Finansa expands into RI

Finansa expands into RI

JP/11/Colbox

Finansa expands into RI

JAKARTA (JP): Bangkok-based financial institution Finansa
Group announced on Thursday the acquisition of PT Trade Ezy
Securities, a member of the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges,
as part of its regional expansion.

The company said the securities company, formerly owned by the
Indonesian subsidiary of Paribas Asia Equity, would be named PT
Finansa Indonesia.

Finansa, which manages three private equity funds investing in
Southeast Asia, will team up with Renee Zecha, former president
of UBS Warburg, in Indonesia to run the securities firm.

The company said it would provide financial advisory,
investment banking, debt trading as well as stock broking through
its Indonesian subsidiary.(hen)

;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Taiwan-Indonesia
RI suspends Taiwan flights
JP/11/Colbox

RI suspends Taiwan flights

TAIPEI (AFP): Indonesia has announced a suspension of
chartered flight services by Taiwan's Mandarin Airlines after
aviation negotiations between the two governments became
deadlocked, the airline said Wednesday.

Mandarin, a subsidiary of Taipei-based China Airlines, would
stop its twice-weekly chartered passenger flights between
Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan and Indonesia's resort island of
Bali from Thursday, the company said in a statement.

The carrier had served the route since February with a Boeing
737-800, it said.

Its competitor UNI Airway from Taiwan, which also runs a
twice-weekly chartered service on the same route, might also have
to stop its flights in July.

"The chartered flight permission (from Indonesia) is given on
a monthly basis...UNI has not received the permit for July," said
a UNI spokeswoman.

In negotiations last month between aviation authorities of the
two countries, Indonesia had asked for a reduction in the number
of Taiwanese flights but the request was rejected by Taiwan.

;DJ;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Golden-Cargrill

Golden-Cargill alliance ended
JP/11/Colbox

Golden-Cargill alliance ended

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Golden Agri-Resources Ltd. Wednesday
said it has called off its alliance with Cargill Asia Pacific
Ltd.

"Market-related events in the past six months are the main
reasons," Golden Agri-Resources said in a statement.

As a result, a company called Cargill-Mas Holdings Ltd.,
formed under the alliance, has also been dissolved.

A joint venture between Cargill-Mas Holdings and Seletar
Investments Pte Ltd. has also been terminated, according to the
statement.

Golden Agri-Resources and Cargill Asia Pacific will continue
their activities in the palm oil market segments, the statement
said.

Golden Agri-Resources, a unit of Asia Food & Properties Ltd.,
mainly runs palm oil plantations in Indonesia.

;AP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Aussie-Timor
Aussie sets back Timor talk
JP/11/Colbox

Aussie sets back Timor talk

DARWIN, Australia (AP): Talks on dividing production from oil
fields under the sea separating Australia and East Timor may not
be completed ahead of a crucial mid-July deadline after Canberra
raised new issues, a negotiator for East Timor said Wednesday.

U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith, who has been appointed by the
United Nations to negotiate on East Timor's behalf, declined to
detail the issues.

Negotiations are due to resume next week in Canberra.

"We were close to reaching and agreement; we had a text of
which only a couple of items were unresolved and there was a path
to resolve them," Galbraith told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
radio.

"But since then, some new issues have been introduced by the
Australian side and that's making it more difficult," he said.

Galbraith confirmed Australia's offer to East Timor of a 85-15
revenue split from the oil reserves was one issue that had been
on track to resolution. East Timor wants a 90-10 split.

;REUTERS;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Malaysia-palm
KL palm oil ends lower
JP/11/Colbox

KL palm oil ends lower

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian palm oil failed to sustain
early gains and closed lower in directionless trade on Wednesday
as players ignored market-friendly export data for the first 20
days of June.

"The SGS figures were ignored by the market, and I am sure any
fresh crop data will face a similar fate," a trader said.

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance Malaysia Sdn
Bhd (SGS) said Malaysian palm oil exports stood at 644,724 tons
in June 1-20 against 573,375 in the same period in May.

At the close on Wednesday, the new benchmark third-month
September contract was down six ringgit at 815 ringgit ($214.47)
a ton after trading as high as 833 ringgit.

Volume was 1,152 lots.

In the physical sector, June crude palm oil (CPO) for the
southern and central regions was offered at 800 ringgit a ton
against bids at 795. Trades were done at 805 for both sides.

Among refined products, July RBD palm oil was offered at
$232.50 a ton FOB and August at $235.

There were offers for July RBD olein at $247.50 and August at
$250. RBD palm stearin was offered at $185 and June palm fatty
acid distillate at $150.

;REUTERS;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Europe-gold

Gold drifts lower in Europe
JP/11/Gold

Gold drifts lower in Europe

LONDON (Reuters): Gold drifted lower on Wednesday morning,
nudged lower by easing lending rates and the strong dollar, but
was expected to ward off any excessive pressure, traders said.

"The last few days have had a steadier feel to them, this may
be a case of a bit of consolidation," one said.

Spot gold held at $272.35/272.85 a troy ounce at 0944 GMT,
against its last close at $273.40/273.90 in New York on Tuesday.

Silver was pitted at $4.41/4.43 a troy ounce on Wednesday
morning -- unchanged from its last close -- and showed no signs
of budging as gold sleepily crawled lower.

Activity in the platinum group metals was also slow, with only
palladium showing any signs of life.

Spot palladium was quoted at $611.00/621.00 at 0957 GMT, up
from $607.00/617.00 at the last New York close and down slightly
from its morning fixing of $618.00.

In the meantime, platinum remained sidelined, quoted at
$578.00/583.00, unchanged from its last close in New York.

;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Aviation-Boeing
Boeing, Mitsubishi tie up
JP/11/Colbox

Boeing, Mitsubishi tie up

LE BOURGET, France (AFP): US aircraft giant Boeing said on
Wednesday it has struck a strategic alliance in the aerospace
sector with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan.

Boeing said in a statement at the Paris Air Show that the
alliance covered space-based communications, air traffic
management, multimedia, navigation, space and communications
services, launch services and space infrastructure markets.

It said the agreement included up to six launches of the
Boeing Delta rocket which lifts satellites into geostationary
transfer orbit and confirmed the Boeing Delta team as
Mitsubishi's preferred non-Japanese launch service provider for
satellites.

They said the new launch service was expected to be finalized
later this year.

The general manager of Mitsubishi's space systems division,
Hiroshi Kimura, said the companies wanted to benefit from new
opportunities in the areas of air traffic management systems, the
application of new radar systems, space-based broadband
communication and Internet services for multimedia business
applications.

;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Andersen-penalty
Arthur Anderson pays penalty
JP/11/Colbox

Arthur Anderson pays penalty

WASHINGTON (AFP): The US accountancy firm Arthur Andersen has
paid a US$7 million (8.2-million-euro) penalty to end a Security
and Exchange Commission probe into charges it falsified audits
for Waste Management Inc. to protect lucrative business
relations.

Announced Tuesday, the penalty was the biggest ever paid by
one of the world's top five accountancy firms.

The US financial watchdog, the SEC, suspected that Arthur
Andersen, and four of its current and former partners, knowingly
ignored irregular accounting practices by Waste Management that
inflated its profit levels.

Arthur Andersen has neither acknowledged nor denied any
wrongdoing.

The SEC said that between 1992 and 1996 Waste Management
inflated its pre-tax profits of US$1.48 billion and
underestimated its expenses by over $148 million -- a state of
affairs the SEC said Arthur Andersen could hardly overlook.