TECHNOLOGY
Cook opts out of payout
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has opted not to take US$75 million in dividend payout on restricted shares of stock he owns in the maker of iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macintosh computers. Documents on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday said that while other Apple employees would be awarded quarterly “dividend equivalents” of US$2.65 on restricted shares, Cook asked not to be included. Restricted shares typically don’t qualify for dividends, so the decision by Apple’s board amounts to bonuses for employees of the Cupertino, California-based company.
CURRENCY
Obama holds off on China
The administration of US President Barack Obama on Friday rejected calls from the US Congress to brand China a currency manipulator, but said its “significantly undervalued” currency was a key brake on global growth. The US Treasury Department said China had not met the standards for manipulation of the Chinese yuan to gain an unfair competitive trade advantage. Such a distinction could pave the way for retaliatory sanctions. In its semi-annual report to Congress on exchange-rate policies, the Treasury pledged to “closely monitor” the pace of the yuan’s appreciation and “press for policy changes” to boost China’s exchange-rate flexibility.
CURRENCY
Yen, yuan trading to start
Japan and China are expected to start direct trading of their currencies as early as next month as part of efforts to boost bilateral trade and investment, reports said yesterday. With the planned step, exchange rates between the yen and the yuan will be determined by their transactions, departing from the current “cross rate” system that involves the US dollar in setting yen-yuan rates, Kyodo News said. The two governments are eying setting up markets in Tokyo and Shanghai, the Yomiuri Shimbun said. The yen-yuan exchange system would help businesses in the world’s second and third-largest economies reduce risks associated with exchange rate fluctuations in the dollar and cut transaction costs, Kyodo said.
TRADE
EU sues Argentina in WTO
The EU on Friday filed a suit against Argentina’s import restrictions with the WTO, intensifying the disputes between the South American nation and its trading partners. The EU’s Executive Commission said the case followed measures by Argentina that include an import licensing regime and an obligation on companies to balance imports with exports. “Argentina’s import restrictions violate international trade rules and must be removed,” EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.
FINANCE
US Congress to grill Dimon
JPMorgan Chase’s embattled chief executive Jamie Dimon will be hauled before the US Congress on June 7 to explain recent huge trading losses, legislators announced on Friday. Dimon will testify before the Senate Banking Committee as committee chair Tim Johnson vowed to “get to the bottom of the massive trading loss.” Congress, regulators and JPMorgan Chase staff are looking at the actions that led to more than US$2 billion in derivatives trading losses. The hearing is likely to be highly politically charged, a proxy for the battle between Democrats and Republicans over Wall Street reform.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained