GCC currency peg is 'terrible mistake', says Rogers

GCC currency peg is 'terrible mistake', says Rogers

Middle East: Tuesday, February 17 - 2009 at 08:31

The chairman of Singapore-based Rogers Holdings said yesterday that the GCC's currency peg to the dollar is a 'terrible mistake' and will cause financial problems for the region as the US currency is expected to decline, reported BLoomberg. Jim Rogers said the six GCC states should form a joint currency as soon as possible, adding that new currency shouldn't be linked to any other as the region has enough foreign reserves and oil to back it up.

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Why Tokyo sets a top-flight example

By Tyler Brûlé

Published: February 21 2009 00:18 | Last updated: February 21 2009 01:59

You had to feel a little sorry for Hillary Clinton when she touched down in Tokyo earlier this week. While the US secretary of state was adding some extra polish to the various speeches that she would be delivering around Asia, Japanese finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa was effortlessly and unwittingly upstaging her at a meeting of G7 ministers in Rome.

While Clinton’s first overseas tour in her new role was packed with diplomatic symbolism and supposed to underline Washington’s special relationship with Japan, much of this was lost as the Japanese and international media were far more captivated by the antics of Mr Nakagawa struggling through a press conference on the other side of the world. The media were also struck by the staggeringly slow response of prime minister Taro Aso’s office to acknowledge that anything was wrong. By mid-week, Nakagawa had stepped down, Aso’s approval rating had slumped to an all-time low and Clinton was already in Jakarta.

The secretary of state and her entourage might have been better off staying at Tokyo’s Haneda airport and taking some more positive pointers on Japanese infrastructure management rather than spending time with a leader who’s unlikely to be on the scene much longer. Had Clinton and team ventured beyond the VIP area adjacent to Haneda’s Terminal 2, they would have entered a world that increasingly feels like a theme park version of early 21st-century air travel.

Haneda has popped up on this page several times over the past few years and has ranked as one of Monocle’s top two aviation hubs (the other is Munich) for a variety of reasons. A brief touchdown on Wednesday reminded me yet again why world leaders, mayors, urban planners, CEOs and retail tsars all need to pay attention to this facility.

In a little under two years’ time, the airport hugging Tokyo Bay will move up the international traffic rankings when it opens a fourth runway and a new international terminal to replace the bus terminal that currently serves flights to Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Come the back end of 2010, travellers who have long been frustrated by the torturous journey in from Narita will be able to land at the world’s fourth-busiest airport (additional capacity has airport management hoping that they’ll move into the top three position), with direct connections to Paris, London, Amsterdam, Singapore and Bangkok.

Due to a complicated structure that will restrict long-haul flights to the hours between 11pm and 6am, airlines operating out of Haneda are likely to launch niche services that will appeal to business travellers who want to be able to have a proper business dinner and drinks in Ginza and then jump in a cab for the 20-minute drive to the airport. For passengers inbound from Europe, this will mean departures out of London at about 8.30am, arriving in Tokyo the next morning before the 6am curfew.

Across the field, Haneda’s co-anchor tenant All Nippon Airways (ANA) will also be opening another 10-plus gates at Terminal 2 and, to the delight domestic travellers who see shopping as a very essential part of the travel experience, there will be even more stores to add to the 200-plus retail and food outlets.

Aside from the straightforward, no-frills architecture that make the airport buzz, its orderly and well-staffed security arrangements and its clear signage, it’s the way the airport manages the retail and catering elements that is most impressive. At Terminal 2, the airport recently launched a boulevard dubbed “Haneda Sweet”, which features four premium chocolate and confectionery spaces that will constantly rotate to capture travellers’ pocketbooks before they check in. These outlets join dozens of other international food retailers . In the basement, a branch of luxury confectioner Hediard sits not far from McDonald’s. An escalator ride away, Juccheim staff are busy wrapping their elaborate spongey cakes.

As first and lasting impressions go, Haneda is an unbeatable combination of everything that a first-time or regular travel is looking for – an unfussy design, good navigation, plenty of staff, a delirious array of food and drink options and few excuses for arriving at your destination empty-handed on the gift front. Moreover, you’re constantly reminded that you’re at an airport, as the designers made a point of opening up concourses to the field beyond to see the short-haul 747s lifting off for Sapporo.

With many of the world’s major airport projects currently stuck in a holding pattern, governments and the private-sector development companies who are backing these ventures should use this period to take a little inspirational trip to Japan to see how things can really be in air travel.

For Ms Clinton and her cohorts, international relations start at home and a bit of Haneda-style management is just what America’s major airport hubs need to pull themselves into a new era of travel and also to present a new, more friendly face for visitors looking to invest in America Inc – whether as tourists or potential purchasers of shuttered automotive plants.

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羽田に５本目滑走路検討　国交省、発着枠の拡大目指す（1/2ページ）

2009年2月21日15時1分

　国土交通省は、羽田空港（東京都大田区）の発着枠のさらなる拡大を目指す方針を決めた。空域の有効利用のほか、５本目の滑走路新設も議論の対象とする。同空港は本格的な国際化に向け、４本目の滑走路を建設中だが、都心に近い羽田発着の航空需要はさらに増えると予想。景気対策も視野に、２０２０年ごろの実現をめどに検討する。

　羽田、成田の首都圏の空港機能を強化し、国の基盤を強めるプランの一つとして、同省が近く公表する。

　羽田の滑走路は現在３本。４本目が１０年秋にオープンし、発着枠は現在の年約３０万回から４０万７千回に増える。国の交通政策審議会の航空需要予測では、この枠も１７年ごろには「限界に達する」とされ、１０年に２０万回から２２万回に増える成田空港とともに、さらなる拡大の必要性が指摘されていた。

　ただ、羽田の周辺空域はすでに「過密」。海上に新滑走路をつくるとなると、環境影響評価や漁業補償、船舶交通との調整が必要となる。騒音をめぐる反対運動も予想され、具体的な拡張の議論は先送りされていた。

　しかし、景気の深刻な冷え込みで、景気対策や雇用創出につながる公共事業を前倒ししてインフラ事業の積極展開を促す意見が政府内で浮上。国交省では「利便性が高い羽田拡張を検討する好機。環境や船舶との問題などは、関係者との協議で解消できる余地がある」との機運が高まった。

　滑走路新設となると、埋め立てと桟橋からなる建設中の４本目の場合で事業費は約７千億円かかっている。同省は最近の景気後退による航空需要予測の見直しも考慮しつつ、拡張策を検討する。

　５本目をつくる場合、現在建設中のＤ滑走路の沖や、東側のＣ滑走路沖などが想定される。Ｄ滑走路を現在の２５００メートルから３千メートル級に延長するなどして、大型機の長距離路線に対応できるようにすることなども検討される見通しだ。

　同時に検討するのは、限られた空域の有効活用だ。羽田の周辺空域には、西側に米軍横田基地（東京都）が管制を担っている「横田空域」があり、窮屈な運用を強いられているほか、騒音被害を抑えるため、東京都の上空を低い高度では飛べないなど制約が多い。国交省は「あらゆる角度から検討したい」としており、周辺自治体と騒音問題について協議するなどして、飛行範囲を拡大できないか模索していくとみられる。

　成田については現在、成田国際空港会社（ＮＡＡ）が発着容量を現在の１．５倍の３０万回に広げる案を示しており、実現可能性について周辺自治体などと話し合いを進めている。

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Khawali, Damascus

By Anissa Helou

Published: February 21 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 21 2009 02:00

I had wanted to eat at Khawali, undoubtedly Damascus's best restaurant, for quite some time before I actually got there. When I finally made it, my meal was as good as I had been told it would be - in fact, if Michelin were to publish a guide for Syria, Khawali would almost certainly merit a three-star rating.

The restaurant occupies a building originally built in the 14th century, off Straight Street, in the heart of old Damascus. It was first restored in the 19th century and again at the beginning of this century. The main dining area is an enchanting courtyard with a fountain at its centre.

The menu is short. As usual, I focused on mezze, some of which were given a Khawali twist. Hummus Khawali turned out to be a regular hummus mixed with a little pomegranate syrup and muhammara (the word describes both a pepper paste and a dip where the paste is mixed with walnuts and breadcrumbs and seasoned with cumin, pomegranate syrup and olive oil). The pepper paste gave the hummus a gentle heat and turned it a lovely pale red colour while the pomegranate syrup added a touch of sweetness, making its version even more irresistible than the original.

As for batinjan Khawali, it was a standard grilled aubergine, tomato and onion salad pressed into a timbale, inverted on to a plate, drizzled with a little tahini sauce ( tarator ) and sprinkled with chopped walnuts. The tarator added a rich, silky touch to the lemony salad while the walnuts cut into the soft texture. Even Khawali's selection of pickles provided a surprise. Alongside the classic maqduss (aubergines stuffed with walnuts, pepper and garlic and preserved in olive oil), pink turnips and cucumbers, were pickled cabbage leaf rolls stuffed with walnuts.

I also ordered one of my favourite Syrian mezze, kishkeh, a deliciously refreshing dip made with labneh (strained yoghurt), fine burghul and mint; sorcki, a pungent mixture of crumbled shanklish (a fermented cheese that could be considered the Syrian Roquefort), diced tomatoes and chopped onion, dressed with excellent Syrian extra virgin olive oil; and a wonderfully sharp fresh thyme and onion salad seasoned with sumac.

The bread was perfect, baked on the premises in a tannur oven manned by a dedicated baker whose sole job was to roll out balls of dough, stretch them on a cushion and then slap them against the burning walls of the tannur, where they baked in seconds.

Main dishes in Arab restaurants are often disappointing but the menu at Khawali offered several tempting choices. Bas Meshqat was an old Damascene dish of Turkish origin where minced meat is flattened and rolled around a filling of rice, meat and nuts. The meat "logs" are then cooked in a tomato demi-glace and served with rice. Homey and delicious. Abu Basteh was another home-y stew of meat, pumpkin, chickpeas, onion and tomato that shows its humble origins by its name (from basseet, meaning simple). It was served with a burghul and vermicelli pilaf.

Dessert is complimentary in Arab restaurants, and the selection we were offered was quite a spread: excellent mini baklava, owwamat (tiny round fritters dipped in syrup), ma'qarun (also syrup-drenched fritters but shaped into fingers and flavoured with aniseed) and autumnal persimmons, served with clotted cream.

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From secret medinas to mega-resorts

By Zoe Dare Hall

Published: February 21 2009 00:22 | Last updated: February 21 2009 00:22

For foreign property buyers in Morocco, the essence of the country’s appeal has traditionally been in the shabby chic and exotic edginess of the ancient medinas in Marrakech or, for the more intrepid, Fez. Some with business interests in the country have invested in the capital, Rabat, or in Casablanca, and small numbers have bought holiday homes in the country’s first – and still its main – coastal resort, Agadir.

But with a year to go until the target date that King Mohammed VI has set to turn his country into a first-class tourist destination, Morocco’s property market now offers many more options.

As part of his $9bn Vision 2010 development plan, which aims to boost annual visitor numbers to 10m and create 600,000 jobs, pockets of previously untouched Mediterranean and Atlantic coastline are being transformed into European-style resorts with high-class hotels, marinas and professionally designed golf courses. At the same time, househunters already familiar with the country are branching out in a different direction, eschewing established destinations in favour of smaller towns, buying traditional riads and living among the locals.

The first category of housing, dubbed Plan Azur, involves six flagship projects due for completion by 2015. They include the casino-led Mazagan Resort, south of Casablanca near the town of El Jadida; Mediterranea Saïdia, with three golf courses, a 750-berth marina, six hotels and hundreds of apartments and villas on 1,730 acres near the Algerian border; the lower density Port Lixus, with apartments and nine large detached villas facing a 6km beach in Larache, south of Tangier; Mogador on 1,500 acres in Essaouira, billed as a weekend getaway from Marrakech; the spa- and golf-centred Taghazout, near the small Berber fishing and surfing village of the same name north of Agadir; and Plage Blanche, including flats, houses and a souk in Guelmim, south of Agadir.

The aim is to offer access to an “authentic” Moroccan experience with the high-quality facilities that buyers expect from southern Spain or Portugal’s Algarve – at a fraction of the price. “Many of today’s buyers feel too exposed buying a riad in a traditional medina and they want Morocco but not Marrakech, which they feel is becoming saturated,” says Julian Cunningham of estate agency Knight Frank, which is marketing the $230m Mazagan project for developer Kerzner Group. “Buyers want the facilities of a five-star resort [near] traditional towns that are much more the ‘real Morocco’, such as El Jadida.”

Chefchaouen

At Mazagan, average prices are Dh25,500 (£2068) per sq metre, with three-bedroom villas costing Dh9m (£729,904), which is “good value for Morocco, let alone the rest of the Mediterranean,” he adds. “Equivalent projects in Marrakech are selling for up to Dh46,700 per sq metre.”

The developments are a significant departure for the country because, prior to the adoption of Vision 2010, “nothing new had been built on the coast since the early 1960s – when Agadir had to be rebuilt after the earthquake – because no one wanted to sell valuable coastal land for development,” says Jean-Robert Reznik, president of the travel agency association Alliance T and an adviser to the government and royal family for the past 40 years.

Eventually, however, “the current king’s father and grandfather both realised that the future of Morocco depended on it being open to both Europe and the US. That meant attracting foreign investors, which meant developing tourist resorts in certain areas, along with new roads and better airports, to give Morocco credibility internationally.”

It is a difficult time to be embarking on such grand projects. But developers such as Sean Cusack at Property Logic, which is building 1,400 leaseback residences, with two-bedroom apartments priced from Dh2.2m, at Saïdia’s Le Jardin de Fleur development, remain confident. “Morocco’s main worry is that tourism will be hit by the economic climate because becoming a world-class tourism destination is the key aim behind the king’s plan. But they have learnt a lot from Spain and are tough in their planning policies to avoid over-development,” he says. “We have sold 78 per cent of our stock, which is over 1,000 units at Le Jardin de Fleur and the resort will be up and running by 2010. There is a lot of wealth in Morocco and about 70 per cent of our buyers come from the domestic market. Saïdia will also attract buyers from Algeria – particularly when the border opens within the next couple of years – and Libya. These neighbouring countries have a lot of wealth but don’t have their own resorts or beaches.”

An artist’s impression of a property at Mediterranea Saïdia

Reznick agrees. “Everyone will suffer the crisis but, unlike Dubai, which has seen the highest highs and will soon see the lowest lows because there is no real domestic market to prop it up, emerging markets with a local population who can afford to buy property will suffer far less. I see two years ahead of us of suffering, then Morocco will be fine.”

The second option for buyers keen to move beyond Marrakech, Fez, Rabat, Casablanca and Agadir is to investigate the more remote towns of “old Morocco”.

John Wilkinson, 66, a Briton who also has a house in Toulouse, France, bought a property in Chefchaouen, in the Rif Mountains, in 2001 for £7,000. “There were no estate agents back then so I sat in a café and told the world and its wife what I was looking for,” he says. He was particularly drawn to the town’s medina, with its pastel-blue-painted houses and streets. “I got a 60 sq metre ground floor with rickety steps to a terrace of the same size above, with two bedrooms and electricity – if you can call three lightbulbs that,” he says. “A family of seven were living there before me.”

He invested another £7,000 – “I forgot to haggle the price, to the builder’s amazement” – on renovating the house into a cosy retreat with a log fire and piano and now lives there for five months a year, one of only five British residents in Chefchaouen. “With haircuts for Dh13, three-course meals for Dh65 and labour for next to nothing, not to spend as much time here as possible would cost me dear,” he says. “And I love the sounds – the wail of the muezzin five times a day, the kids shrieking below, the clank of gas bottles being unloaded from donkey backs. You live cheek by jowl with your neighbours in the medina, a place that was very different when I first saw it in the 1970s – crumbling, no running water, no drains or electricity. Now, little by little, it is beginning to be cared for in the way it deserves.”

Moulay Idriss
Michael Richardson, 36, a former London restaurateur, has also been pioneering in his choice of a Moroccan retreat, becoming the first foreigner to buy a property in Moulay Idriss, a small town and place of pilgrimage near Meknes. His house, set on a hillside overlooking the town’s mosque, cost Dh187,000, while a five-room guesthouse he plans to turn into the first of a chain of budget boutique hotels cost Dh430,000.

