Business Digest, December 7, 2012

3 directors from HKEx join reduced LME board

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chairman Chow Chung-kong, chief executive Charles Li Xiaojia and head of market development Romnesh Lamba will join the board of London Metal Exchange Holdings after HKEx's takeover was completed yesterday after Britain's High Court gave its approval. LME chief executive Martin Abbott and chairman Brian Bender remain directors. The 10 other LME directors resigned. Enoch Yiu

European Commission to review merger rules

The European Commission will seek to review merger rules next year in search of changes that could reduce tax evasion and fraud, an action plan released yesterday shows. The commission will also call for common anti-abuse standards to prevent firms from using an "artificial arrangement" to avoid taxes. Bloomberg

Carmakers report stronger sales

SAIC Motor, China's biggest carmaker, said its sales rose 16.9 per cent last month from a year earlier to 420,022 cars. Geely Automobile reported that its domestic sales continued to recover last month, when more than 43,200 units were sold, a year-on-year increase of 11 per cent. Sophie Yu

AIA's shares drop as shareholder cashes out

AIA shares fell for the fourth day in five in Hong Kong after Mount Swettenham Investments, a unit of Malaysian state investment firm Khazanah Nasional, sold its entire stake for US$356 million, taking advantage of a 15 per cent rally in the insurer's stock in the past three months. Bloomberg

HK-listed ETF's quota increased by 5b yuan

China Asset Management (Hong Kong) said it has been given a further five billion yuan (HK$6.2 billion) quota under the renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor scheme by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange for its yuan CSI 300 Index exchange-traded fund listed in Hong Kong. Reuters