■INVESTMENT
S African accused of fraud
An expatriate South African businessman accused of running a massive pyramid scheme that cost wealthy investors up to US$1.2 billion has denied any wrongdoing, reports said yesterday. Barry Tannenbaum, who lives in Sydney, has been accused of fleecing rich South Africans in what has been billed as one of the country’s biggest Ponzi-style investment scandals, local and South African media reported. But Tannenbaum had denied running a scam in which he allegedly offered 200 percent annual returns for people investing in his pharmaceutical import businesses, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Tannenbaum, 43, is a relative of one of the founders of South African pharmaceuticals giant Adcock Ingram.
■INSURANCE
Ping An to buy bank stake
China’s Ping An Insurance Group (平安保險), the nation’s second-largest insurer, said yesterday it planned to buy a stake worth up to 22 billion yuan (US$3 billion) in Shenzhen Development Bank (深圳發展銀行). The Hong Kong-listed group said in a statement on its Web site it had agreed to buy up to 1.1 billion shares in the financial institution from the bank itself and from Newbridge Capital, the Asian arm of private equity firm TPG. The Ping An Group currently holds a 4.7 percent stake in Shenzhen Development Bank, but these deals will enable it to acquire up to 30 percent of the firm.
■BANKING
Lehman haggles over assets
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, nine months after it filed bankruptcy and sold its brokerage to Barclays Plc, is still fighting with the British bank over who owns what, including the investment bank’s own furniture. Lehman, once the fourth-largest investment bank, asked a bankruptcy judge in New York last week to let it pay Barclays US$5.9 million to buy back desks, chairs, tables, cubicles, audio-video equipment and security paraphernalia it currently uses in a building at 1271 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. The repurchase is necessary because “Barclays has asserted that certain of the office furniture, fixtures and equipment that is located in the building and used by the debtors was previously sold to Barclays,” Lehman said in a June 4 filing in US Bankruptcy Court in New York.
■TRADING
Glitch disrupts NYSE
A computer glitch that halted trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for more than 200 stocks is being resolved, the exchange said. The disruption hit 242 stocks, including American Express Co, General Electric Co, Merck & Co and Exxon Mobil Corp, but they continued to be traded electronically without disruption. About 3,100 stocks are traded at the NYSE. Technicians installed new equipment and the affected stocks were trading an hour later.
■THAILAND
Steel tariffs may be waived
In a bid to assist 15 Japanese auto manufacturers based in the kingdom, Thailand’s finance minister has proposed waiving import tariffs on steel brought in for vehicle production by Japanese firms, media reports said yesterday. Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said the waiver would fall under the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement, a partial free-trade agreement inked recently. “Now any company that imports steel for auto production will get the privilege,” Korn told the Nation newspaper. The minister, however, will need Cabinet approval before the waiver goes into effect.
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, yesterday said that small-volume production of 3-nanometer (nm) chips for a key customer is on track to start by the end of this year, dismissing speculation about delays in producing advanced chips. As Alchip is transitioning from 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technology to 3 nanometers, investors and shareholders have been closely monitoring whether the company is navigating through such transition smoothly. “We are proceeding well in [building] this generation [of chips]. It appears to me that no revision will be required. We have achieved success in designing
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
Nintendo Co hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its leveled-up new console hits shelves on Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third-best-selling video game console of all time. However, despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out. The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high”
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