“Guidebooks have wrongly reported that Moulay, one of Morocco’s holiest towns, is off-limits to non-Muslims after 4pm, which has kept people away [but] I’ve been welcomed by everyone I have met and buying property here was far easier than in Fez,” he says. “Moulay is a laid-back agricultural community, which becomes a musical and religious hub in summer, and it’s in an amazingly beautiful location, overlooking the Roman remains of Volubilis.”

Although he and Wilkinson prefer a more traditional experience to the ones on offer at the manufactured Plan Azur resorts, they acknowledge that the investment behind Vision 2010 will benefit all parts of Morocco. The king’s “open skies” policy has, for example, led to a big increase in European flights and the upgrading of regional airports. The railway network has been improved. And, although many roads, including the Fez-Marrakech motorway, are still single-lane, there are fast, underused routes running up the west coast from Casablanca to Tangier and on to Fez via Rabat. And next year should mark the opening of a new Marrakech-Agadir highway.

As long-time resident Reznick says: “The country had its natural assets – history, sea, desert, mountains and the richness of its population, who are among the most welcoming in the world – but it needed new infrastructure.”

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Developments

Mazagan Resort, tel: +44 (0)2078611097, www.knightfrank.com
Mediterranea-Saïdia, tel: +34 952799579, www.property-logic.com
Port Lixus, tel: +212 22399986, www.port-lixus.com
Mogador Essaouira, tel: +32 (0)61531111, www.thomas-piron.be

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Anglo American sells 20% of minority stake in Ashanti

By William MacNamara

Published: February 18 2009 18:24 | Last updated: February 18 2009 18:24

Anglo American, the world’s fourth-biggest mining group, has sold nearly 20 per cent of its minority stake in Anglogold Ashanti this year, raising $280m (£197m), it emerged on Wednesday ahead of the group’s annual results on Friday.

While the company carried net debt at the end of 2008 that analysts estimate was between $11bn and $13.8bn, its balance sheet is seen as relatively robust compared with peers Rio Tinto and Xstrata, whose financial emergencies have resulted in a $19.5bn stakebuilding by Chinese miner Chinalco and a $5.9bn rights issue respectively. But about $3bn of Anglo American debt will mature by the end of 2009, analysts noted.

Anglo took advantage of the high gold price and sold nearly 10.4m shares in South Africa’s Anglogold – representing 3 per cent of the gold company’s shares – in several stages between mid-January and early February, the company said on Wednesday.

Since 2006, when Anglo American sold out of its majority stake in Anglogold, the larger company has signalled its willingness to divest itself entirely from gold, the metal on which it built its African mining empire following the South African gold rush of the 1880s.

Its core strengths now, Anglo’s chief executive Cynthia Caroll has emphasised, are base metals and ferrous metals.

In Johannesburg, Anglogold shares have risen 30 per cent in the past year on the back of the high gold price.

There is no way to predict the timing of further Anglogold share sales, Anglo said.

“We expect Anglo to fully exit this stake in the next few months in order to reduce debt and fund a R7bn (£484m) credit line offered to Anglo Platinum [an Anglo-American subsidiary],” Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a note this week.

Anglo American’s total exit from its Anglogold stake, which stood at 16.3 per cent before the recent sales, would yield about $1.8bn at current prices, according to Macquarie.

That would improve cash flow, the bank’s analysts noted. But “if Anglo is to avoid its debt increasing, it will either have to cut its capital expenditure plans and/or dividend payments or raise capital,” they noted.

On Friday Anglo American is expected to report flat operating profits of $10.1bn, according to a Reuters poll of seven analysts.

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US lawsuit claims 52,000 UBS customers concealed accounts

By Adrian Cox in London, Frances Williams in Bern and,Joanna Chung in New York

Published: February 20 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 20 2009 02:00

As many as 52,000 US customers hid UBS accounts from the authorities in violation of tax laws, a Washington lawsuit against the Swiss bank alleged yesterday.

The Department of Justice filed a suit seeking to force UBS to disclose the holders of accounts with about $14.8bn (£10bn) in assets. It alleged UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, engaged in cross-border securities transactions in the US that it knew violated security laws and helped US taxpayers set up dummy offshore companies.

UBS said it would challenge enforcement of the so-called John Doe summons, which seeks information on the accounts of US citizens at UBS in Switzerland, where such information is protected by financial privacy laws.

"UBS believes it has substantial defences to the enforcement of the John Doe summons and intends to vigorously contest the enforcement of the summons in the civil proceeding," the bank said in a statement.

The suit came a day after UBS reached a landmark settlement with the US government in which the Swiss bank admitted having enabled clients to evade taxes, agreed to pay $780m in fines and turn over about 250 client names to the US.

The settlement provoked questions over the future of Switzerland's secretive banking industry as international pressure mounts for more transparency. Hans-Rudolf Merz, the country's president, said the UBS settlement would not compromise the confidentiality of the industry.

"Banking secrecy remains intact," Mr Merz, also Switzerland's finance minister, told a press conference in Bern.

It seems the Swiss government bowed to US pressure and, in effect, told UBS to settle rather than risk an indictment. Appeals to Switzerland's top court against the handing over of bank records to the US justice department are pending, Mr Merz said.

