UNITED STATES
Overseas tax rules published
The Treasury published final rules on Thursday for a new global tax enforcement regime targeting the assets of US taxpayers abroad. The announcement finishes the rule-writing process for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act which Congress passed in March 2010. The final rules spare certain foreign pension funds and mutual funds information-reporting requirements. The Treasury rejected a request by businesses, banks and foreign investment funds to delay a start date of January next year for big penalties imposed on individuals and financial firms that do not comply with the law.
STEELMAKERS
China steel output up 3.1%
China, which produces almost half the world’s steel, boosted production by 3.1 percent last year as economic expansion spurred demand for roads and railways. Steel output increased to 716.5 million tonnes last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. Production climbed 7.7 percent last month from a year earlier to 57.66 million tonnes, the bureau said. It is the 31st annual increase in steel production. China will spend 650 billion yuan (US$105 billion) this year on railway construction, more than the 631 billion spent last year, the Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
FINANCe
Amex income drops 47%
American Express (Amex) says its net income fell 47 percent in the fourth quarter last year, as the credit card issuer racked up hefty charges related to restructuring costs and other one-time expenses. The New York-based company said on Thursday that it posted net income of US$637 million, or US$0.56 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31 last year. That compares with net income of US$1.2 billion, or US$1.01 per share, in the same period last year.
BANKING
Barclays mulls fine payment
British bank Barclays PLC is considering using its bonus pool for last year to help pay fines for its role in LIBOR interest rate rigging, the Financial Times reported. The bank might recoup part or all of the £290 million (US$465 million) it was fined from the bonuses it pays investment bankers, the paper said, without citing sources. Part state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC is already preparing to slash bonuses to help pay for its LIBOR-related fines, according to a source. Barclays is currently finalizing bonuses for last year and overall compensation is expected to fall between 10 percent and 20 percent on average, two sources said earlier this week.
BANKING
Commerzbank may cut jobs
Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest bank, is likely to propose next month cutting as many as 6,000 jobs, about 18 percent of the workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources. Different sources told the business daily the cuts could range from 5,000 to 6,000 workers, but the bank declined to comment on numbers. The jobs cut proposal is likely to be made in talks with unions due to begin next month.
RETAIL
Procter & Gamble to cut jobs
Procter & Gamble is cutting about 150 jobs in Spain and Portugal following the decision to integrate hygiene company Arbora & Ausonia into its existing operations. P&G acquired 100 percent of the firm last year after food company Agrolimen sold its 50 percent stake in the firm.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure