Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/748968
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2016 South Korean prosecutors have raid- ed the offices of Samsung Electron- ics as part of a probe into the political scandal around President Park Geun- hye. The prosecutors are investigating allegations that the electronics giant gave money to the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of the president. Choi is accused of using their friendship to interfere in politics and solicit business donations. Samsung, the world's largest manufacturer of smartphones, televisions and memory chip is already reeling from the disaster surrounding its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, confirmed that its offices had been raided but gave no further details. The company is suspected of having transferred €2.8 million to a company owned by Choi in Germany. The money was allegedly used to pay for daughter's training as a dressage rider. Park has apologised for her ties to Choi but faces mounting calls to resign. In the latest twist of the scandal that's been rocking South Korea for weeks, prosecutors are investigating allegations that Samsung might have provided €2.8 million to a company co-owned by Choi and her daughter, to bankroll the daughter's equestrian training in Germany. Prosecutors are also reported to have raided the offices of the Korea Equestrian Federation and the Korea Horse Affairs Association. Choi was arrested on 3 November and charged with fraud and abuse of power. Over the past days, tens of thousands of South Koreans have protested in the capital, Seoul, to demand the resignation of President Park over the corruption row. Choi, a long-time friend of Park's, is the daughter of Choi Tae-min, a shadowy quasi-religious leader who was closely linked to Ms Park's father, then-president Park Chung- hee. She is alleged to have pushed businesses to donate millions of dollars to foundations she controlled, helped choose presidential aides, and even picked the president's clothes. Park has since apologised on TV for allowing her long-standing friend inappropriate access to government policy-making. The president admitted she had let Choi edit her speeches. Park has already replaced her prime minster, reshuffled her cabinet and dismissed several aides, but there are growing calls for her resignation or impeachment. Park said she had "put too much faith" in her friendship with Choi. The scandal has left Park with an approval rating of just 5%. Choo Mi-ae, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said she did not believe the apology was genuine and called on her to accept a new prime minister recommended by parliament. Park became her country's first female president when she was elected in a close-run contest in December 2012. 12 Regular market closed – 8/11/2016 Symbol Code Volume Traded Value Traded Trades High Price Low Price Open Price Close Price Change s BOV 33,865 78,634.82 15 2.329 2.311 2.320 2.329 0.009 FIM 57,000 50,730.00 3 0.890 0.890 0.890 0.890 -0.005 GO 8,644 27,804.87 6 3.230 3.200 3.200 3.230 0.011 HSB 6,297 11,529.51 2 1.831 1.830 1.831 1.830 0.030 MDS 1,000 1,490.00 1 1.490 1.490 1.490 1.490 -0.010 MIA 1,000 4,030.00 2 4.030 4.030 4.030 4.030 0.010 MMS 8,492 17,833.20 2 2.100 2.100 2.100 2.100 0.060 RS2 2,480 3,963.04 1 1.598 1.598 1.598 1.598 0.000 G17C 91,000 94,794.70 3 104.170 104.170 104.170 104.170 -0.010 G18A 10,483 11,848.94 2 113.030 113.030 113.030 113.030 -0.050 G19A 23,994 28,382.51 2 118.290 118.290 118.290 118.290 -0.020 G20A 23,527 27,792.45 1 118.130 118.130 118.130 118.130 -0.030 G20B 4,000 4,618.40 1 115.460 115.460 115.460 115.460 -0.020 G21A 100,000 122,680.00 2 122.680 122.680 122.680 122.680 -0.040 G22A 20,732 26,393.91 2 127.310 127.310 127.310 127.310 -0.050 G23A 16,307 21,707.88 2 133.120 133.120 133.120 133.120 -0.390 G28A 5,000 7,005.00 1 140.100 140.100 140.100 140.100 0.030 G28B 131,300 179,974.29 4 137.130 137.030 137.030 137.130 0.240 G29A 37,000 53,960.80 2 145.840 145.840 145.840 145.840 -0.880 G30A 21,000 31,354.40 3 149.340 149.240 149.240 149.340 0.080 G31A 94,600 142,981.82 4 151.170 151.070 151.070 151.170 0.050 G32A 90,100 130,843.22 6 145.220 145.220 145.220 145.220 0.030 G32B 14,000 19,973.80 2 142.670 142.670 142.670 142.670 -0.040 G33A 71,000 100,441.70 5 141.470 141.460 141.460 141.470 0.140 G34A 239,500 332,809.20 7 138.960 138.960 138.960 138.960 0.280 G36A 89,000 99,813.50 5 112.150 112.150 112.150 112.150 -0.020 G39AA 4,924,400 5,235,611.58 119 107.010 106.000 106.000 107.010 4.510 G40A 170,100 208,894.07 16 122.980 122.180 122.180 122.930 0.750 G41AA 775,000 861,272.31 38 111.250 110.570 110.570 111.180 0.610 6PM25 6,000 6,574.80 1 109.580 109.580 109.580 109.580 0.000 BV19A 4,000 4,240.00 1 106.000 106.000 106.000 106.000 0.000 BV19B 42,700 44,070.67 1 103.210 103.210 103.210 103.210 0.000 CB21A 7,000 7,280.00 1 104.000 104.000 104.000 104.000 3.000 CF26A 10,000 10,324.00 1 103.240 103.240 103.240 103.240 -0.010 DF26A 5,000 5,149.50 1 102.990 102.990 102.990 102.990 0.970 HB17A 10,000 10,100.00 1 101.000 101.000 101.000 101.000 0.000 HP25A 7,000 7,280.00 3 104.000 