G7 warns on yen volatility

G7 warns on yen volatility

By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo and Reuters

Published: October 27 2008 05:14 | Last updated: October 27 2008 05:14

The Group of Seven leading economies on Monday issue a joint statement indicating its intention to cooperate on foreign exchange markets, in a thinly veiled reference to action aimed at stemming the rapid rise of the yen

The yen was the only currency mentioned in a brief G7 statement issued as it rallied to 13-year high against the dollar, threatening Japanese exports as world’s second-largest economy tumbles toward recession.

Shoichi Nakagawa, Japan’s finance minister, said the G7 was worried about volatility in the yen. ”We continue to monitor markets closely and cooperate as appropriate,” Mr Nakagawa said, reading from the statement.

The news came as the Japanese government said it was set to unveil emergency measures to stabilise the financial system after Tokyo shares plunged to 26-year lows, fuelling fears of further damage to Japan’s faltering economy.

Taro Aso, Japan’s prime minister, instructed his ministers to come up as soon as possible with steps to shore up the sinking stock market, saying the market’s freefall and yen’s fast-paced appreciation were a “huge concern” in terms of their impact on the real economy.

The Prime Minister specifically asked for measures to restrict short-selling, greater flexibility in rules governing the banks’ holding of stocks, an increase in the banks’ bail-out scheme being considered and measures to encourage retail investors to buy shares.

The emergency measures, which come on top of an emergency economic stimulus package to be unveiled by the end of the week, follow a sharp drop in the shares of Japanese banks on spreading concerns about their capital adequacy.

In morning trading, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), which declined to comment on reports it planned to raise Y1,000bn in fresh capital, fell 14 per cent to Y588.

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US public pension funds face big losses

By Deborah Brewster in New York

Published: October 26 2008 22:32 | Last updated: October 26 2008 22:32

Public pension funds in US states are facing their worst year of losses in history, exacerbating existing funding shortfalls and putting pressure on state governments to shore them up.

In the nine months to the end of September, the average state pension fund lost 14.8 per cent, according to Northern Trust, a fund company. The loss has grown since, as financial markets slumped further in October. The previous highest loss for state funds was 7.9 per cent for the full year in 2002.

California’s Calpers, the US’s biggest pension fund, last week reported a loss of 20 per cent of its assets, or more than $40bn, between July 1 and October 20 this year.

State and local pension funds comprise a patchwork of 2,700 funds that manage $1,400bn on behalf of 21m employees, including teachers, firefighters and other municipal workers.

About 40 per cent are underfunded, meaning that they would not be able to pay the future pensions that employees have been promised. State governments have lifted pension benefits – a move that is politically popular – but have often failed to put in more money to pay for them.

Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago, this year convened a taskforce to address the shortfalls in Illinois funds. For example, funding for the Police Fund has fallen to less than 50 per cent.

A Chicago police officer told the Financial Times: “We are risking our lives here every day, but we have no idea if the pension we have been guaranteed will be there when we retire.” The officer called on the city to start contributing more to the fund.

Susan Uhran, managing director of the Pew Center on the states, said: “They [the states] will have to increase their annual contributions, and they may also ask employees to lift their contributions too.”

“This is going to be a vicious cycle of pressure on pension funds,” said Greg Pai, managing director of Paradigm, a money manager. “They have previously looked to state and corporate subsidies, but  . . . [state governments] have lower tax revenue and are under pressure to cut costs.”

Many states face their own budget crunches, and members of Congress are pushing for a second fiscal stimulus package, in part to alleviate some of the pressures on state funding. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, cited money lost from pension funds in her push this month for the $150bn second stimulus.

But the funds themselves have limited options, said Mr Pai. Many are under pressure to move away from shares into less risky investments, but that would mean reducing returns.

Critics say the underfunding is worse than official data show. The calculation is based on an assumption of annual returns of 8 per cent, but few funds will reach that in the next few years.

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Damascus accuses US of killing eight in raid

By Anna Fifield in Beirut and Daniel Dombey in Washington

Published: October 26 2008 21:44 | Last updated: October 26 2008 21:44

Relations between Washington and Damascus appeared to plunge to a new low on Sunday night after Syria’s official news agency said the US had killed eight civilians in a helicopter raid in the country’s east, just across the border from Iraq.

The Syrian foreign ministry summoned the US chargé d’affaires in Damascus to protest, according to Sana, the state news agency. The deputy foreign minister informed the US official of “Syria’s protest and condemnation of this serious attack”, it said.

The Iraqi chargé d’affaires had been summoned for the same reason, the news agency added.

The alleged attack took place near Bou Kamal, the main transit point between Syria and Iraq and an area that the US says is a key thoroughfare for sending fighters and weapons to the Sunni insurgency in Iraq.

Sana said four US helicopters participated in the raid, with Syrian state television reporting that US soldiers stormed a house.

“The helicopters carried out an attack on a civilian building under construction and opened fire on workers inside the building, including the wife of the building guard, leading to the [deaths] of eight civilians,” the reports added.

The alleged US strike comes after Israel launched a raid last year on what it and Washington said was the site of a nuclear reactor in Syria.

But since then Damascus has improved relations with many other countries, starting indirect peace talks with Israel and hosting Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president.

The White House declined to comment immediately on yesterday’s reports. “We are in the process of investigating this,” a US military official told AFP in Baghdad.

But an Iraqi security source in Baghdad told Reuters that eight people had indeed been killed.

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Europe split on how to restore Moscow ties

By Tony Barber in Brussels

Published: October 26 2008 20:47 | Last updated: October 26 2008 20:47

A vigorous debate is taking place among European Union governments about how far, and how quickly, to restore the EU’s relations with Moscow to normal after Russia’s invasion of Georgia in August, according to an internal EU policy document.

The paper lists numerous difficulties in EU-Russian relations, ranging from trade disputes over timber, meat and fish to poor legal protection for EU investors in Russia’s energy sector.

But the document strikes a positive note in assessing Russian compliance with the EU-brokered agreements to end the fighting in Georgia. It also talks of the “great potential for productive co-operation” in calming other so-called “frozen conflicts” in the former Soviet Union.

The document, entitled Key Outstanding Issues for the EU in its Relations with Russia, suggests that the EU should consider holding fewer set-piece meetings with Russian officials because they too often lack substance. It also airs the idea of cutting the number of summits between Russian and EU leaders to one from two a year.

However, the document is a draft paper and so does not represent the EU’s final views on the subject. Diplomats said the paper struck a balance between countries such as France, Germany and Italy that were keen to bring relations back to normal, and others such as the UK, Lithuania and Poland that opposed sending a positive signal to Moscow so soon after the invasion of Georgia.

At the start of September the EU suspended talks with Russia on a long-term partnership agreement and asked the European Commission to prepare a thorough review of EU-Russian relations.

The Commission’s analysis is due to be discussed by EU foreign ministers at a meeting on November 10, four days before a scheduled EU-Russia summit in the French city of Nice.

Ministerial-level contacts between the EU and Russia have continued in spite of the Georgia crisis. Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, is due to visit St Petersburg on Tuesday.

Some EU governments say a resumption of the partnership talks should depend not just on Russia’s post-war behaviour in Georgia, but on the degree of progress made in talks in Geneva on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the two breakaway regions of Georgia that Moscow has recognised as independent.

Disputes between Georgia and Russia caused a first round of talks on October 15 to collapse before they had even got properly under way, and a new session has been scheduled for November 18.

Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, told the European parliament last Tuesday that he did not view Russia as a rival to the EU. European policymakers should try to bring Moscow closer to “European values” by laying the basis of a “common economic space between Russia and the EU”, he said.

Paddy Ashdown, a former UK politician who now heads the EU-Russia Centre think-tank, said: “In times of tension it is essential to maintain channels of communication. That is not to say business as usual. . . We should have no illusions about Russia today. The present leadership certainly does not share common values with the EU.”

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Asian defaults

Published: October 26 2008 19:09 | Last updated: October 26 2008 20:01

Asian contagion Fears of default have washed up in Asia. Credit default spreads on Indonesia, one of the worst-hit countries during the financial crisis a decade ago, blew out to over 1,000 basis points on Wednesday, about 10 times their level at the start of the year. The Philippines five-year CDS has also ballooned, while other Asian bond spreads widened to records as fears of a Pakistan default spilled over into a general emerging market panic.

Sure, this is a world where nothing is safe: if US money markets can buckle, so too can countries where political stability is sporadic and stock markets are peremptorily shuttered. South-east Asian countries certainly have their weak spots. South Korea, hit by slowing exports, has announced a bank bail-out. Political risk in Thailand has never abated since the 2006 coup. The Philippines has external debt equivalent to 25 per cent of gross domestic product. And Indonesia’s current account, unusually for the region, is dipping into deficit. Investors have had a love affair with the country in recent years, thanks to its high interest rates. But it is now suffering from capital flight as hedge funds and other increasingly risk-averse investors liquidate their positions. Foreigners, for example, are estimated to hold one-fifth of Indonesian domestic bonds.

Nonetheless, some perspective is necessary. The Philippines, sometimes written off as the region’s laggard, has smartened up its act considerably. Lossmaking state-backed corporations have been turned round to such an extent that they no longer drag on government finances. This year’s fiscal deficit, for example, is likely to be about 1.4 per cent of GDP – down from 5 per cent in 2002.

Indonesia, too, has acquired a degree of political stability and more financial firepower; foreign exchange reserves now offer about six months’ import cover.

Alas, fundamentals are not always enough: a discriminating perspective is one of the first casualties of the global credit rout.

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Single parents transform workforce

By David Turner

Published: October 27 2008 01:48 | Last updated: October 27 2008 01:48

A surge in female employment – and corresponding drop in working men – is one of the forces that has transformed Britain’s labour market since the eve of the last major recession in the early 1990s.

As the nation again heads into a downturn, research by the Financial Times suggests one effect will be to hand even greater economic power to women, as the gap between the two sexes’ employment rates contracts still further.

The numbers tell the story. In construction, one of the sectors most heavily hit in this downturn, women make up just 10 per cent of the workforce. Manufacturing, which has three times as many men as women, has also been hit hard by the global scope of the slowdown. Meanwhile in financial services, the focal point of the crisis, men slightly outnumber women.

By contrast women will benefit from the public sector’s relative robustness as the downturn deepens. Education, health and public administration – which account for the bulk of government workers – employ two women for every one man. This helps explain why employment among working-age women, at 70.2 per cent, has dropped by only 0.3 percentage points since February – although the latest official numbers do not take account of the September financial crisis. Male employment has dropped by more than double that rate.

The likely resilience of women as the labour market takes a further battering reflects the improvement in their position in recent decades. During the 1990s recession female employment held up much better than male, and even after the recession grew more rapidly.

Much of this growth reflects changes in social attitudes, but governments can claim part of the credit. In particular, Labour has in recent years used policy to cajole and encourage single-parents into work. Lone parent employment has jumped from under 45 per cent in spring 1997 to more than 56 per cent – though it has already been hit a little by the downturn. John Philpott, economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, says: “Single parents took advantage of the growth in part-time work from the mid-90s onwards. Plus, there was the little push they got from government policy.”

Labour has helped to propel the rise in female employment by making more childcare available and giving the right to parents and carers to request flexible working.

Therefore, families fearing the father of the house will lose his job and plunge the family into ruin as the downturn deepens have one consolation. In traditional nuclear families the woman of the house is more likely to be a breadwinner too, than at the start of the last recession. Susan Harkness, a gender expert at Bath University, speaks of a “big drop in the number of male breadwinner households” since the late 1980s – homes where the man worked but the woman did not.

But although economists say women could provide a financial cushion for families as men lose their jobs, they counsel against unguarded optimism. This is partly because although double-adult households are more likely to have two people working, the double-adult household has itself become relatively rarer. In other words, if a man or woman loses their job their partner is more likely to have one, armouring the household against financial catastrophe. But a man or woman is less likely to have a partner in the first place.

While the number of working-age households with couples in them has risen by only 2 per cent in 11 years, the number of working-age households with only one adult has leapt 21 per cent.

Another flaw with the assumption that women will provide a counterweight to men, according to Ms Harkness, is that when men lose their jobs, their female partners often stop working too.

This is largely because of what is known as “the benefits trap”. If the woman is a part-time worker, there may be little difference between the family’s income whether she keeps her job or abandons it, because of the benefits she foregoes by staying in work.

One possible solution is to go full-time. But Paul Gregg, a leading labour market economist based at Bristol University, says this is often difficult to achieve without changing employer – just at a time when there are not many jobs going.

The scenario looks better if the couple are both already full-time, and the man or woman loses their job – but it is still tough.

As Prof Gregg notes, many higher-earning families wrack up big debts because they are confident about their financial future – then struggle to survive on a reduced income.

Alan Manning of the London School of Economics highlights another flaw in the idea that men and women might complement each other in the labour market. “A lot of people meet their partners at work, so they might both lose their job at the same time,” he points out.

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Older women overtake men in the job market

By Andrew Taylor, Employment Correspondent

Published: October 27 2008 02:00 | Last updated: October 27 2008 02:00

More older women have jobs than ever before, outstripping working men of a corresponding age, according to official figures.

Men aged 50 and over suffered badly in the previous two recessions, in the early 1980s and early 1990s. Many older workers in manufacturing industries were forced into early retirement or moved onto incapacity benefit.

Employment rates for older men have recovered since the early 1990s but they have been overtaken in the job market by women as the sexes approach the ages at which they become eligible for state pensions, currently 60 for women and 65 for men.

The employment rate for men in the five years before the male state pension age is 58.4 per cent compared with 63.9 per cent for women aged 55 to 60. The employment rate beyond pension age is also slightly higher for women at 12.3 per cent compared with 10.7 per cent for men, according to ONS.

Age discrimination laws introduced two years ago should make it harder for employers to single out middle-aged men for redundancy, because they are more highly paid and closer to retiring, than others.

Pressure on companies to fund pensions also means employers will no longer be able to use pension arrangements to cushion the impact of early retirement. New rules introduced today will also make it more difficult to access incapacity benefits

According to ONS the overall male employment rate has fallen from more than 90 per cent in the early 1970s to about 79 per cent. In spite of this long-term decline, male unemployment has risen by only 2.9 percentage points while economic inactivity among males has increased by 11.3 per cent.

"The older workers who lost their jobs had more difficulty finding new work and many ended up, more or less permanently, on invalidity benefits and were therefore likely not to be recorded as unemployed," said ONS.

The female employment rate over the same period has risen from less than 60 per cent in the 1970s to slightly more than 70 per cent. The gap as a result has narrowed from 35.7 percentage points to 8.4 percentage points. Women, however, are more likely to work part time than men.

The average retirement age for men has risen to 64.6, the highest level since 1984 and to 61.9 years for women, says Taen (The Age and Employment Network). The government intends to increase the state pension age to 65 for women between 2010 and 2020.

Chris Ball, Taen's chief executive, said: "Particularly interesting is that only a third of women working over the age of 50 are now actually retiring before they reach their current state pension age of 60 and that in the five years leading up to their state pension ages, more women are working than men.

"The fact that the average actual retirement age of women has risen to 61.9 years, is indicative of both the 'pensions disadvantage' that women of that generation face - both in regard to state and occupational pensions - and also of a genuine desire amongst many of them to go on working."

The increase in the ages at which both men and women aged above 50 were withdrawing from the labour force showed the trend towards earlier retirement has been reversed.

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London bourse begins search to replace CEO

Reuters

London Stock Exchange Group has hired a recruiting firm to find a successor to its long-time chief executive, Clara Furse, media reported.
Citing people close to the exchange operator, the Sunday Telegraph said Chris Gibson-Smith, the company's president, has discussed the move with Furse and other board members, but that no formal timetable has been agreed.

Furse, who has been with the LSE for eight years, will likely remain on until the end of 2009, and no list of candidates exists, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

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Asia eyes key stake in new global financial system

AFP P.ameswaran

Asian leaders will find the first global summit on the current financial turmoil a perfect venue to demand a key stake for the region in any new international financial system, experts say.

As Europe and the United States clash over their leadership role in framing a new international financial architecture at the November 15 meeting in Washington, Asians feel they have much of a stake in the stability of the global system as the industrialized countries, the experts said.

"The big question is how you can restructure the international economic regime in a way that makes countries such as India and China feel that they not only have a stake but also have real influence," said Eswar Prasad, former head of the China division at the International Monetary Fund.

The Washinton-based IMF has often been criticized as increasingly unrepresentative of the global economy, with emerging economies, especially Asian ones, chronically underweighted in their voting shares.

