HK, Singapore aiming to ease deposit protection

Hong Kong plans to work with Singapore and Malaysia to simultaneously withdraw 100 percent protection of bank deposits to ensure investors don't move their money abroad.

The governments plan to end full bank-deposit guarantees by the end of 2010, Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang told reporters in Singapore after meeting officials from the two countries, according to a government transcript released late Wednesday.

"If we were to do it together, we could enhance the certainty, the stability factor in the region," Tsang said in the transcript.

Taifook shares rise as parent may sell stake

Taifook Securities Group Ltd, a Hong Kong-based brokerage controlled by the family of billionaire Cheng Yu-tung, rose as much as 23 percent, its biggest intra-day gain since August 20, 2007, after saying its parent company may sell its stake. The stock advanced 19 percent to HK$4.78 at 10:10 am local time.

NWS Holdings Ltd, which owns 61.9 percent of Taifook, may sell part or all of its holdings in the company, Taifook said in a statement to Hong Kong's stock exchange late Wednesday. Hong Kong's Oriental Daily News yesterday reported China Construction Bank Corp is in talks to buy the stake, citing unidentified people.

Yu Baoyue, a Beijing-based spokesman for Construction Bank, said in an interview that the report was "market speculation" and that he is "not aware of anything to be disclosed".

William Lee, Taifook's chief operating officer, declined to comment on the Oriental Daily report.

Swire Pacific may list property unit next year

Swire Pacific Ltd plans to list its property unit next year, the Sing Tao Daily News reported, without saying where it obtained the information.

The company last week invited investment banks to provide proposals for the listing by yesterday, the Hong Kong-based Chinese-language newspaper said. Swire Pacific said November 2 that it may seek a separate listing for its property unit.

Stocks fall on valuations, Wen "bumpy" recovery call

Hong Kong stocks fell, dragging the Hang Seng Index from a 15-month high, as investors judged valuations to be excessive and China's Premier Wen Jiabao warned of a "slow and bumpy" global economic recovery.

Bank of China Ltd, the nation's third-largest bank by market value, slid 2.3 percent. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, China's largest chipmaker, declined 7.6 percent.

The Hang Seng Index slid 1 percent to 22,397.57, having closed Wednesday at the highest level since August 1, 2008. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks so-called H-shares of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong, declined 1 percent to 13,324.99.

Galaxy to lock up funding for Macao resort, CFO says

Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd, the casino operator part-owned by Permira Advisers LLP, will have financing for its Mega Resort project in Macao "locked up" this year, said Chief Financial Officer Robert Drake.

The company said it will explore as many options as it can in its efforts to secure financing for the HK$14.1 billion ($1.8 billion) casino resort, Drake said in a Hong Kong briefing yesterday. He declined to say in an interview whether the funds will be raised through loans, or sales of shares or bonds.

China Daily/Agencies

(HK Edition 11/13/2009 page3)