AEROSPACE
Airbus to build US factory
European planemaker Airbus is poised to invest US$600 million in a new US production facility in Mobile, Alabama, for its A320 passenger jet that is expected to produce four planes a month by 2017, according to two people familiar with the company’s plans. US rival Boeing Co on Friday argued that a US-based plant would not dilute Washington’s case against European aircraft loans that the WTO has found illegal. The same body has also faulted some US aid to Boeing. Airbus, owned by Europe’s EADS, and Boeing, the world’s dominant jetmakers, are involved in the largest-ever dispute at the WTO over mutual accusations of billions of US dollars of illegal aircraft subsidies.
BANKING
Regulator seeks wider remit
A US government agency is seeking to expand its authority to regulate risky trading overseas by affiliates of US banks. The proposal from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) comes just weeks after JPMorgan Chase & Co announced it lost billions of US dollars because of high-risk trades that took place at its London offices. The CFTC commissioners voted this week without public debate to send the proposal out for public comment. It calls for extending the agency’s oversight of derivatives to cover trading that takes place overseas. Derivatives are financial instruments often used to hedge against future price fluctuations of an underlying commodity or security, but they have grown increasingly complex and risky. The 2010 financial overhaul law gave the CFTC the authority to define which overseas transactions should be subject to oversight. The change would take effect in about a year.
ENTERTAINMENT
Sony buys part of EMI
A group led by Sony Corp said on Friday it has purchased Britain’s EMI Music Publishing for US$2.2 billion from Citigroup, creating the world’s largest music copyrights company with a catalog that includes hits from Motown, The Beatles, Jay-Z and Norah Jones. Now all that remains of the storied British label group is its recorded music division, which Vivendi’s Universal Music Group has offered to buy for US$1.9 billion. That deal is being looked at by European and US regulators. Recorded music companies have argued that they need to combine resources to survive in an industry crippled by piracy, as the legitimate digital distribution of music is still in its infancy around the globe. By acquiring EMI, Sony/ATV, a 50-50 joint venture between Sony and the Michael Jackson estate, will control just over 2 million copyrighted songs.
BANGLADESH
World Bank cancels loan
The World Bank on Friday canceled a US$1.2 billion loan for the country’s Padma bridge project, saying the government had not cooperated in investigating “high level” corruption in the project. The proposed 6.2km bridge over the Padma river — the local name for the Ganges — will connect the capital Dhaka to the country’s coastal districts. The US$3 billion bridge, planned to go into service in 2014, is designed to carry a highway and rail line and is aimed at transforming the country’s impoverished south. The loan was originally approved in February last year, but allegations of corruption in the tender process led the bank to freeze the loan by October.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last