"The problem with the Bretton Woods institutions in the way they are currently structured is that these major economies feel that those institutions are still the fiefdoms of the US in particular and advanced economies in general," Prasad said.

The IMF and the World Bank are institutions established under the Bretton Woods agreement, which has guided international finance since World War II but which mainly European leaders want rewritten after a massive US home mortgage meltdown sparked the world's worst financial crisis since the Geat Depression.

US President George W. Bush has called for a series of summits, beginning with the November 15 talks, to discuss the causes of the problems in the global financial system and begin developing reform for financial regulatory bodies and institutions.

Leaders from China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Indonesia are the Asian regional invitees to the summit, that also include the United States, the European Union, Britain, France, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.

"For the architecture of the international financial system, I certainly think they should be raising the whole question of the overepresentation, particulary of Europe and to some extent the United States, and the extreme underrepresentation of emerging markets, many of which are in Asia," said Nicholas Lardy of the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics.

He said that without some really fundamental changes, for example, in the distribution of voting rights in the IMF, "it is hard to see how it is going to remain a relevant international organization".

IMF member nations approved reforms earlier this year for developed countries to give up a small fraction of their voting rights -- equivalent to 1.6 percentage points -- to the benefit of emerging and developing countries. It was criticized by experts as inadequate.

"They are really moving at a snail's pace," Lardy said despite IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's pledge to restore what he called relevance and credibility to the heavily criticized multilateral institution.

While there is some agreement on the need for a powerful and effective multilateral institution that would bring everyone to the table and actually have some leverage over the key players, it is not clear whether the Washington summit would seek a new international financial framework, experts said.

"A big concern China and India have is that institutions, like the IMF, may not have leverage over the key advanced country players," said Prasad, now with the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

"So, how you correct that imbalance or at least the perception of that imbalance is going to be very critical," he said.

The current financial turmoil has inspired widespread speculation of a shifting balance of power away from the United States and other advanced economies of Europe toward the major emerging economies, said Sabina Dewan of the Washington-based Center for American Progress.

"Whether this is indeed the case is yet to be seen, but that emerging economies such as China and India are becoming critical players in the global economic game is clear," she said.

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Spread betting boom as Britons gamble on turbulent markets

AFP Elodie Mazein

The credit crunch has sparked a surge in spread betting in Britain, as people speculate tax-free on the financial markets rather than sink their capital into turbulent stocks.

With no taxes to pay and no commission charges, spread betting has increased in popularity as nervous investors worry about expanding their portfolios of company shares.

Rather than regular betting on a precise outcome, spread betting allows punters to gamble on a range of outcomes, with the accuracy of the wager determining how much is won -- or lost.

"We have seen a significant increase in betting numbers and trades in alignment with the volatility in the market," Peter O'Donovan, head of financial spread betting at PaddyPowertrader.com, told AFP.

"We have certainly been busy since July 2008. The turmoil in the market certainly seems to have stimulated our business.

"Equities and indices are among the busiest sectors," he said, adding that applications for spread betting accounts have almost doubled over the past 12 months.

Financial spread betting sees punters betting on the rise or fall of currencies, stock markets, shares, futures and metals, without having to pass through stockbrokers and share purchasing paperwork.

The closer the bet is to the result, the bigger the gain, but the further off the mark it is, the higher the loss.

Punters, who must hold accounts with the bookmaker, could even lose more than their original stakes. However, limits are put in place to avoid extreme gains or catastrophic losses.

"Spread betting carries a high level of risk and you may lose more than your initial investment," said a spokesman for the spread betting information website CleanFinancial.

He added: "It may not be suitable for all investors. People should speculate with money that they can afford to lose."

Financial spread betting "is a tax-free, commission-free alternative to trading shares and financial markets," O'Donovan said.

"You are essentially betting on the performance of a share, index or commodity. You don't own the share itself, you merely use it as an underlying instrument for your betting."

The nine-percent betting tax was scrapped in 2001, but in contrast people buying shares still have to pay stamp duty upon purchase and tax on their dividend at either 10 percent or 32.5 percent.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes takes bets on market changes on a five-minute, hourly or daily basis, on currencies, commodities and indices.

"Turnover varies from day to day but on average the figure is approximately 75,000 pounds per day. The five-minute markets are the most popular," a Ladbrokes spokesman told AFP.

Professor Chris Brady and Doctor Richard Raymar, from the Cass Business School in London, said in a 2006 report that 400,000 spread betting accounts were open in Britain at the time.

They predicted the figure would hit the million mark in 2011.

CleanFinancial said spread bettors are typically men aged 35 to 55 who work in financial circles, often self-employed. Big banks ban some of their employees from spread betting, the spokesman for the site said.

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, one of the largest in Britain and no slouch on offering novelty bets, was taking bets on which bank would be next to fall, but suspended such betting in mid-September.

At the time, the largest bet -- 5,000 euros -- was on Washington Mutual at odds of 4-9. The savings bank collapsed on September 25. Its closure and receivership is the largest bank failure in US financial history.

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三菱ＵＦＪ、約１兆円の増資発表　優先株は「社債型」に

　三菱ＵＦＪフィナンシャル・グループは27日、普通株と第三者割り当てによる優先株の発行で最大約1兆円を増資すると正式発表した。保有株の価格下落による自己資本の目減りを補い、財務基盤を強化するのが狙い。普通株の発行時期は株式相場の情勢を見ながら決める一方、優先株は普通株に転換できない「社債型」にして株価の押し下げ要因にならないように配慮した。

　普通株は6000億円を上限に11月4日から1年間、いつでも発行できる形にした。優先株は11月に発行。3900億円分を国内の生命保険会社など数社に割り当てる。優先株が普通株に転換されると市場で流通する普通株式が希薄化して株価の下落につながる恐れもあるが、今回の優先株は転換できないため、希薄化にはつながらない。(20:35)

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円とドルの両方で決済できるクレジットカード、ソニー銀など

　ソニー系カード会社のソニーファイナンスインターナショナル（東京・港）とソニー銀行は27日、円と米ドルのいずれかで決済できるクレジットカードの取り扱いを29日から始めると発表した。カード会員は円建ての支払いはソニー銀行の普通預金から、外貨建ての支払いは同行のドル普通預金で決済できる。

　「ソニーカード」に「2通貨決済機能」を選択できるようにする。通常のカードは年会費無料だが、2通貨決済機能付きだと年会費は5250円となる。円高局面でドルを購入しておき、将来の海外旅行や出張でドルを使うこともできる。海外サイトのネット通販で、ドルで買い物をする顧客もいるとみている。

　従来のカードだと購入日の数日―数週間後の為替レートが適用される可能性もあり、為替相場の変動リスクがあった。ドル決済によりこうしたリスクを回避できる。ただ、海外での使用はすべて自動的にドル決済となるため、為替レートが有利に振れる場合の恩恵はなくなる。(18:54)

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東証、証券会社の手数料負担を注文件数に連動　2010年メド

　東京証券取引所は2010年1月をめどに、取引に参加する証券会社が負担する手数料の体系を全面的に改める方針を固めた。現在は主に売買代金に基づき手数料を決めているが、注文件数が多いほど手数料負担を増やす仕組みにする。コンピューターを使って小口の売買を頻繁に繰り返す取引手法の普及で、注文件数が急増しているためだ。証券会社が個人投資家に負担を転嫁すれば将来は負担増につながる可能性もある。

　最近は自らの注文が株価に影響を与えないように、売買金額を小さくして大量に発注を繰り返す取引手法や、インターネット証券経由の小口取引が急増。東証のシステムにかかる負担が高まっている。東証は10年1月に処理能力を大幅に高めた「次世代売買システム」を導入する予定で、合わせて料金体系を刷新することにした。(08:31)

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パチンコ店経営の松三が破産

　岐阜県でパチンコ店を運営する松三（同県大垣市）が今月8日に岐阜地裁大垣支部から破産手続きの開始決定を受けていたことが分かった。負債総額は約61 億円。店舗数の拡大を続けてきたが、競争激化で資金繰りに行き詰まった。グループ2社も同日付で破産手続きの開始決定を受けた。(15:43)

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トヨタ、中国・長春に新工場　投資額550億円

　トヨタ自動車は27日、中国吉林省長春市に完成車組み立て工場を建設すると発表した。中国第一汽車集団との合弁で、投資額は40億元（約550億円）。年産能力は10万台で、「カローラ」の生産を予定している。稼働時期など詳細は今後、詰める。足元の中国の自動車販売市場は伸び悩み気味だが、中長期的には成長が見込める有望市場と判断、生産体制を整えてシェア拡大を狙う。

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日本・イラク経済フォーラム、イラク北部で09年１月開催

　【ドバイ＝松尾博文】日本、イラク両国政府は日本企業によるイラクへの投資や貿易の促進を話し合う「日本・イラク経済フォーラム」の第2回会合を、 2009年1月にイラク北部の都市エルビルで開催する方向で大筋合意した。日本の外務省と経済産業省は27日夕、都内で商社や金融機関など日本企業約40 社を集め、イラクでの開催方針を説明する。

　イラクは世界第3位の原油埋蔵量を誇り、戦後の復興需要に企業の期待も強い。今年に入りテロや戦闘による犠牲者が大きく減少する一方で、首都バグダッドには依然治安面の不安が残っている。このため、両国は7月に隣国ヨルダンで開いた第一回会合に続く会合を比較的治安の安定している北部のクルド人自治区の中心都市エルビルで開催する方針だ。(07:00)

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首相「解散先送り」の意向　与党幹部に伝える

　与党幹部は26日、麻生太郎首相から当面、衆院解散・総選挙をしないという意向を伝えられたことを明らかにした。首相は同日、自民党幹部に電話し「当分、解散はしないから、よろしくお願いしたい」との考えを示した。

　首相はこれまで「11月上旬までの解散―同月30日投開票」の戦略を描いていた。しかし、米国発の金融危機により、景気後退懸念が広がったことで練り直しを余儀なくされた。内閣支持率も期待したほどの水準ではなく、発足1カ月を経てさらに低下したことも追い打ちをかけた。(07:01)

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中国人の女が妊娠中に偽装結婚、子供にも日本国籍

　日本人の男との偽装結婚で日本国籍を取得したとして逮捕、起訴された中国人の女が、婚姻届提出時には中国人の男との間で既に妊娠していて、出産後、子供に日本国籍を取得させていたことが27日、警視庁組織犯罪対策一課の調べで分かった。同課は、子供にも日本国籍を取得させることで、自分を日本で働きやすくすることなどが目的だったとみている。

　調べなどによると、女は姜欣欣被告（27）＝電磁的公正証書原本不実記録・同供用罪で起訴。日本国籍を不正に取得する目的で、2006年9月、長野県岡谷市の男（47）＝同罪で起訴＝との間での婚姻届を提出したとされる。

　姜被告は当時、中国人の男（33）＝入管難民法違反罪などで実刑確定＝と同居しており、婚姻届提出の約2カ月後の同年11月、男児を出産した。男児には日本名が付けられ、岡谷市の男の実子として戸籍に記載されたが、ＤＮＡ鑑定で、中国人の男の子であるとの鑑定結果が出た。(12:42)

