SINGAPORE, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print and/or Web site editions on Wednesday.

Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)

-- Middle Eastern and Asian investment funds have invested an estimated $37 billion in shares of Western financial companies this year -- a sign that the funds are taking a more optimistic view than other investors of the growth prospects for banks, exchanges and asset managers

-- China and India should be spared the full burden of fighting climate change, the United Nations said in an agenda-setting report published just days ahead of an intergovernmental conference to agree a successor to the Kyoto protocols

-- Goldman Sachs <GS.N> has appointed a senior executive to a new role as head of its southeast Asian operations, a move that signals the bank's bullish view of the region's growth prospects.

WALL STREET JOURNAL (www.wsj.com)

-- South Korea's president signed legislation triggering a probe of Samsung Group [SAGR.UL], the country's largest conglomerate. Looming concern over a potential bribery and accounting scandal sent shares of most Samsung firms, including flagship Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>, down sharply.

-- Norinchukin Bank said it wrote down $358 million as it reported the largest U.S. subprime-related investment balance among Japanese banks.

-- Hong Kong worker groups protested over the stabbing of a Shenzhen labour leader, reflecting the unrest bubbling up ahead of China's new labour laws.

-- China's banking regulator has told commercial banks it will penalise them if they don't spread next year's lending evenly through the year.

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