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Swiss banking will adapt in order to survive

By Adrian Cox and Haig Simonian

Published: February 20 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 20 2009 02:00

Swiss bankers defend strict client confidentiality as a basic principle. They argue that other countries, such as neighbouring Liechtenstein and Austria, maintain similar traditions. They also draw attention to examples of how secret Swiss bank accounts helped individuals to survive against totalitarianism - or even helped to fight it.

But with the power of historical examples waning, and differing views about the status of the individual versus government or society, the justification for bank secrecy has turned increasingly legalistic in recent years.

This week's victory by the US authorities in forcing UBS to divulge about 250 clients allegedly using sham companies to evade taxes represents a further massive fissure - and one that may, in time, be seen as decisive.

"Banking secrecy in Switzerland has been dealt a significant blow," said Benn Steil, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Swiss law distinguishes between tax evasion - a civil offence - and tax fraud - a crime. Traditionally, Switzerland has not co-operated in requests for information about foreigners holding offshore accounts who are suspected of tax evasion - unless the foreign tax or judicial authority has demonstrated actual fraud.

The distinction has proved increasingly hard to maintain, partly because of its inherent lack of clarity for many, and the fact that it has widely been seen abroad as a smokescreen to protect bank secrecy.

This week's agreement by UBS to supply account details before all Swiss legal appeal procedures could be fulfilled appears to make an already dubious distinction seem irrelevant. Certainly, it was no surprise that the European Commission was within hours calling for Switzerland to offer EU member states the same privileges being extended to Washington.

But that does not mean bank secrecy will vanish - or at least, not in a hurry - or that Switzerland will lose its status as the world's leading centre for offshore assets anytime soon.

Attempts by Brussels to use the US case as a precedent will be undermined by internal divisions. Austria and Luxembourg are likely to resist attempts to push mutual information rights, in spite of the enthusiasm of the UK and Germany.

Moreover, Swiss banks had thought they had bought off pressure from the EU by two tactics. First, Bern agreed to a complex mechanism to tax offshore savings of EU citizens held in Switzerland, and transfer the proceeds to the member states.

Second, many Swiss banks have recognised that the traditional offshore model - whereby rich foreigners opened accounts that were never declared at home - would encounter rising resistance abroad.

"Swiss banks like all other institutions have to see where the wind is blowing," said John Tattersall, a partner at PwC. "Transparency is much more in favour."

With such pressures in mind, many Swiss private banks have been investing in "onshore" branch networks in neighbouring countries, such as Germany, Italy, France or the UK.

The banks have justified their extravagant spending in the belief that, while such "onshore" services would be fully transparent and subject to the laws of the host country, the Swiss banks' image and reputation would create a worthwhile client base.

Ironically, UBS was the most active in this respect. Its now completed European Wealth Management Initiative involved creating small branch networks in big cities in countries such as German, Italy and the UK.

Other Swiss banks have followed, though more modestly, given the heavy investments involved. Vontobel has expanded in Germany and Austria, while bigger Julius Baer and Sarasin have focused on Asia and the Middle East. All have done so in the belief that, while the days of bank secrecy may be numbered, the desire for service and performance allegedly offered by Swiss banks will remain.

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Canada banks prove envy of the world

By Christopher Mason in Ottawa and Bernard Simon in,Toronto

Published: February 20 2009 02:00 | Last updated: February 20 2009 02:00

Banks are usually not on the agenda when US presidents visit Canada. But before setting off on his first foreign trip as president, Barack Obama said the performance of Canadian banks - alone among those of the Group of Seven nations in not receiving a government bail-out - was "striking".

"Canada has shown itself to be a pretty good manager of the financial system in ways that we haven't always been here in the United States," Mr Obama told a Canadian broadcaster.

The president spent yesterday in Ottawa meeting Stephen Harper, Canada's prime minister, to discuss the economy, trade and the environment, in addition to any talk surrounding the strength of Canada's banks.

In large part because of stricter regulation and their conservative culture, one that depends heavily on a vast and stable retail branch network, and a clubby working relationship, Canada's banks have remained the strongest in the G7 and, according to an October report by the World Economic Forum, the soundest in the world.

"In Canada they do it the old-fashioned way, where when you need money you go to the bank and they review your file and they will lend you no more than 75 per cent of the value of your house," said Laurence Booth, a finance professor at the University of Toronto. "Canada is a more conservative place and, as much as it limits growth in good times, that approach pays off when others begin a race to the bottom."

In Canada, five banks - the Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and the Bank of Montreal - largely control the market through thousands of branches across the country, forcing geographic diversification and efficiencies of scale generally not found in the US.

Canadian investment banks, as part of commercial banks, are more tightly regulated and kept in check by the main institutions, which would pay a price for unwise investing. Canada's independent stockbrokers were bought by the big banks in the late 1980s, thus putting investment banking under the same regulatory umbrella as commercial banking.

In the US recently, investment banking companies such as Merrill Lynch have been brought under the wing of commercial banks. With moves such as this, the US is moving towards a Canadian model.

The government re-regulates its banks every eight to 12 years, compared with the US system of decentralised regulation.

Canadian banks have not been immune to the turmoil but their value has fallen less than that of their US counterparts. The banks have all taken hefty writedowns on their exposure to toxic securities and analysts expect the slowing Canadian economy to push up loan losses. But among North American banks, all five big Canadian banks rank in the top 15 in market value. One, Toronto-Dominion, has risen from 30th two years ago to sixth today.