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沖縄に５０００人いる！　霊媒師「ユタ」って何？

　沖縄県宜野湾市の中学校で、お祓い中に中学生５人が体調不良で病院に運ばれた騒動で、にわかに注目を集めた「ユタ」。沖縄では民間の霊媒師として身近な存在だが、その実態は謎に包まれている。心霊現象から家庭のトラブルまでも解決するトラブルバスターの素顔とは－。

　２１日午後９時すぎ、宜野湾市立真志喜中学校に生徒約６０人と７、８人の父母、顧問の教諭が音楽室や廊下に集まった。ユタを招いてお祓いをするためだ。

　数年前から吹奏楽部の一部の生徒の間で「変なものが見える」との訴えが相次いだために呼ばれたものだが、ユタが酒と塩をささげておはらいを開始して約３０分後、女子生徒２０人が突然「気分悪い」「息苦しい」などと訴えだし、うち５人が過呼吸状態に陥った。

　大事には至らず、比嘉正也校長も「思春期の女性特有の集団心理が働いたのでは」とユタと怪奇現象との因果関係を否定する。この学校では５月にもけが人が多かった別の部に、ユタを招いてお祓いを実施したともいうが、一体ユタとはどういう存在なのか。

　「ユタは相談者の依頼に応じて、霊的なアドバイスを与えるシャーマン（霊媒師）」と説明するのは、沖縄の民間信仰に詳しい沖縄大講師、波平エリ子氏（民俗学）。

　戒律や教義、特別な正装や男女の別もない。沖縄独特の祖先・自然神崇拝を背景に、「琉球王朝時代からいるが、起源は定かでない」（同）という。

　同じ様な存在として、青森県に死者の口寄せをするイタコがいるが、現在は数人しか残っておらず、イタコが一堂に会する年１回の恐山大祭が有名だ。

　それに対し、ユタは「正確な人数は分からないが、５０００人ともいわれる。霊的アドバイザーとしての役割も果たしており、市民には身近な存在」（同）。

　家族が災厄にあった時に相談することが多いが、冠婚葬祭など人生の節目ごとに助言を求める者もいる。

　ユタを取材した写真家の酒井透氏は「ユタの大半は兼業で、相談料はユタによって違う。１万円から１００万円まで金額はまちまち。なかには金を取らない者もいる」と話す。

　神秘的な存在感からミステリー作家、内田康夫氏の浅見光彦シリーズに登場。画家の岡本太郎氏が写真集を出したこともある。

　ただ、中部在住の会社員男性（３１）によると、「戦前はもっと身近だったが、現在は非科学的だとして『ユタ離れ』が進み、信じない人と信じる人に二分されている」という。

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三浦元社長：死亡で行政訴訟取り下げ

　米ロサンゼルスで８１年に起きた銃撃事件で逮捕され、ロス市警本部の留置場で１０日死亡した三浦和義・元輸入雑貨販売会社社長（６１）が、米国からの捜査共助要請に応じないよう国に求めていた行政訴訟で、代理人の弘中惇一郎弁護士は２７日、元社長の死亡を受けて東京地裁への訴えを取り下げた。

　元社長側は「日本では無罪が確定しており、共助要請を受けることは一事不再理を定めた憲法に反する」と主張していた。既に結審し、３１日に判決が予定されていた。

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ＪＴ：ロシア法人勝訴　追徴課税問題

　日本たばこ産業（ＪＴ）のロシア現地法人が、ロシア税務当局の追徴課税を不服として争っていた問題で、日本の最高裁にあたるロシアの最高仲裁裁判所は今月６日付で追徴課税は無効と認め、ＪＴ側の勝訴が確定した。２７日、ＪＴが発表した。ロシア税務当局は「課税対象となる追加の売り上げがある」と指摘、約２０億ルーブル（約７０億円）の追徴課税を求めたが、最高裁は、ＪＴの主張を認めた下級審の判断を支持した。

　ＪＴは「ロシア司法が公正な判断をした。この決定がロシアでのビジネスによい影響を与える」とのコメントを発表した。【森禎行】

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大学設置：１１大学、４短大、８大学院を認可　１１校保留

　大学設置・学校法人審議会（会長＝八田英二・同志社大学長）は２７日、公私立の１１大学と４短大、８大学院などの０９年度開設を認めるよう塩谷立文部科学相に答申した。一方、過去最多の１１校を保留として１２月に再審査することにした。文化政策・まちづくり大学院大学（京都市）については準備不足として「不可」と判定。４校は申請を取り下げた。

　０８年度から設置が始まった教職大学院については私大２校から設置申請があり、聖徳大（千葉県松戸市）のみを「可」と判定、帝京大（東京都八王子市）は保留とした。国立大では３校から開設への「意見伺い」を受けていたが、山形大（山形市）のみを「可」とし、静岡大（静岡市）と福岡教育大（福岡県宗像市）は保留とした。【加藤隆寛】

　設置が認められた大学などは次の通り（カッコ内は学部・学科・研究科、※は公立）。

　＜大学＞※千葉県立保健医療（健康科学）▽※新潟県立（国際地域、人間生活）▽※愛知県立（外国語、日本文化、教育福祉、看護、情報科学＝以上学部＝、国際文化、人間発達、看護、情報科学＝以上大学院研究科）▽弘前医療福祉（保健）▽日本赤十字秋田看護（看護）▽東都医療（ヒューマンケア）▽こども教育宝仙（こども教育）▽東京有明医療（保健医療、看護）▽びわこ学院（教育福祉）▽大阪保健医療（保健医療）▽広島都市学園（健康科学）

