Month: May 2014

By Adam Jourdan and Kazunori Takada SHANGHAI (Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline Plc executive Mark Reilly had little inkling he would be charged with leading a network of corruption in China's pharmaceutical industry, two sources with ties to the businessman and knowledge of the investigation said. The allegations against the Briton, who as GSK's China head was the firm's legal representative in the country, are the most serious charges ever laid against a foreign national for corporate corruption in China, lawyers said. \"The fact that Mark's name was on the list of people charged was definitely a surprise,\" said a source with direct knowledge of the investigation. Britain's biggest drugmaker said in a statement on Wednesday that the allegations were \"deeply concerning\" and it hoped to \"reach a resolution\" that would enable it to continue to operate in China, a key growth market for Western pharmaceutical giants.

By Ritsuko Ando TOKYO (Reuters) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to outline plans to improve corporate governance as part of an updated economic strategy next month, aiming to overturn Japan's reputation for neglecting shareholders and salvage his reform credentials. The draft plans, which face resistance from Japan's largest business lobby, would push companies to appoint more outside directors as part of a package aimed in part at winning back overseas investors who have turned skeptical of Abe's ability to push through politically sensitive reforms on labor and trade. Currently, Japanese firms are not required to have independent directors. \"There is a lot of interest in this, especially from outside Japan,\" said Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) member Masahiko Shibayama, who heads a group preparing such reforms, adding that he hoped the June announcement would deliver \"powerful pitches\" on corporate governance as well as reforms of Japan's public pension fund.

By Cris Chinaka HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe's 90-year-old President Robert Mugabe is in Singapore for \"another routine eye check-up\", his spokesman said on Thursday, playing down concerns about the health of the veteran African leader who has no obvious successor. Mugabe had a cataract operation in Singapore on the eve of his 90th birthday in February, officials said, and his visits to the southeastern Asian state have become more frequent over the last couple of years amid fears for his health. Spokesman George Charamba said Mugabe – who denies he has prostate cancer or any other serious illness – would be away for a week and would undergo a \"routine eye check-up following a recent procedure on the same\". Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa are seen as the front-runners, but Mugabe, Africa's oldest president, recently confirmed that the contest was open to other ZANU-PF leaders as well.

By Jean-Baptiste Vey and Benjamin Mallet PARIS (Reuters) – The French government has issued a decree allowing it to block foreign takeovers of French firms in \"strategic\" sectors, throwing up a potential roadblock to General Electric's $16.9 billion bid for Alstom's energy assets. Any such acquisition will now need the approval of the Economy Minister, the decree published in France's Official Journal said. The current minister, Arnaud Montebourg, has openly criticized the proposed Alstom-GE deal for fear of the impact on French jobs and prestige, and has instead advocated a European tie-up with Germany's Siemens . \"With this new law, the risk that GE will reconsider its position increases, since additional concessions on a GE-Alstom deal will be sought by the French government to gain broader electorate support,\" Berenberg analysts said in a research note, adding it opened the door for an alternative deal with Siemens.

New data showing an experimental AstraZeneca lung cancer drug shrank tumors in more than half of patients gives the British group fresh ammunition to argue that Pfizer's takeover offer undervalues it substantially. Britain's second-biggest drugmaker has rejected a $106 billion approach from its U.S. rival Pfizer, arguing that it has a bright future as an independent firm due to a promising pipeline of cancer and other drugs. Its new lung cancer drug, known as AZD9291, targets a genetic mutation that helps tumors evade current treatments. AstraZeneca believes it could sell as much as $3 billion a year.