Toronto-Dominion and RBC are among only seven banks worldwide that still carry a Moody's triple-A credit rating. Since October, Canada's five biggest banks have bolstered their balance sheets by raising C$9bn (US$7.2bn, €5.7bn, £5bn) in common equity and preferred shares. These distinctions have placed growing attention on Canada's system, especially from the US.

Paul Volcker, the former US Federal Reserve chairman and a close adviser to Mr Obama, is pushing for a regulatory regime on Canada's model. "It's interesting that what I'm arguing for looks more like the Canadian system than the American system," Mr Volcker said last week. Canada's banks have not escaped the downturn entirely. A debate has erupted on whether the banks might be forced to cut dividends - something not done since the 1930s.

Their dividend yields are currently about 7 per cent, their highest level in 24 years, suggesting that investors are braced for dividend cuts. The banks paid out 76 per cent of their earnings in dividends last year, compared with an average of 42 per cent over the previous decade. The picture may become clearer next week when the banks begin reporting earnings for the quarter ended January 31.

Peter Rozenberg, an analyst at UBS in Toronto, said last week the risk was "not zero". "An extended period of very low earnings and/or unexpected government intrusion could negatively impact dividends."

Government support has so far consisted mainly of providing liquidity through regular auctions for high-quality mortgages held by the banks and other mortgage lenders. The authorities have also raised the limit for preferred shares qualifying as tier one capital.

But the government is amending banking legislation to allow it to inject capital into troubled institutions, if necessary.

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慶応義塾が400億円超す運用損
やっぱり大穴があいていた。創立150年募金270億円が吹っ飛び、安西塾長3選にも黄信号。
2009年3月号

FACTAブックマークに保存

慶応義塾は1月20日、理事会評議員会を開き、そこで「取扱厳重注意」という注意書きのあるA4判4枚の報告書を資料として配った。題して「2008年資金運用状況について（期中報告）」。慶応関係者なら誰しも息をのむショッキングな数字が並んでいる。

まず「運用状況」の第2項。「評価損益の面から見て、昨年3月末決算時と比較すると以下の通りです」とあって、表が載っている。

評価損（資産処分差額で支出計上）　昨年3月末　　　△49億円　昨年9月末　　　　？含み損（B／S上で注記のみ）　昨年3月末　　　△225億円　昨年9月末　　　△30 ………

http://facta.co.jp/article/200903001.html

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＜記事紹介＞「慶應義塾が４００億円超す運用損」（『ＦＡＣＴＡ』09年３月号）
カテゴリ: 教育 : 学校法人 :
執筆者: Yamaoka (4:30 am)

　２月20日発売の会員制月刊総合情報誌『ＦＡＣＴＡ』09年３月号が、慶應義塾が４００億円を超す資産運用損を出している事実を暴いている（横写真＝同記事。３Ｐ）。

　ただし、慶應側はデリバティブ取引は少額で、ハイリスク商品も購入していないと回答。サブプライム問題に端を発する世界不況における株価などの下落の結果に過ぎず、あくまで含み損だから、景気が回復すれば資産価値は回復するとの言い分を掲載。しかし、銘柄を明かさない以上、そのいい分に説得力はないとして疑問を投げかけている。

　本紙は今年１月12日、東京・信濃町の慶應病院に創価学会が触手を伸ばしているとの情報を紹介したが、

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三菱化学、中東で野菜工場　ＬＥＤ照明で効率栽培

　三菱化学は屋内で野菜を効率的に栽培する「野菜工場」を中東で事業化する。水の使用を抑えながら収穫量を増やせる特徴があり、水資源の少ない中東の農業関連企業に設備を納める商談に入った。世界景気悪化で主力の石油化学事業が苦戦しているため、新規事業の育成を急ぐ。まず中東で事業化し、日本など他国での販売も目指す。

　野菜工場は太陽電池を電源とする発光ダイオード（ＬＥＤ）を照明に使い、工場のような密閉建屋で野菜を栽培する。昨年6月に野菜栽培ベンチャーのフェアリーエンジェル（京都市）に資本参加し、事業化に向けて4月にも実験を始める。早ければ年内に初の納入契約を中東企業との間で結ぶ。(11:16)

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東電・昭シェルなど、米で自然エネルギーに参入

　日本の大手企業が米国の自然エネルギー市場に相次ぎ参入する。東京電力は太陽光発電所を建設、昭和シェル石油は6月にも太陽電池の販売を始める。風力発電では三菱重工業が米向け設備を国内で増産する。米国ではオバマ政権が環境分野で新たな需要や雇用を創出するグリーン・ニューディール政策を推進、大規模な財政支出で自然エネルギー市場の拡大が見込まれている。政策転換を好機ととらえ、日本企業が強みを持つ環境技術で市場開拓を急ぐ。

　東電子会社のユーラスエナジーホールディングス（東京・港）はカリフォルニア州に出力1000キロワットの太陽光発電所を建設する。立地の選定を進め、 2010年までに運転を始める。ユーラスは米国ですでに風力発電を手掛けている。太陽光発電への優遇措置が今後拡大すると判断、太陽光と風力の両建てで事業を拡大する。テキサス州など米中部でも太陽光発電事業を展開する方針だ。(07:00)

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京セラ、太陽電池を中国で増産　組み立て工場の能力4倍に

　京セラは20日、中国・天津市の太陽電池モジュール工場の生産能力を現在の4倍の年24万キロワットに引き上げると発表した。投資総額は明らかにしていないが30億―40億円とみられる。基幹部品である太陽電池セル（発電素子）の増産に合わせ、セルや他の部品を太陽光発電システムに組み上げるモジュール工程の能力も増強する。