　＜短大＞仙台青葉学院（看護、キャリアデザイン）▽有明教育芸術（子ども教育、芸術教養）▽貞静学園（保育）▽平成医療（看護、リハビリテーション）

　＜大学院＞※群馬県立県民健康科学（看護、診療放射線）▽※埼玉県立（保健医療福祉）▽※石川県立（生物資源環境）▽※香川県立保健医療（保健医療）▽群馬パース（保健科学）▽大阪女学院（２１世紀国際共生）▽関西福祉（社会福祉）▽熊本保健科学（保健科学）

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国家公務員１種：事務系内定者、女性が初めて３割超える

　政府は２７日、国家公務員１種試験の０９年度採用内定状況で、事務系内定者に占める女性の割合が初めて３割を超えたと発表した。政府は０５年１２月に、女性の国家公務員１種採用者の割合を１０年度ごろまでに３０％程度に引き上げるとした男女共同参画基本計画を閣議決定しており、内定段階では前倒しで実現できる見通しとなった。

　内定者数３０６人のうち女性は９２人で全体の３０．１％。０８年度の事務系採用者のうち女性は２４．１％だった。

　技術系も含めた全体の内定者数は６６０人で、女性は１６９人（２５．６％）。０８年度採用数に比べ３．９ポイント上がり、こちらも過去最高の比率となった。【坂口裕彦】

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海運大手３社：商船三井と川崎汽船が経常減益見通し

　海運大手３社は２７日、０９年３月期連結業績見通しを発表した。世界的な景気後退の影響を受け、下期は商船三井が６期ぶり、川崎汽船は２期ぶりの経常減益となる見通しだ。

　上半期は中国など新興国向けに鉄鉱石などを運ぶ「ばら積み船」の市況が好調だったため、３社とも売上高、経常利益、最終利益が過去最高となった。

　下半期は、中国の粗鋼生産低迷や、世界的な金融危機、円高などの影響が懸念されている。ばら積み船運賃の指標となる「バルチック海運指数」は、今年５月２０日に過去最高値（１万１７９３）を記録した後に急落、今月２４日には１０％以下の１１０２となった。

　このため、商船三井と川崎汽船は０９年３月期の業績予想で、経常利益を前回発表時（７月）から７～１５％下方修正した。【太田圭介】

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経団連：御手洗会長「円高是正の介入必要」

　日本経団連の御手洗冨士夫会長は２７日の定例会見で、世界経済の現状について「けん引役不在の状況で、世界同時不況の入り口に来ている」と強い危機感を表明した。また、急激な円高の進行に対し、「円高是正の介入をすべき時期だ」と語り、政府に市場介入を促した。

　御手洗会長は「日本経済の先行きに強い危機感を持っている。景気の底割れを防ぐにはこれからが正念場だ」と強調し、政府・与党に中低所得者層や子育て世帯向けの減税や投資促進税制の拡充など景気対策の強化を求めた。

　与党内で先送り論が強まっている衆院解散・総選挙については「世界の金融状況を落ち着かせるのが喫緊の課題。政治に空白期間を設けることは考えられない」と指摘し、危機対応を優先すべきだとの認識を示した。【谷川貴史】

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伊藤ハムの工場内井戸水から塩素酸検出　千葉・柏

2008年10月27日19時59分

　伊藤ハム（兵庫県西宮市）の東京工場（千葉県柏市）で使った地下水から有害なシアン化合物が検出された問題で、柏市保健所生活衛生課は２７日、千葉県衛生研究所で検査した結果、工場内の井戸水から基準値を超える塩素酸が検出された、と発表した。

　同課によると、２４日に採水した五つの検体のうち、一つから基準値（１リットル当たり０．６ミリグラム）を上回る１．１ミリグラムの塩素酸が検出された。塩素酸は摂取すると赤血球に障害を起こす可能性があるという。

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２月に墨東病院体制改善要望　都に江戸川など３区医師会

2008年10月27日14時44分

　脳出血を起こした東京都内の妊婦が８病院から受け入れを断られた後に死亡した問題で、最初に断った都立墨東病院（墨田区）の産科医不足について、地元の３医師会などが今年２月、文書で改善を求めていたことがわかった。

　命の危険がある患者が出た場合に同病院に送る墨田、江東、江戸川の３区の医師会と産婦人科医会が、同病院と都病院経営本部あてに出したという。

　文書では「難問の多い周産期医療だが、都民が安心できる体制を」と要望。その上で、「毎年（産科医が）減少している間になぜ補充をできなかったのか。書面で次回の会議までに（回答を）お願いしたい」としていた。

　一方、舛添厚生労働相は２７日午前、江戸川区医師会幹部と懇談し、「総合周産期母子医療センターを守っていくには、医師がいないといけない。地元の医師会の医師や病院、都とも協力して、前向きにやりたい」と述べた。

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サムライ債５００億円債務不履行　アイスランド最大手銀

2008年10月27日18時39分

　アイスランドの最大手銀行で同国政府に事実上国有化されたカウプシング銀行が発行した円建て外債（サムライ債）５００億円が２７日、債務不履行（デフォルト）になった。この日は２０日から遅れていた利払いの猶予期限だったが、支払われなかった。

　カウプシングは０６年１０月以降、４回にわたって計７８０億円のサムライ債を発行しており、デフォルトになったのは初回の５００億円（３年もの、表面利率年１．８％）。主に日本の機関投資家や企業などに販売された。カウプシングはサブプライム問題に端を発する金融危機のあおりで資金繰りに行き詰まり、９日に事実上国有化された。

