August 23, 98 A NEW round of confidential visits are made to Hong Kong's textile factories by United States customs officials, to check up on alleged illegal transshipments of mainland-made textiles into the US using SAR quotas. More Hong Kong companies are expected to be blacklisted, according to trade lawyers.(SCMP) DESPITE the weekend launching of nine 2,903-square-foot Broadwood Park luxury flats in Happy Valley - at prices about 50 per cent below last year's July peak - Hysan Development receives only six bids. Agents doubt whether the bids match the asking prices of between $5,500 and $6,800. (SCMP) August 24, 98 ADDRESSING market concerns that people who have access to information pertaining to the Government's stock-market intervention may be tempted to conduct insider trading, a Hong Kong Monetary Authority spokesman says that, since the authority's inception in 1993, its employees have been subject to strict investment limitations.
They are also required to declare their investment holdings. (Economic Times) RETAIL sales have plunged 16.4 per cent year on year to $15.9 billion in June, due to poor consumer sentiment amid the recession.
Department stores have fared the worst, plummeting 29 per cent year on year.
Industry representatives say the sharp fall in sales are within expectation, as spending peaked last year in June.(SCMP) IN a note to clients suggesting they reduce their share holdings when the stock index rises, Merrill Lynch says the Government's intervention in the will probably fail and the dollar peg should be floated.
It says the peg prolongs high interest rates and scares long-term investors away with 'artificial pricing'. (SCMP) August 25, 98 FORMER Allied Group chairman Lee Ming-tee is arrested while attempting to cross the border to the mainland.
Lee is the key figure in the most expensive corporate probe of a locally listed company, costing taxpayers $46 million.
