The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday set banks a record lending target to small and medium-sized businesses of NT$240 billion (US$7.98 billion), despite uncertainty caused by the tapering of US quantitative easing.
The financial regulator announced the target after a meeting with top banking executives. It was a show of support for small and medium-sized companies, as lenders tend to tighten lines of credit in times of volatility.
While seeking to achieve the goal, banks should nevertheless exercise due caution, diversify their risk, and disclose details in line with accountability and transparency requirements, the commission said.
The FSC specifically asked banks to reveal the extent of their exposure to China, where reports of loan defaults are escalating.
The regulator also urged local lenders to use fair interest rates when they carry out inter-bank lending, after several international banks were caught profiting through rigging borrowing rates.
The FSC reiterated concerns over underpricing practices among financial institutions, saying vicious competition is unfavorable for the nation’s financial stability.
Separately, the commission approved plans by Financial Information Co (財金公司) to team up with local financial institutions and offer payment services in China and other nations via the China UnionPay Co (中國銀聯) network.
The new venture will not be available for local customers until after the cross-strait service trade agreement clears the legislature, the commission said.
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
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