SOLAR ENERGY
Chinese firms face EU duty
The EU on Friday will impose anti-dumping measures on some Chinese solar panels whose manufacturers rejected rejected a deal to diffuse a brewing trade war. The measures will apply for two years, the EU Commission said. “The final anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duty rates will apply only to those exports from China which do not meet the conditions set out in the undertaking,” the commission said in a statement. China and the EU in July reached an amicable settlement under which Chinese exporters agreed to a minimum price to provide a floor to the market up to a certain threshold of imports, after which anti-dumping tariffs apply.
BANKING
Glitches disrupt RBS
RBS and its retail banking unit Netwest’s online systems and debit cards failed on Monday evening as clients were unable to process payments on one of the busiest online shopping days, “Cyber Monday.” Millions of customers across the UK were unable to withdraw cash, pay for goods or use telephone and online banking services. In its response, the bank’s twitter account, RBS Help tweeted: “We are aware of some technical issues and are working hard to fix them. Sorry and thanks for your patience.” The bank’s Irish unit, Ulster Bank, also reportedly faced similar glitches.
BANKING
Fed approves revised plans
The US Federal Reserve on Monday said it had passed the revised capital plans of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, eight months after sending them back due to weaknesses. In its March stress tests of the top US banks, the Fed had raised questions about how the two planned to allocate capital, which includes their programs for dividends and share buybacks to reward investors. Both JPMorgan and Goldman received only conditional approvals, and were required to submit new plans by the end of the third quarter “to address weaknesses in their capital planning processes.” In a brief statement, the Fed said it “has not objected.”
BRAZIL
Q3 growth rises 2.5%
The economy grew 2.5 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period of last year, Minister of Finance Guido Mantega told a business seminar on Monday. Official GDP growth figures were scheduled to be released yesterday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Mantega also projected that GDP would grow on average 4 percent a year from next year to 2022.
UNITED STATES
Manufacturing jumps
Manufacturing grew last month at the fastest pace in two-and-a-half years as factories ramped up production, stepped up hiring and received orders at a healthy clip. The Institute for Supply Management said on Monday that its index of manufacturing activity rose to 57.3. That was up from 56.4 in October and was the highest since April 2011. A reading above 50 signals growth.
INTERNET
Google cuts cloud prices
Google Inc lowered prices for some of its cloud computing service for businesses and added features as it steps up competition with Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp. The service, which lets customers purchase access to its computing power, is cutting prices for some of the most popular options by 10 percent, Google said in a blog posting. It is also adding broader support for customers during maintenance.
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
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
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in