[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010
Bankruptcy plan gets JAL creditor nod
Hatoyama sees delisting; cuts in pensions OK'd
Kyodo News
The government said Tuesday it effectively got Japan Airline's creditor banks to agree to let JAL file for bankruptcy and undergo court-led rehabilitation, while Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama indicated the carrier will be delisted.
Japan Airlines Corp. meanwhile said it succeeded in securing approval from two-thirds of its retirees to have their pension benefits slashed. Tuesday was the deadline to gain the OK of two-thirds of some 9,000 retirees to cut their pensions by more than 30 percent. About 67 percent of them had agreed to the pension cuts as of 1 p.m., JAL said.
Hatoyama signaled that the delisting of the airline's stock may be inevitable during the restructuring process, stressing "shareholders bear a certain responsibility."
Meanwhile, the government-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan and Development Bank of Japan are planning to extend JAL a credit line totaling ¥600 billion to avert a severe cash drain as they finalize the court-led rehabilitation plan, sources said.
Transport minister Seiji Maehara met earlier in the day with executives of JAL's commercial creditor banks and gained their tentative approval for the prepackaged bankruptcy option, other sources said. Mizuho Corporate Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. are expected to give official replies by Thursday.
Maehara said the government will make an all-out effort to achieve JAL's rehabilitation without any interruption to its operations.
He added the government will issue a message of full support for JAL's turnaround once ETIC compiles the rehabilitation plan.
The government was aiming to clinch approval from the main creditor banks and their pledge to continue financial support for the cash-strapped airline before the ETIC pursues the court-led restructuring.
The government-owned Development Bank of Japan, JAL's biggest creditor bank, has already agreed to the bankruptcy option.
The three commercial banks had earlier sought out-of-court restructuring out of concern they would incur losses from holdings in JAL's preferred shares.
But the sources said they basically accepted the prepackaged bankruptcy because the airline will need access to massive government-guaranteed funds that only ETIC can provide.
ETIC had reportedly planned to dissolve JAL's corporate pension fund if the airline failed to achieve the benefit cuts.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010
Foreigner suffrage bill said in the offing
Kyodo News
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet plans to submit a bill to the regular Diet session that begins Monday to grant local voting rights to permanent foreign residents, ruling party sources said.
The move, however, will likely draw fire from Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), one of the junior partners of the Democratic Party of Japan, the sources said, while the other partner, the Social Democratic Party, will probably support the bill.
Hatoyama said he believes he can win support from within the ruling bloc.
"While I believe I can gain understanding, this is something we are in the middle of considering within the government now," Hatoyama said Tuesday in front of his official residence.
"It's my understanding that various things are being considered because (this year) marks 100 years since Japan annexed Korea," he added.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said the government is considering the bill as one of those that should be submitted during the 150-day Diet session.
Asked which foreign residents would get the right to vote in local elections, Hirano said, "That is an extremely important (aspect) to point out.
"We will be considering the content of the bill, including that point," he said, adding the government will also carefully consider the constitutional ramifications.
Strong reservations remain within the DPJ-led coalition about giving permanent foreign residents the right to vote, a right DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa — the ruling bloc strongman — also advocates.
Shizuka Kamei, the financial services minister and head of Kokumin Shinto, has said he will oppose the bill.
Tadamori Oshima, secretary general of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, took a cautious stance on the planned legislation.
"Many opinions opposing the move have been issued by prefectural assemblies," he said. "We must debate the matter, while respecting such opinions."
Some critics say people affiliated with North Korea, which lacks diplomatic relations with Japan, should not be given the right to vote in local elections even if permanent residents are granted local suffrage.
Japan does not allow permanent residents with foreign nationalities, including those of Korean descent, to vote despite strong calls from among such residents on the grounds they pay local taxes.
Residents of Korean descent comprise most of the permanent foreign residents because Japan grants special permanent resident status to people from the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan who have lived in Japan from the time of its colonial rule over those territories and their descendants.
This year marks a century since Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula in 1910. The colonial rule ended with Japan's World War II defeat in 1945.
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010
Daimler eyes alliance with Nissan, Renault
DETROIT (Kyodo) The head of Daimler AG says the German carmaker is considering forming a partnership with Nissan Motor Co. if it can reach a deal on a proposed technological tieup with Renault SA.
"We have confirmed that we are in discussions with Renault. It is not just discussion, but there are other discussions going on as well," Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche said Monday at the North American auto show in Detroit.
"If the discussions (with Renault) would come to any results, then obviously the potential expansion with Nissan is something to consider," he said.
Zetsche said Daimler wants to strike a deal with Renault in the first half of this year.
Nissan and French maker Renault formed a capital tieup in 1999. If Daimler ties up with Nissan, the two are likely to work together on environmentally friendly vehicles, including electric cars, according to industry watchers.
Earlier in the day, Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally said his firm will maintain the current capital and business alliance with Mazda Motor Corp.
"We treasure our relationship with Mazda. It's been very useful and beneficial for both of us even though we had to take down our equity position," Mulally said.
Ford has had an 11 percent equity stake in Mazda since selling part of its shareholding in fall 2008.
The share sale was due to Ford's financial plight amid the recession, Mulally said.
"Our relationship with Mazda will keep going," he added.
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010
Bankruptcy plan gets JAL creditor nod
Hatoyama sees delisting; cuts in pensions OK'd
Kyodo News
The government said Tuesday it effectively got Japan Airline's creditor banks to agree to let JAL file for bankruptcy and undergo court-led rehabilitation, while Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama indicated the carrier will be delisted.
Japan Airlines Corp. meanwhile said it succeeded in securing approval from two-thirds of its retirees to have their pension benefits slashed. Tuesday was the deadline to gain the OK of two-thirds of some 9,000 retirees to cut their pensions by more than 30 percent. About 67 percent of them had agreed to the pension cuts as of 1 p.m., JAL said.
Hatoyama signaled that the delisting of the airline's stock may be inevitable during the restructuring process, stressing "shareholders bear a certain responsibility."
Meanwhile, the government-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan and Development Bank of Japan are planning to extend JAL a credit line totaling ¥600 billion to avert a severe cash drain as they finalize the court-led rehabilitation plan, sources said.
Transport minister Seiji Maehara met earlier in the day with executives of JAL's commercial creditor banks and gained their tentative approval for the prepackaged bankruptcy option, other sources said. Mizuho Corporate Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. are expected to give official replies by Thursday.
Maehara said the government will make an all-out effort to achieve JAL's rehabilitation without any interruption to its operations.
He added the government will issue a message of full support for JAL's turnaround once ETIC compiles the rehabilitation plan.
The government was aiming to clinch approval from the main creditor banks and their pledge to continue financial support for the cash-strapped airline before the ETIC pursues the court-led restructuring.
The government-owned Development Bank of Japan, JAL's biggest creditor bank, has already agreed to the bankruptcy option.
The three commercial banks had earlier sought out-of-court restructuring out of concern they would incur losses from holdings in JAL's preferred shares.
But the sources said they basically accepted the prepackaged bankruptcy because the airline will need access to massive government-guaranteed funds that only ETIC can provide.
ETIC had reportedly planned to dissolve JAL's corporate pension fund if the airline failed to achieve the benefit cuts.
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010
Foreigner suffrage bill said in the offing
Kyodo News
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet plans to submit a bill to the regular Diet session that begins Monday to grant local voting rights to permanent foreign residents, ruling party sources said.
The move, however, will likely draw fire from Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), one of the junior partners of the Democratic Party of Japan, the sources said, while the other partner, the Social Democratic Party, will probably support the bill.
Hatoyama said he believes he can win support from within the ruling bloc.
"While I believe I can gain understanding, this is something we are in the middle of considering within the government now," Hatoyama said Tuesday in front of his official residence.
"It's my understanding that various things are being considered because (this year) marks 100 years since Japan annexed Korea," he added.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said the government is considering the bill as one of those that should be submitted during the 150-day Diet session.
Asked which foreign residents would get the right to vote in local elections, Hirano said, "That is an extremely important (aspect) to point out.
"We will be considering the content of the bill, including that point," he said, adding the government will also carefully consider the constitutional ramifications.
Strong reservations remain within the DPJ-led coalition about giving permanent foreign residents the right to vote, a right DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa — the ruling bloc strongman — also advocates.
Shizuka Kamei, the financial services minister and head of Kokumin Shinto, has said he will oppose the bill.
Tadamori Oshima, secretary general of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, took a cautious stance on the planned legislation.
"Many opinions opposing the move have been issued by prefectural assemblies," he said. "We must debate the matter, while respecting such opinions."
Some critics say people affiliated with North Korea, which lacks diplomatic relations with Japan, should not be given the right to vote in local elections even if permanent residents are granted local suffrage.
Japan does not allow permanent residents with foreign nationalities, including those of Korean descent, to vote despite strong calls from among such residents on the grounds they pay local taxes.
Residents of Korean descent comprise most of the permanent foreign residents because Japan grants special permanent resident status to people from the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan who have lived in Japan from the time of its colonial rule over those territories and their descendants.
This year marks a century since Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula in 1910. The colonial rule ended with Japan's World War II defeat in 1945.
[BUSINESS NEWS]
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010
Daimler eyes alliance with Nissan, Renault
DETROIT (Kyodo) The head of Daimler AG says the German carmaker is considering forming a partnership with Nissan Motor Co. if it can reach a deal on a proposed technological tieup with Renault SA.
"We have confirmed that we are in discussions with Renault. It is not just discussion, but there are other discussions going on as well," Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche said Monday at the North American auto show in Detroit.
"If the discussions (with Renault) would come to any results, then obviously the potential expansion with Nissan is something to consider," he said.
Zetsche said Daimler wants to strike a deal with Renault in the first half of this year.
Nissan and French maker Renault formed a capital tieup in 1999. If Daimler ties up with Nissan, the two are likely to work together on environmentally friendly vehicles, including electric cars, according to industry watchers.
Earlier in the day, Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally said his firm will maintain the current capital and business alliance with Mazda Motor Corp.
"We treasure our relationship with Mazda. It's been very useful and beneficial for both of us even though we had to take down our equity position," Mulally said.
Ford has had an 11 percent equity stake in Mazda since selling part of its shareholding in fall 2008.
The share sale was due to Ford's financial plight amid the recession, Mulally said.
"Our relationship with Mazda will keep going," he added.
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