104.000 104.000 104.000 0.000 IH20A 500 500.00 1 100.000 100.000 100.000 100.000 -2.000 IH25A 11,700 12,172.54 4 104.100 103.980 104.100 103.980 -0.020 IH26A 12,900 13,158.00 3 102.000 102.000 102.000 102.000 -0.500 MB19A 9,000 10,170.00 1 113.000 113.000 113.000 113.000 0.000 MD26A 6,000 6,210.60 1 103.510 103.510 103.510 103.510 -0.490 MI20A 26,300 26,321.00 3 101.000 100.000 101.000 100.000 -3.490 MI21A 14,500 14,500.00 2 100.000 100.000 100.000 100.000 0.000 MM26A 10,000 10,050.00 2 100.500 100.500 100.500 100.500 0.500 PT24A 25,000 25,750.00 3 103.000 103.000 103.000 103.000 0.000 Market Summary as at November 8, 2016 Equity Official List Session State ................................................................... Market Closed Number of trades ............................................................. 289 Volume Traded ................................................................. 7,278,421 Value of € denominated securities .................................... 8,137,292 Value of US$ denominated securities ................................ 50,730 Value of GBP£ denominated securities .............................. 0.00 Current Index ................................................................... 4,540.595 Previous Index ................................................................. 4,518.700 Change in Index (%) ......................................................... 0.485% 6pm Holdings plc .......................... 0.800 0.00% MaltaPost plc ................................. 1.880 0.00% Bank of Valletta plc ........................ 2.329 0.39% Medserv plc .................................. 1.490 -0.67% FIMBank plc .................................. 0.890 -0.56% Mapfre Middlesea plc .................... 2.100 2.94% GlobalCapital plc ........................... 0.450 0.00% MIDI plc ........................................ 0.340 0.00% GO plc ........................................... 3.230 0.34% Plaza Centres plc ........................... 1.120 0.00% Grand Harbour Marina plc ............. 0.869 0.00% RS2 Software plc............................ 1.598 0.00% HSBC Bank Malta plc ..................... 1.830 1.67% Simonds Farsons Cisk plc ............... 6.500 0.00% International Hotel Investments plc 0.659 0.00% Tigné Mall plc ................................ 1.080 0.00% Island Hotels Group Holdings plc ... 1.101 0.00% Pefaco International plc ................. 2.240 0.00% Lombard Bank Malta plc ................ 2.180 0.00% Santumas Shareholdings plc ......... 2.350 0.00% Malita Investments plc ................... 0.865 0.00% Malta Properties Company plc ........ 0.600 0.00% Malta International Airport plc ....... 4.030 0.25% œ MSE Index Business Today Electronics giant suspected of secretly funding sports activities of daughter of South Korean president's confidante Samsung raided in political corruption probe Bank of England sets new rules to end bailouts British banks should no longer be "too big to fail", under revised rules announced by the Bank of England. The regulations will force banks to hold enough money from their investors to absorb losses without help from the taxpayer. If any bank does face collapse, the funds will be spent to finance an orderly wind-down. Governor Mark Carney said "This policy is a significant milestone on the journey to end 'too big to fail' in the UK." "The implementation of [the rules] will ensure that banks that provide essential economic functions hold sufficient resources to be resolved in an orderly way, without recourse to public funds, and whilst allowing households and businesses to continue to access the services they need," he said. About 400 banks and building societies will have to hold a collective cushion of £223 billion, raised by selling bonds (glorified IOUs) to investors, but the current shortfall is estimated at only £20 billion. However, the plan which the Bank of England presented on Tuesday was less onerous than its original suggestions Originally the BoE said the rule should apply to all banks with more than 40,000 accounts. On Tuesday, it amended the scope to say banks operating up to 80,000 accounts could be eligible for lighter treatment. Moreover, those banks which come under the scope of the new rule will have an extra two years until 2022 to fully comply. The Bank of England set interim targets for 2020, which will be reviewed to see if Britain's departure from the European Union has had any impact on regulation more broadly. The total shortfall across the banking sector at the end of last December was a net 20 billion pounds, down from 27 billion a year earlier. This does not take into account the $75 billion gross in bonds issued so far in 2016. The Bank of England was setting out new rules for how 400 banks and building societies will in total have to hold an additional 223 billion pound cushion of loss- absorbing bonds. Under the rules, banks will have to issue bonds that can be written down to top up depleted core capital buffers in the event of a failure, thereby giving regulators time to close or restructure the bank in an orderly way and avoid the market mayhem of Lehman Brothers' 2008 crash.