European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 02, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes Money matters Friday december 2,1994 today s rates f following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.61 dutch Guilder. 1.71 German Mark. 1.53 note the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar. Following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the  Dollar to foreign Curren cies i. Austrian Schilling. 11.0365 Bahrain Dinar. 0.37675 belgian franc .32.27 British Pound. 1.5672 Canadian Dollar. 1.3755 danish Krone. 6.1315 dutch Guilder. 1.757 French franc. 5.378 German Mark. 1.5685 greek drachma 241.85 italian lira. 1,610.91 Kuwait Dinar. 0.29925 norwegian Krone. 6.8184 portuguese escudo. 160.20 saudi rial 3.7504 Spanish peseta. 130.75 Swiss franc. 1.3255 turkish lira. 36,450.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $381.20 an ounce Silver quote $4.92 an ounce sources merchants National Bank & Trust  the associated press new York Exchange new York a sales 4 . Price and net change of the 15 most Active new York Stock Exchange issues trading wednesday. -. Nattel Meads  Compaq t. Merck Chrysler . Sep Accas. Walmart Micro Techi Motorola Moo record Gen motor Philllp morals gentle i a glum last  6,268,000 53 Ivi 3,966,600 39v -1w 3.745,100 37v unch3,559,000 48v4 a 3,541,200 65/16 vh3,135,900 49ft unch 2,632,100 2,584,3002,4.75.700 .2,388,400 2,074,6002,067,000 2,02i500 ism 2,012,4001,896,500 16% v23ft 14 41 v4 h 56h h 17v unch38v a 59v4 h 46 h70h unch american Exchange new York a sales closing Price and net change of the 10 most Active american Stock Exchange issues trading nationally wednesday.--.  volume last  1,596,800 12h unch us Briosci 1,024,600.8 4 v4echobay 872,500 10h h Royal Oak " 675,900 35/16 it Nava Cine. 572.200 11 h Char mod507,500 22vt it Lacomb " 473,200 3bh h Viacom vat 394,200 1 7/16  by times 368,700 1h/16 3/16320,700 23y4 it Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of aver Ages wednesday. Low Clou 3718.37 3739.231443.39 179.54 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks High .3783,30 1458.76180.66 1265.10 1436.40 177,83 1244.36 1251.73 Chinn up 0.68 -up-t.17-upo.13 up 0.56 doing Busin in China Means unexpected risks. A. By Elaine Kurtenbach the associated press Beijing along with the Welcome mat and warm handshakes some unpleasant often costly surprises await foreign firms that invest in China. For Mcdonald a the unexpected came in what amounts to an eviction notice from City officials who the company says promised a 20-year lease on Beijing s choicest Street Corner. For australian businessman James Peng it was being kidnapped from the portuguese Colony of Macao and More than a year s detention in the Southern City of Zhenzhen before being tried on charges of corruption and embezzlement. During the past three years about 20 foreigners or Hong Kong chinese have been imprisoned illegally in China Fol lowing disputes with their chinese Busi Ness partners. Consultants familiar with China say such misfortunes do not necessarily signify a dramatic deterioration in the invest ment environment. They Are however reminders along with inflation averaging More than 20 percent skyrocketing wages a credit crunch bureaucratic hassles and distribution bottlenecks that doing business in China can be perilous albeit profitable. � Many problems Stem from vaguely worded Laws whose interpretation seems arbitrarily suited to the moment. Laws Are not Clear. They Are Broad statements of principle and nothing is fixed said Anne Stevenson Young of the .-China business Council in Beijing. Mcdonald s said it thought it had a firm Legal right to spend 20 years at the intersection of Wang using Street and the Avenue of eternal peace just Down the Street from Tiana men Square when it decided to build its outlet there. The 28,000-Square-foot, two Story restau rant is Mcdonald s largest in the world and one of its most profitable. Mcdonald s has not been officially Noti fied that it must move so it plans to stay put. But Beijing says it like Many other retailers on the Busy Street must make Way for a huge commercial Complex planned by Hong Kong Developer Lika Shing. The fast food giant on monday asked for a meeting with City officials to discuss the Issue. This is not going to scare away foreign investors but it is Likely to make foreign retailers More wary of their property exposure in China said Bob Broadfoot director of the economic and political risk consultancy in Hong Kong of greater concern Broadfoot said Are China s confusing tax ". China announced a 17-percent_ value added tax in january but products made for Export by foreign funded firms were. Exempted. In August the country said it would end the exemption Forio reign firms. The ministry of finance recently issued a special notice reassuring foreign investors that their tax Burden would not Rise. Few a Man in Beijing inspects Western style Holiday greeting cards which have become popular in China. But perils accompany the profits for foreign companies making in roads on the chinese Market. Clear1uaws Are no they Are Broad statements of principle and nothing is fixed Anne Stevenson Young .