　サムライ債は、海外の政府や企業などが日本国内で募集し、円建てで発行する債券の通称。９６年の規制緩和で、原則として発行体の信用にかかわらず発行できるようになった。高利回りの低格付け債でも円建てで投資できるため、低金利が続く日本では個人にも人気があった。

　経営破綻（はたん）した米大手証券リーマン・ブラザーズのサムライ債１９５０億円もデフォルトとなり、買っていた日本の地方銀行などに損失が発生。０２年にデフォルトに陥ったアルゼンチン政府のサムライ債の場合、国債という安心感から日本の約３万の個人や公的団体などが買っていて混乱した。

　大手証券アナリストは「サムライ債の選別が厳しくなり、金融機関による発行は止まるだろう」とみている。

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２１日の時点で早食い認識か　船橋のパン窒息死
2008.10.27 20:49

　千葉県船橋市立峰台小学校の６年の男子児童（１２）が給食のパンをのどに詰まらせ、窒息死した事故で、文部科学省の銭谷真美事務次官は２７日の定例会見で、事故が発覚した２１日の時点で、県教委は男子児童がパンの早食いをした可能性があったことを把握していたことを明らかにした。

　２１日の県教委の報告では、事故の概要に続けて、「当該児童はパンの早食いをしていたと聞いている」とカッコ書きされていたという。

　学校側は当初、早食いの可能性を否定していたが、２４日の保護者会で「早食いを誘発するような会話があった」と説明を変えた。

　銭谷事務次官は、こうした学校側の説明について「（事故が発覚した当時は）まだ不確定なことだったので、説明しなかったのではないか。事実を隠すことなく、保護者や地域に率直に伝えるべき」との見解を示した。

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横浜松坂屋が閉店　１４４年の歴史に幕
2008.10.27 01:09

　ハマっ子たちに親しまれてきた横浜松坂屋（横浜市中区）が２６日、閉店、１４４年の歴史に幕を閉じた。横浜のシンボル的存在だっただけに、市民らが連日詰めかけ、老舗百貨店を惜しんでいた。

　閉店時に桜井逸美社長が「１４４年の長い間、絶大なご支持、ご愛顧に感謝を申し上げます」と正面玄関であいさつ。客から「ありがとう」との声が上がった。

　６０年間通っていたという中区の会社経営、大久保静香さん（６７）は「伊勢佐木町の核になるものがなくなるから寂しいの一言です」と語った。

　横浜松坂屋は江戸時代の１８６４年、前身の野沢屋呉服店として創業。明治４３年に現在の伊勢佐木町に支店として百貨店を開業。周辺を散策することを「イセブラ」と呼び、にぎわっていた。同店は常にその中心的存在で、ピーク時の平成４年ごろは売上高約３００億円を計上していた。しかし、横浜駅周辺やみなとみらい地区の開発で業績が低迷。赤字を脱却できず、撤退することになった。

　親会社であるＪ・フロントリテイリングは閉店後、建物を撤去し複合商業施設を建設予定だ。しかし、大正１０年に建造された本館はアール・デコ調の装飾が施され、市の歴史的建造物に認定されている。市は外壁の保存を求めており、一部外観などを残す案も浮上しているという。

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日本政府、代理出産女児にビザ発給　近くインド出国
2008.10.27 20:44

　日本人男性がインドで依頼した代理出産で誕生した女児が出国できないでいる問題で、日本政府は２７日、日本への入国を可能にする査証（ビザ）を女児に発給した。在インド日本大使館が明らかにした。

　女児はすでにインド政府発行の渡航証明書を取得。日本へ渡航するための必要書類はすべてそろい、誕生から約３カ月間留め置かれたインドから、付き添っている祖母とともに近く日本へ向けて出発する予定。日本入国後、帰化などの手続きを経て日本国籍を取得できるとみられる。

　女児は、日本人男性の精子と匿名の第３者の卵子を体外受精させてインド人代理母の子宮に移植し、今年７月に生まれた。卵子提供者が匿名のため出生証明書には父親の名しかなく、インド国籍も日本国籍も取得できないまま、インドを出国できない状況に置かれていた。（共同）

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Major Rssn airline stops flights to all destinations except two

27.10.2008, 12.23

KRASNOYARSK, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - Krasnoyarsk Airlines /KrasAir/, an airline that performs 6% of all the commercial flights in Russia, has stopped flights to all destinations from its main hub, Yemelyanovo airport in the central Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

The only two destinations where flights continue are Moscow and the city of Norilsk in Siberia's Arctic zone, the airline's chief press officer Lyudmila Ganzhurova said.

"The jet bound for Moscow has already taken off, and as for Norilsk, we don't have scheduled flights there Monday and they'll be performed on other days of the week," Ganzhurova said.

She indicated that three flights cannot take off from Norilsk since Friday, as supplier of jet fuel refuse to fuel the jets on credit.

KrasAir of a constituent airline of the AirUnion alliance that ran into major financial problems and big debts to suppliers of fuel in August, setting off a chain of massive disruptions of flight schedules across the country.

AirUnion's operating license, which the Federal Agency for Air Transport had already prolonged for a month, expires October 28. It was prolonged to allow the airline to round up its summer programs.

It is expected that KrasAir's flights will go over to the Moscow-based Atlant-Soyuz airline and later on, to the newly created Avialinii Rossii carrier.

Krasnoyarsk Airlines was set up in 1991 and turned into an open joint-stock company in 1993. As of 1998, it uses the KrasAir brand name.

It has a workforce of over 4,500 people,including 550 flight specialists, of whom 60 are cockpit crew captains.

In 2007, KrasAir carried 1.67 million passengerxs.