BANKING
Barclays issuing securities
Barclays PLC is issuing about US$3.9 billion of new contingent capital securities to replace junior notes as the UK’s second-largest lender adjusts its capital structure to meet regulatory requirements. Investors agreed to swap securities in euros, dollars and pounds for additional Tier 1 notes in the same currencies, according to a statement. The new undated bonds will take the London-based lender’s issuance of the riskiest bank debt to US$7.3 billion. Banks are turning to additional Tier 1 bonds to boost capital levels as regulators enforce stricter rules to avoid taxpayer losses during a bank failure. The securities, which count as the capital lenders must hold against total assets, also save lenders money because interest is paid before tax. Banks are turning to additional Tier 1 bonds to boost capital levels as regulators enforce stricter rules to avoid taxpayer losses during a bank failure.
BANKING
Paribas fine ‘more equitable’
French Minister of Finance Michel Sapin yesterday said that discussions between BNP Paribas and US authorities over a potential fine for sanctions-busting had progressed toward a “more equitable” level. US authorities, including the New York financial regulator, are investigating whether BNP evaded US sanctions against Iran, Sudan and other countries between 2002 and 2009, which could lead to a fine of US$10 billion for France’s biggest bank. “I think we have made progress towards more equitable penalties,” Sapin said in an interview on Europe 1 radio and news channel iTele. “We need to reach a conclusion.” The uncertainty was over the matter was “not good.”
UKRAINE
Gas talks not held
The country failed to hold expected talks with Russia on a gas pricing dispute yesterday morning, despite a deadline for Kiev to pay a US$1.95 billion debt by today or have its gas supplies cut off. The Ministry of Energy said it hoped the talks, being mediated by the EU’s energy commissioner, would resume later yesterday, but both sides said a time had not been agreed. Halting deliveries to Kiev could disrupt the gas flow to the EU, which receives gas via Ukraine.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Sanofi open to partnerships
A day after Sanofi announced a diabetes alliance with Medtronic Inc, its research chief said the Paris-based drugmaker may seek other partnerships to expand in one of the fastest-growing medical conditions. “We are open-minded” on other possible partnerships or acquisitions in diabetes, said Elias Zerhouni, Sanofi’s head of research and development, in a telephone interview. “We want to absolutely excel in the injectable space and I think that’s what we are accomplishing, but that is still going to be half of the market. We will be opportunistic.” Sanofi, which makes the top-selling insulin Lantus, and Medtronic, the biggest maker of heart-rhythm devices, yesterday said they will work together to develop combinations of diabetes medicines and devices, and seek technology-based services to simplify insulin use and improve treatment compliance. Lantus’ patent is due to expire next year, while rivals such as Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co have a wider product offering in their pipeline. As a result, Sanofi is looking at emerging classes of diabetes drugs, and will either develop new products in-house or seek them outside the company, Zerhouni 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