LATE NEWS : Seized assets may be returned

LATE NEWS : Seized assets may be returned.

A total of Bt495 million in assets seized from former executives of the defunct First Bangkok City Bank are likely to be returned to their owners if its former chairman, Manoch Karnchanachaya, former president, Uthai Akarapattanakul, and former vice president, Phakinee Suwanphakdee, fail to report themselves to prosecutors today and are not detained by next Friday, says the Bank of Thailand.

Four executives from the defunct bank were accused of fraud on credit approval worth of Bt4.2 billion to Sangsanguan Panich Partnership. One of them, Suthep Charoenpornpanichkul, was a partner in Sangsanguan Panich. - The Nation.

Exemption asked

IRPC (formerly TPI) plans to ask the Bank of Thailand (BOT) for exemption from the 30-per-cent reserve measure, introduced recently to curb appreciation of the baht.

CEO Piti Yimprasert said the company had to repay debts of US$800 million (Bt28.87 billion) by the end of September and must shoulder more interest because of the BOT's measure. - The Nation.

Eco-cars

Auto-makers have until March to submit proposals to manufacture compact "eco-cars" to the Industry Ministry, says Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras.

He said that so far, six manufacturers had unofficially proposed the manufacture of the small cars. - The Nation.

Land probe

The Bank of Thailand has received a report from the Assets Examination Committee on its investigation into the purchase of a land plot on Ratchadaphisek Road from the Finance Ministry. It says a meeting of the Financial Institutions Development Fund will be held as soon as possible to consider the report's conclusions. - The Nation.

Japan tractors

Iseki, a Japanese manufacturer of farming machinery, is launching a serious offensive in Thailand, reports The Nikkei.

Iseki has signed a distributorship agreement with Thai company Aymak, which is opening about 100 farm-equipment sales outlets throughout the country. - The Nation.

Pipeline income

Thai Petroleum Pipeline, an oil-pipeline transmission firm, has announced total revenues of Bt1.9 billion for last year, up 40 per cent from 2005.

However, it reported a net loss of Bt170 million from operations in 2006. Managing director Chakchai Balee said the company had a huge loan to finance pipeline construction. - The Nation.

DHL appointee

Express and logistics firm DHL has appointed Herbert Vongpusanachai to the post of Indochina regional manager. He was previously Thailand country manager. - The Nation.

The Nation
Thursday January 11, 2007