代理人は、昭和２３～２４年ごろの新聞記事のコピーを次々と武田氏に示し、記事の一部や見出しを読み上げ、武田氏に感想を求めた》

　講談社側の代理人「『あれは明らかに八百長だ』『味気ない大物の取り組み』『八百長色の極めて強い相撲』『欺瞞（ぎまん）行為』とあります」

　武田氏「昭和２０年代からずっと、『このままでは相撲界はダメになる』という（現在と）同じような指摘があった。これを見て驚いたし、昔のメディアの方が健全だったなと思いました」

　《代理人は、同時期に発行された相撲専門誌のコピーを手に質問を続けた》

　講談社側の代理人「ここには、『八百長かどうかは見れば分かる』とあるが、見れば分かるのですか」

　武田氏が証言「お相撲さんは、みんなそう言います。（元小結の）板井（圭介）さんに特殊能力があるわけではなく、相撲をちょっとやった人間なら見れば分かります」

　《代理人が、専門雑誌に掲載された八百長を指摘する記事を読み上げ、「これだけ八百長は蔓延されていたということですか」と尋ねると、武田氏ははっきりとした口調でこう答えた》

　武田氏「（八百長は）根深く相撲界に蔓延しています。治らない病気です」

　《続いて代理人は、八百長問題に関する日本相撲協会の見解について質問した。協会は八百長の存在は認めていない。しかし、武田氏は以前、八百長にあたる『故意による無気力相撲』を行った場合、相撲協会が力士に課す懲罰規定を巡り、協会幹部のある発言を耳にしたという》

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【大相撲八百長訴訟（５）】ついに朝青龍が証言台に　「わからない」連発の中、あの質問にムカッ (1/5ページ)
2008.10.3 17:36

　《東京地裁の事務官が、いつもは１人用の証言台の椅子（いす）を５～６人がけの長椅子に交換すると、現役横綱力士の朝青龍関が法廷に入った。水色の袴（はかま）の姿で笑顔を浮かべながら余裕の表情。相撲協会側の代理人に軽く会釈した》

　相撲協会側の代理人「『週刊現代』は『（平成１８年の）九州場所は４番以外はすべて八百長だ』と報じた。本当ですか」

　朝青龍関「嘘です」

　相撲協会側の代理人「同誌では『（１９年の）初場所でも３番以外は八百長だ』と」

　朝青龍関「まったく嘘です」

　相撲協会側の代理人「同誌では『（エストニア出身の小結の）把瑠都に５０万円で八百長を持ちかけ、断られた』と」

　朝青龍関「そういうことはありません」

　相撲協会側の代理人「同誌では『（モンゴル出身の横綱の）白鵬から３００万円貰ってわざと負けた』と。本当ですか」

　朝青龍関「嘘です」

　相撲協会側の代理人「入幕３場所目に（ハワイ出身の元横綱の）武蔵丸から『負けてくれ』と頼まれたことは？」

　朝青龍関「ありません」

　相撲協会側の代理人「午前中の法廷で、板井氏は『安馬、琴奨菊、千代大海、琴光喜（の朝青龍関との相撲）を見ていたら八百長だ』と言っていたが」

　朝青龍関「ないです。（板井氏の証言は）自分としては分からないことです」

　相撲協会側の代理人「琴光喜から金もらったことは？」

　朝青龍関「ありません」

　相撲協会側の代理人「『懸賞金を八百長するための元手にしていた』と書かれているが」

　朝青龍関「まったく嘘です。（懸賞金は）モンゴルの家庭に送っています」

　相撲協会側の代理人「旭天山と八百長を打ち合わせたとの記事は間違いだと」

　朝青龍関「そうです」

　《協会側の代理人は『週刊現代』の記事の内容について、具体的に朝青龍関に質問する》

　相撲協会側の代理人「記事で八百長の証言をしているＴとかＸという人物は知っているか」

　朝青龍関「わかりません」

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【大相撲八百長訴訟（６）完】朝青龍「あんた誰？」「言わない」…不機嫌応対も終われば余裕 (1/5ページ)
2008.10.3 18:11

　《反対尋問で、講談社側の代理人が追及を強めようとすると、朝青龍関は「あんた誰ですか？」と、立ち歩きして質問する代理人をキッとにらみ付けた。時折、「言わない」と回答を拒否し、露骨に不満を示す》

　講談社側の代理人「不愉快になるかもしれないが…」

　朝青龍関「あんた誰ですか」

　講談社側の代理人「的場です。懸賞金の総額は８３００万円ですか」

　朝青龍関「言わない」

　講談社側の代理人「正しいですか」

　朝青龍関「言わないです」

　講談社側の代理人「（懸賞金の総額を）知っている人はどれ位いますか」

　朝青龍関「『週刊現代』に書いているのですか。それは答えないです」

　講談社側の代理人「（懸賞金は）モンゴルの家庭に送ると。管理は誰が？」

　朝青龍関「自分です」

　講談社側の代理人「付け人に依頼は」

　朝青龍関「ないです」

　講談社側の代理人「現金でもらって毎日、銀行に通って送金するのですか」

　朝青龍関「そうです」

　講談社側の代理人「帳簿は？」

　朝青龍関「つけてないです」

　講談社側の代理人「それなのに、なぜ総額が分かるのですか」

　朝青龍関「それが不思議です」

　講談社側の代理人「横綱は懸賞金は分かりますか」

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相撲協会側弁護士「朝青龍は合格点」

　日本相撲協会の吉川精一弁護士は３日、横綱朝青龍が東京地裁に出廷して行われた証人尋問について「（講談社側から）もう少し具体的な証拠が出てくると思ったけど、そうでもなかった。サプライズもなかった。（朝青龍は）合格点。十分に答えた。僕らが勝訴すると思う」と話した。