Asian Financial Crisis

J.P. Morgan & Co. filed a lawsuit against two large Korean banks in federal court in New York Friday, demanding $300 million in payment on two complex derivatives contracts.

The legal action by Morgan came only hours after one of the Korean financial houses involved — S.K. Securities — sued the U.S. investment bank in a court in Seoul seeking to block payments on the contracts. Read the rest of this entry »

Philippine President Fidel Ramos on Saturday signed a 495.7 billion peso ($12.4 billion) national budget for this year, vetoing several appropriations introduced by the Congress.

`I realise the efforts that Congress had put to improve our proposal for 1998’s budget. However, I too have a responsibility… to ensure efficiency management and implementation of our programmes,” Ramos said before congressional leaders. Read the rest of this entry »

Indonesian national police have put an effective ban on mass rallies during voting by the country’s electoral college for a president and vice-president, local media reported on Saturday.

The Jakarta Post quoted national police spokesman Brigadier-General Da’i Backtiar as “advising” against rallies for the week before and week after the March 1-11 session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR).

He said the police would not issue permits for rallies during the February 22-March 18 period. Read the rest of this entry »