Singapore's exposure to US subprime mortgage markets is small and contained, officials said yesterday, but warned that a resulting slowdown in major economies will affect the city-state's growth.
Singapore's central bank is "closely monitoring our financial institutions' exposure to sub-prime and other structured credit markets, at both the domestic and global levels," S. Iswaran, minister of state for trade and industry, said in parliament.
"Our exposure remains small and contained at this stage," Iswaran said.
He added that the central bank remained vigilant and was ready to inject liquidity into the banking system if needed.
Iswaran also said, however, that a loss of confidence and a general credit squeeze resulting from uncertainty in financial markets could impact the trade-dependent country.
"Strong growth in the region and the diversity of our export markets will provide us some buffer, but we are not immune to a slowdown in the major industrial economies," Iswaran said.
Iswaran said Singapore's economic growth forecast of 7 percent to 8 percent this year remained unchanged.
Singapore's local financial institutions do not offer mortgages to subprime customers, but have investments in collateralized debt obligations -- complex bundles of debt repackaged as securities -- 25 percent of which contain US subprime mortgages, Second Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam also told lawmakers.
The total investment in CDOs by local banks amount to S$2.6 billion (US$1.71 billion), making up just 1 percent of the banks' capital base, Tharman said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
RSS