BANKING
Virtual currency risks
Europe’s top banking regulator on Friday called on the region’s banks not to deal in virtual currencies such as bitcoin until rules are developed to stop them being abused. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said it had identified more than 70 risks related to trading in virtual currencies, including their vulnerability to crime and money laundering. The London-based body in a statement advised European financial institutions against “buying, holding or selling virtual currencies while no regulatory regime is in place.” Regulators said the lack of legal framework governing the currency, the opaque way it is traded and its volatility make it dangerous. The EBA said that the risks of virtual currencies “outweigh the benefits,” such as faster and cheaper transactions, “which in the European Union remain less pronounced.”
STOCK MARKET
Penny-stock case settled
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a tentative settlement that will resolve a case against John Babikian, originally from Montreal, who ran AwesomePennyStocks, by having him pay US$3.73 million and refrain from further promotion of penny stocks. Babikian, who regulators said operated a “pump-and-dump” scheme using penny-stock Web sites, will also be restrained from recommending the purchase of any US publicly traded stock without simultaneously disclosing any plans to sell such stock within 14 days of the recommendation, according to the agreement, filed by the SEC in a Manhattan court on Monday. The agreement, yet to be signed by a judge, would have Babikian pay disgorged profits plus US$1.7 million in civil penalties.
BANKING
Banking heads named
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has named Ian Ferguson and Michael Findlay as the new co-heads for its investment banking business in the UK and Ireland. Findlay is also to continue in his role as co-head of corporate broking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Bank of America Merrill Lynch with Ed Peel, according to an internal memorandum. Ferguson has been a managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch since 2012, when he joined from the investment bank Evercore Partners. They will report to Bob Elfring and Diego De Giorgi, co-heads of corporate and investment banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
FINANCE
Fund seeks executives
Norway’s US$890 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, is seeking top executives for a new real-estate group that will invest almost US$10 billion annually in properties over the next three years. The fund, based in Oslo, is looking to hire new chief risk, operating and administrative officers for real estate, according to job postings on its Web site and in newspapers. The group is currently overseen by real-estate chief investment officer Karsten Kallevig, and part of the broader risk structure of the fund, headed by chief executive officer Yngve Slyngstad. The fund first received approval to invest in properties in 2010 and said last month it will invest 1 percent of its assets in real estate over the next three years as it seeks to reach its 5 percent target.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last