　天津市の既存工場の近くに新棟を建設する。3階建てで延べ床面積は2万8800平方メートル。4月に着工、2010年春に稼働させる。同年9月までに既存の3棟から設備を移管するほか新設備を追加。11年以降に生産能力を年24万キロワットに引き上げる。

　同社はセルを滋賀八日市工場（滋賀県東近江市）で生産。近く滋賀県野洲市に新工場を建設して11年度に生産量を計65万キロワットに引き上げる計画を明らかにしている。現在、モジュールに組み立てる工程は三重県伊勢市、中国、メキシコ、チェコの4拠点で手がけている。(07:00)

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国立天文台など吹き出し口発見　太陽風、低温部分でも噴出

　国立天文台や京都大学などのチームは、地球に磁気嵐を引き起こす「太陽風」の吹き出し口を太陽の上空に見つけた。今回の成果を応用すれば、人工衛星を故障させたり、地上に電波障害をもたらす大規模な爆発現象「フレア」の発生を、事前に予測することも可能になるという。

　成果は、21日付の米専門誌アストロフィジカル・ジャーナルの速報版に掲載された。

　太陽風は主に水素の電離ガスでできている。国立天文台の浅井歩助教らは、2005年8月に発生したフレアの観測データを解析した。太陽を覆うコロナの中で温度が低い「コロナホール」の部分にできるイソギンチャク状の噴出部の近くで、電離ガスが秒速1000キロを大きく超えるスピードで吹き出していたことを突き止めた。(07:00)

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三浦元社長：逮捕１年　日本側、引き渡しを拒否　捜査主任、経緯を語る
　◇「渡米機会待った」

　【ロサンゼルス吉富裕倫】８１年のロス銃撃事件で米当局に逮捕され０８年１０月自殺した三浦和義・元輸入雑貨販売会社社長（当時６１歳）の捜査経緯について、米ロサンゼルス市警で捜査主任を務めたリック・ジャクソン刑事が１９日、毎日新聞の取材に応じた。日本で無罪が確定した後、日本政府に身柄引き渡しを求め断られたことなどを明らかにした。

　ジャクソン刑事は、米自治領サイパンで三浦元社長を逮捕してから、２１日（日本時間２２日）で１年となるのを前に経緯を説明した。

　それによると０３年日本の最高裁が元社長の無罪を確定させた後、ロス市警は郡検事局を通じ８８年の逮捕状を根拠に身柄引き渡しを要請。しかし容疑の殺人罪と殺人の共謀罪のうち、殺人の共謀罪が日本にはなく身柄引き渡しの対象とならないとして、法務省は引き渡しを拒否した。

　０８年の逮捕直後に開いた会見でジャクソン刑事は、元社長のサイパン渡航情報を得て捜査を活発化させたと話していたが、実際には日本での無罪確定を受け韓国など日本以外の外国での逮捕を含むさまざまな可能性を想定し元社長逮捕へ向けた準備を始めていた。

　ＤＮＡや銃押収など新証拠はなく、８８年から唯一継続して担当した刑事として既存の逮捕状に「相当の注意」を払い続けたという。

　元社長のブログサイトでサイパンへの渡航を知ると「米領内で逮捕することが最善の選択」と判断。情報漏れを恐れ日本の当局とは連絡を取らなかった。「彼に旅行してほしかった。（逮捕状執行へ向けた情報は）サイパンと米本土側だけで保持した」と話した。

　元社長は０８年２月にサイパンへ旅行中に逮捕された。弁護側は日本で無罪が確定していることを理由に釈放を求めたが、ロス郡地裁は「殺人の共謀罪について日本では裁かれていない」として訴追を認めた。元社長は１０月、ロスに移送された日に留置場で自殺した。

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ＷＴＯ：「農政が保護主義的」対日審査で問題点指摘

　【ジュネーブ澤田克己】世界貿易機関（ＷＴＯ）は１８、２０の両日、貿易政策に関する対日審査を行った。審査では、各国から、農業政策が非常に保護主義的▽非製造業の労働生産性が低い▽外国からの直接投資受け入れが少ない▽政府調達での外国製品購入が少ない－－といった問題点を指摘された。

　日本の構造改革路線が後退しているのではないかという懸念も出た。一方、世界的な経済危機を受けて自動車産業への公的支援や関税引き上げといった保護主義的政策に走る国が多い中、日本がこうした措置を取っていないことは評価された。

　ＷＴＯ事務局が事前に作成した報告では、英投資ファンドによるＪパワー（電源開発）株買い増しを政府が昨年春に中止させたことを例に挙げ、海外からの投資受け入れに問題があるという見方も示された。

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協会けんぽ：保険料率の都道府県別が作業難航　格差で不満

　中小企業の会社員が加入する全国健康保険協会（協会けんぽ、旧政府管掌健康保険）の保険料率について、今秋から全国一律（８．２％、労使折半）を都道府県別に変える作業が難航している。地域別の保険料は０６年の医療制度改革の柱の一つだが、格差をめぐって協会内部や与党から不満が噴出し、厚生労働省が意見集約をできずにいるためだ。

　「住所や仕事場の違いで差がつくのはおかしい」（北海道）

　「急激に下がる県があるのは歓迎すべき制度変更の果実だ」（長野）

　５日開かれた協会けんぽの都道府県支部代表者会議。医療費を反映させると、寒さによる平均入院日数の長さなどから最も料率が高くなる北海道と、予防医療の充実で最低となる長野県などの意見が激しく対立し、議論はかみ合わなかった。

