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American Electric Power and Allegheny Energy said yesterday that they have filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve a rate formula to recover the cost of building a $1.8 billion, 290-mile-long, extra-high-voltage transmission line from West Virginia to Frederick.

CHINESE insurers' investments rose 60 percent in the first 11 months due to a broader investment scope, the industry watchdog said yesterday. Insurance investments rose to 1.83 trillion yuan (US$245.6 billion) through November, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said yesterday on its Website. China has allowed 20 insurers to invest overseas, mainly in the Hong Kong stock market, under the qualified domestic institutional investor scheme, the top insurance regulator said in November. Insurers including Ping An, China Life, Taikang, Sino Life and American International Assurance have won the go-ahead to invest in the Hong Kong market. The investments are mainly limited to H-shares and red chips. H-shares are the shares of Chinese mainland companies and red chips are shares of overseas-incorporated companies whose main business is derived from the mainland. In July, China raised the limit for domestic insurers to invest in overseas stocks and bonds from five percent to

CHINA'S military enterprises are encouraged to conduct group listings and are expected to raise between 50 billion yuan (US$6.75 billion) and 60 billion yuan from public share sales by the end of 2010, a senior official said. The majority of these enterprises will complete their reform to turn into shareholding companies in five years, which paves the way to trade shares publicly, said Wu Fenglai, head of the Reform Department under China's Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense. In his article published yesterday in the China Securities Journal, Wu noted that military enterprises, except wholly state-owned ones, welcome foreign investment. Depending on their influence in national security, the country's military enterprises are divided into wholly state-owned, state-controlled and state-invested. "Most of China's military enterprises are allowed to source funds from the capital market and foreign investors," said Wu. China issued a new

SANYO Electric Co, the Japanese electronics maker targeting its first profit in four years, may have its shares removed from the Tokyo Stock Exchange after misstating six years of financial results. The shares are on watch for possible delisting, the exchange said on its Website after Osaka-based Sanyo disclosed yesterday it understated losses from April 2000 to March 2006. Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended Sanyo be fined 8.3 million yen (US$72,650), Bloomberg News said. The misstatements may hamper recovery efforts by a company that had to be bailed out by creditors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc last year. Sanyo last month said it plans to invest 350 billion yen to focus on operations such as rechargeable batteries and cells that convert sunlight into energy. "Sanyo would have to further reorganize its business" if the shares become delisted, said Naoki Fujiwara, who helps oversee US$3.2 billion as chief fund manager at Shinkin

HARRAH'S Entertainment Inc has received final regulatory approval needed to complete the largest casino buyout ever, a year after Apollo Management LP and TPG Inc agreed to the US$17.1 billion purchase. The National Indian Gaming Commission approved the acquisition, removing the last regulatory hurdle to the purchase, Las Vegas-based Harrah's said in a statement. The transaction will be completed in early 2008, the company said. Harrah's, the world's largest casino company, received permission from Illinois, Nevada, Indiana and six other regulators in the states where it operates. The buyout firms agreed in December 2006 to acquire Harrah's for US$90 a share, attracted by its real-estate holdings and ability to generate cash, according to Bloomberg News. Indian approval was needed because Harrah's runs tribal casinos. Founded in 1937 in Reno, Nevada, Harrah's owns the Bally's, Caesars and Flamingo casinos in Las Vegas as part of its holdings, most of which are in the United

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. has tentatively cleared the last remaining regulatory hurdle to the largest casino buyout ever. Harrah's said Monday that the National Indian Gaming Commission has approved the company's $17.7 billion purchase by private equity buyers Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group, pending final commission review. The conditional approval means Harrah's can go forward with the deal, which is expected to close in early 2008. Harrah's and the buyers received the go-ahead for the deal last week from the Nevada Gaming Commission, capping a 10-week campaign to obtain approvals from state gambling regulators in eight states, including Iowa and Missouri. Indian Gaming Commission approval is needed because Harrah's operates several tribal casinos as well. Harrah's used to manage a casino north of Topeka before the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe took over operations in July. Harrah's, which had nearly $10 billion in revenue last year, operates more than 50 casinos including Caesars Palace and the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas and Bally's in Atlantic City.

