A plan by Jeffrey Koo Jnr, head of Taipei-based ChinaTrust Charity Foundation, to buy Hong Kong-based Next Media Group's media assets in Taiwan for NT$17.5 billion (HK$4.67 billion) has hit a snag. Koo has been warned against taking more than a 20 per cent stake. The island's Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday said Koo was not allowed to control, lead or manage the Next Media assets in Taiwan, or even sign a deal for their purchase, given his links to ChinaTrust Financial Holding. Under Taiwanese law, no financial business can invest in cross-border production, including newspaper production. The deal is supposed to be signed on Saturday. The commission said Koo had committed to publicly explaining how he could resolve the problem. William Wong, chairman of the Formosa Group and one of the deal's investors, is expected to hold an internal meeting to discuss the issue today. Lawrence Chung