CHINA
CSRC fires bureau chief
China’s stock watchdog yesterday said it has dismissed the head of its share issuance bureau because of suspected illegal stock trading by her spouse. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement that the official, Li Zhiling (李志玲), was suspected of criminal activity and had been handed over to police. The regulator gave no details. A Chinese business magazine, Caixin, said Li assumed her CSRC bureau chief role in 2012.
INTERNET
EBay sells Craigslist stake
US e-commerce giant eBay Inc on Friday said it has sold its stake in Craigslist back to the online classified listings group, ending a legal dispute between them. The California tech giant had taken a 28.4 percent stake in Craigslist in 2004. Craigslist sued eBay after the online auction giant launched its own classified listing in 2007 called Kijiji, alleging that eBay had hidden the rival project at the time of its investment. Craigslist is one of the most visited Web sites in the US and globally.
CYPRUS
IMF approves installment
The IMF, deadlocked with Greece over further financial aid, approved a new loan installment for Cyprus on Friday, now the only other eurozone country receiving its bailout support. The IMF executive board on Friday completed the combined fifth, sixth and seventh reviews of Cyprus’ program and approved the disbursement of 278.4 million euros (US$316.3 million). That would bring the total amount disbursed in the three-year 1 billion euro program begun in 2013 to 742.4 million euros.
CHOCOLATE
Hershey cuts profit forecast
Hershey Co, the maker of Reese’s, Twizzlers and Almond Joy candies, is cutting its profit forecast and eliminating 300 jobs after struggling with slowing growth in China. Earnings per share this year are forecast to be between US$4.10 and US$4.18, excluding some items, down from a previous forecast of between US$4.30 and US$4.38, the company said in a statement on Friday. Hershey’s chocolate sales growth in China trailed its expectations in April and last month, hurt by increased competition in the chocolate category and a cooling economy.
BANKING
HSBC mulling Brazil unit
HSBC Holdings PLC, which plans to sell its entire business in Brazil, might keep one of its licenses to start a new corporate bank in the country, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said. After selling operations that employ about 20,000 people, the London-based bank intends to hire about 200 workers to provide brokerage, trade finance, foreign exchange, investment banking and dollar loans, according to one of the people.
MEDIA
News Corp eyes Asia growth
A new management team at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp’s Australian operations is to support plans to expand into fast-growing Asia, Lachlan Murdoch said yesterday. News Corp nonexecutive cochairman Lachlan Murdoch said the company planned to make acquisitions and investments in start-ups in Asia, the Weekend Australian said. “It makes absolute sense to geographically diversify,” Lachlan Murdoch told News Corp Australia’s national broadsheet.
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