NANYANG Commercial Bank plans to at least double its network on the Chinese mainland in two years, after it opened its local incorporation yesterday to fully tap the mainland market. The bank said in Shanghai yesterday it would offer unlimited yuan services. The Hong Kong-based bank gained the approval to set up the local incorporation with a registered capital of 2.5 billion yuan (US$341 million) from the China Banking Regulatory Commission on December 4. The local incorporation was set up on December 14. Nanyang Commercial Bank has six branches and one sub-branch on the Chinese mainland in cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dalian and Haikou. "Network expansion is a key part of the local incorporation's business development," a bank spokesman said. He said the bank would first focus on major cities in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and coastal areas in the geographic expansion. It will also seek opportunities to open outlets in

THE management of a second batch of power generating assets owned by State Grid Corp of China has been transferred to electricity producers, paving way for an eventual sale and making the firm a pure distributor as part of an industry reform. As of Sunday, the power-producing companies are responsible for safety operations and management of eight power plants in which State Grid owned a combined equity generating capacity of 6.47 gigawatts. The State Electricity Regulatory Commission said yesterday this marks the completion of the "main work" in the asset disposal. Other areas still to be done include deal signing, transaction and registration. State Grid, China's dominant power distributor, retained certain generating assets in 2002 during the breakup of the former State Power Corp into five national power producers and two grid operators. It had completed the sale of combined 10.8GW in the first phase of the sale in May to 31 companies, raising 18.7 billion yuan

NANYANG Commercial Bank plans to at least double its network on the Chinese mainland in two years after it opened its local incorporation today. Nanyang Commercial Bank (China) Ltd opened in Shanghai yesterday to offer unlimited yuan services to Chinese. The Hong Kong-based bank gained approval to set up the local incorporation with a registered capital of 2.5 billion yuan (US$341 million) from the China Banking Regulatory Commission on December 4. Nanyang Commercial Bank has six branches and one sub-branch on the Chinese mainland in Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dalian, Haikou and Shanghai. "Network expansion is a key part of the local incorporation's business development," the bank said. The bank will first focus on major cities in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and the coastal area. It will also seek other opportunities in other areas. The bank will focus on personal financial planning products and services in retail banking. In corporate banking,

MORGAN Stanley, the second-biggest United States securities firm, awarded Co-President Walid Chammah an US$8.9 million stock bonus for 2007, the highest among the firm's executives after Chief Executive Officer John Mack abstained from a year-end award. Chammah, 53, was granted 173,679 restricted shares on Thursday, when the stock closed at US$51.37, the New York-based company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Co-President James Gorman, 49, was awarded 155,380 restricted shares valued at US$7.98 million. The company didn't disclose any cash payments in Friday's filings, Bloomberg News reported. Mack, who received US$40 million last year, is forgoing a 2007 bonus after the firm wrote down US$9.4 billion in debt securities during the fourth quarter and reported its first loss. Mack, 63, last month ousted Zoe Cruz, the co-president who oversaw the securities unit, and demoted trading chief Neal Shear. Cruz, 52, and Shear, 53, were the highest-paid

WITH US antitrust clearance for its DoubleClick purchase, Google's focus now turns to European regulators, who are expected to be more critical of the top search engine linking up with a market leader in online advertising. The proposed US$3.1-billion transaction, which is strongly opposed by privacy advocates, cannot be completed without approval from the European Commission, whose review deadline is April 2. The Federal Trade Commission said that the deal would not significantly lessen competition in the online advertising market, rebuffing complaints from Microsoft Corp and AT&T Inc that it would give Google a dominant position. "The FTC's strong support sends a clear message - this acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers," Eric Schmidt, Google Inc's chief executive, said. "We hope that the European Commission will soon reach the same conclusion." The European Commission declined to comment on the FTC's decision, spokesman

After an eight-month investigation, the Federal Trade Commission gave the green light to Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of Web ad firm DoubleClick. The proposed merger still needs the approval of European regulators, who have until April 2 to...

The Federal Trade Commission Thursday approved Google's pending $3.1 billion merger with DoubleClick, ruling that the deal isn't likely to harm competition in online advertising or otherwise have an adverse impact on consumers.

WASHINGTON–The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has approved Google's $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick, saying the much-criticized deal did not threaten competition in Internet advertising.

Federal antitrust regulators approved Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick Inc. Thursday, removing a key barrier to the marriage of two online advertising giants. In a 4-1 vote, the Federal Trade Commission closed its high-profile, eight-...

Despite opposition from some consumer groups and privacy advocates, as well as Google rival Microsoft, the Federal Trade Commission this morning approved Google's $3.1 billion merger with DoubleClick.

The Federal Trade Commission approved Google's proposed $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick, clearing the way for what competitors say will be a dominating presence in the online-advertising market.

The FTC's decision brings the search giant one step closer to closing the $3.1 billion deal, but it still must face scrutiny from the European Commission.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday it approved Google's proposed $3.1 billion purchase of advertising rival DoubleClick.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday morning that it has closed its investigation into Google's proposed buyout of DoubleClick. In a statement, the agency said it will not seek to block the $3.1 billion acquisition after concluding - in a 4-1 vote - that the deal "is unlikely to substantially lessen competition." Noting that the deal has raised concerns about consumer privacy, the FTC "observed that such issues are not unique to Google and DoubleClick, and extend to the entire online advertising marketplace," the statement read.