-Chlna business Council took Comfort. We All have to look at the Fine print on this one Broadfoot says. We still Don t know exactly where we  also worrisome Are misunderstandings that arise because foreign partners fail to As sess the potential human risks in their chinese ventures v several Western investment Banks Are still smarting after losing millions of dollars on Copper trades by the Shanghai subsidiary of China s International Trade and invest ment corp. On the London metals Exchange. The Case is one of several in which chinese partners appear to have reneged on their obligations at great Cost to foreign investors. The deals financed by the Banks were apparently made on margin without authorization. _ people tend to look at China As a Money problem and not a people problem. There was not enough due Diligence about the people the Money was going to Broadfoot  sorts of disagreements leave a sour taste for both sides. I Abc seeks to end barriers on  a Abc in its latest assault against rival Fox wants Federal regulators to make it easier for . Media companies to get financing fro foreign investors if existing limits Are not enforced. If the rules on foreign investment and foreign ownership change then they should change for everyone not just for Fox Abc said in a petition to the Federal communications commission on wednesday. The acc in a separate proceeding is reviewing whether Fox s acquisition of six to stations using Money from a foreign corporation violated foreign ownership limits. The six stations Madr up the net work s foundation. The provisions limit a foreign company or individual from owning More than 25 percent of a broadcast Sta Tion. Abc says the acc has not granted any waivers of the limits since their creation 60 years ago. If the Agency decides to give Fox a waiver from such restrictions All broadcast companies should be allowed waivers said Richard Cotton Abc senior vice presi Dent and general counsel. The acc approved the acquisition of those stations from metro Media inc. In 1986, the stations Are in Washington new York los Angeles Chicago Dallas and Houston. The Abc petition builds on a complaint filed this year by the National association for the advancement of coloured people. The a act s complaint asserted that Fox violated Federal foreign ownership restrictions. According to Fox disclosures to the acc last sum Mer All but 1 percent of the $600 million used to. Pur Chase the stations was put up by news corp., which is based in Australia. The official press is Rife Ith reports criticizing China s tens of thousands of joint ventures and accusing them sometimes with Good reason m of evading taxes break ing labor Laws and generally failing to live up to  government recently toughened controls on foreign affiliated firms partly to combat the widespread practice of setting up bogus companies to evade taxes and get around Laws against importing foreign luxury cars. -. I ,.j a but in Many cases the police and sometimes the courts have backed aggrieved chinese partners with the kind of vigilante Justice that landed Peng behind bars v -,v-1 Peng has pleaded innocent to charges that he embezzled $133,000 from the joint Ven Ture firm he established in the Southern Boom town of Zhenzhen As Well As to secon Dary charges that his employees borrowed $34,000 in his name. _ in chinese trials however the defendant usually is presumed  Hui to Cheng an american who runs a safety helmet business in the South Ern Provence of Huangdong was thrown in jail in August 1993 after his chinese partner suddenly demanded the return of his share in their joint venture. When Cheng could not arrange an imme Diate repayment the chinese partner arranged to have his brother in Law a local judge have the american jailed. It took Cheng More than two months to get re leased and almost seven to recover his pass port and leave China. Investors news corp. Chairman flu pert Murdoch who be came a . Citizen to buy the stations owns Stock rep resenting 76  of the voting rights of Fox television. The remaining 24 percent is held by news corp. The key question facing the acc is who owns the stations Murdoch or news corp. It Preston Padden Fox broadcasting cos presi Dent of network distribution said it does t matter be cause Murdoch controls news corp. It All leads Back to a . Citizen Rupert Murdoch he said. Padden said in an interview we Don t have a waiver. We Haven t asked for a waiver. We Don t intend to ask for a waiver. We Don t need a  the ownership of Fox stations compile with the restrictions Padden said. Abc s filing is an attempt to sabotage a competitor Padden asserted