　都道府県別の保険料率の導入は０６年成立の医療制度改革関連法に盛り込まれた。医療費の安い県は料率を下げる一方、抑制できない県には「罰則」として負担増を迫り全体的に医療費を抑えるのが厚労省の狙いだった。

　協会けんぽは昨秋、社会保険庁から分離して発足。スタートして間もないため、現在の保険料は全国一律。標準報酬月額（月収にほぼ相当）の８．２％を労使で折半して負担している。これに医療費のかかり具合を反映すると、年齢分布や所得差を調整しても、北海道は８．７５％にアップする一方、長野県は７．６８％に下がり、１．０７ポイントの格差が生じる。月収２０万円の人同士なら、本人負担分で１０７０円の差がつく。

　関連法は５年間の激変緩和措置を盛り込んでおり、厚労省は４案を提示した。地域格差を０．１７～０．４６ポイントに緩和するもので、たとえば、増減幅を本来の５分の１にとどめる案では、北海道８．３１％、長野８．１０％となり、格差は０．２１ポイントに圧縮される。月収２０万円の人同士で２１０円の差となる。だが、増減幅の大きい支部は納得していない。

　自民党内でも「なぜ差をつけるんだ」と、過去の議論を蒸し返す声が飛び出し、負担増の県には税金を投入し８．２％に抑える案まで出ている。厚労省は近く修正案を提示するが、「３月中に決めないと作業が間に合わない」と焦りを深めている。

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インドネシア：日本が金融支援　円建て債券に保証付与

　政府は２１日、インドネシア経済の混乱を未然に防ぐため、インドネシア政府が日本で発行する円建て債券（サムライ債）に最大１５億ドル（約１４００億円）の保証を付けるなど金融支援を行うことを決めた。２２日の日中韓と東南アジア諸国連合（ＡＳＥＡＮ）による「ＡＳＥＡＮプラス３財務相会合」のためタイ訪問中の末松信介財務政務官が、インドネシアのスリ・ムルヤニ財務相と会談し、合意した。資金の急激な海外流出に備えるためドル資金の融通枠も、現行の６０億ドルから１２０億ドル（１兆１０００億円）に倍増させる。

　新興諸国では昨秋以降、金融危機で多額の損失を出した欧米金融機関が資金を引き揚げるなど資金調達が難しくなっている。今回の支援は、インドネシア政府発行のサムライ債に、日本政府が国際協力銀行を通じて保証をつけたり、世界銀行やアジア開発銀行などとともに協調融資するなど資金調達を支援する。

　ドル資金の融通枠は、日中韓とＡＳＥＡＮ諸国の通貨協定「チェンマイ・イニシアチブ」の一環。インドネシアは９７年に通貨危機に見舞われたが、今回は「予防的な措置」（財務省幹部）として実施し、インドネシア経済、財政の安定確保を図る。

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シャープ、液晶パネル中国生産検討　亀山ライン売却案も

2009年2月21日12時36分

　シャープは、薄型テレビ向け液晶パネルの生産を海外にシフトする検討を始めた。中国の大手電機メーカー上海広電集団と提携し、中国内で生産する方向で同社と交渉に入っている。急激な円高で採算が悪化しているためで、国内では旧世代の設備となる亀山第１工場（三重県亀山市）のラインを売却し、中国に移転する案も浮上している。

　提携が実現すれば、日本の電機メーカーによる中国での大型液晶パネル生産は初めて。中国内向けの生産が中心になるとみられる。提携の具体策は今後詰めるが、広電集団以外のメーカーとも接触している模様だ。

　海外向けテレビでシャープはこれまで、国内で作ったパネルを輸出し、欧州やメキシコ、中国などで組み立てて販売してきた。パネル自体は同社の基幹技術と位置付け、国内での生産体制を敷いてきた。しかし、円高が進んでいることや、サムスン電子など韓国、台湾勢との価格競争が強まっていることから、旧世代では海外に生産を移すことが適切だと判断した。

　亀山第１工場は０４年１月に稼働し、「第６世代」と呼ばれる大型パネルを生産してきた。景気の減速で昨秋以降、世界的に液晶テレビ市場が縮小するなか、シャープは在庫圧縮のため減産に着手しており、現在は携帯電話など中小型液晶向けに切り替えるためラインを一時停止している。亀山では第２工場で「第８世代」パネルを製造している。

　シャープは最新の「第１０世代」パネルを生産する堺工場（堺市）を建設中だ。１０年春の稼働予定で、既存の旧式設備が余剰となることも、亀山第１の移転構想を後押ししている。

　広電集団は「第５世代」の中小型の液晶パネルをテレビ、パソコン向けに製造している。

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シャープ、液晶パネルを中国で生産　現地企業と提携交渉

　シャープは中国大手電機メーカーの上海広電集団と提携、液晶テレビ用パネルを現地生産する方向で調整に入った。(1)亀山第1工場（三重県亀山市）の設備を売却して委託生産(2)合弁会社を設立して共同生産――の2案を軸に交渉している。先端製品のパネルは日本で集中生産して海外のテレビ工場に輸出してきたが、円高で採算が悪化しているため初の海外生産に踏み切る。

　日本の電機業界ではソニーが韓国サムスン電子と液晶パネルを韓国で共同生産しているが、中国での大型パネル生産は業界で初めて。円高と価格下落で電機大手の業績は急速に悪化しており、世界規模で生産体制を見直す動きが加速しそうだ。