News Headlines - 16 December 2011

▽Japan PM declares 'cold shutdown' at Fukushima - BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16212057
Engineers have brought the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to a "cold shutdown condition", nine months after the earthquake and tsunami, Japan has confirmed.

▽First debris from Japan’s tsunami hits US West Coast - Telegraph.co.uk
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8960564/First-debris-from-Japans-tsunami-hits-US-West-Coast.html
The first debris from Japan’s March 11 tsunami has started to wash ashore on the West Coast of the United States.

▽Japan's Financial Regulators Sanction Citi Japan For 3rd Time In Seven Years - Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111216-704569.html
Citigroup Inc.'s (C) Japan units were sanctioned yet again by financial regulators Friday, this time for hoisting inappropriate products on customers and trying to influence short-term interbank interest rates.

▽Japan aims to bolster M&A disclosure after Olympus scandal - Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/16/us-olympus-idUSTRE7BB04P20111216
Japan signaled plans to strengthen disclosure rules on mergers and acquisitions after a $1.7 billion accounting fraud at Olympus Corp, one of the nation's worst corporate scandals, which involved a series of shady deals.

▽Japan Tankan Worse Than Expected - Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204026804577099081568813886.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The effects of the high yen and a slowdown in overseas economies is weighing on business sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers, the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan survey showed Thursday, with the index falling more than expected, although there were some positive signs suggesting solidness in domestic demand.