STOCKS
Inside traders sentenced
A former Qualcomm Inc executive was sentenced on Friday to 18 months in prison and fined US$500,000 for an insider trading scheme that saw him profit from the wireless technology company’s confidential information and then cover up his crimes. Former Qualcomm global business operations president Jing Wang (汪靜), 52, pleaded guilty in July to charges of insider trading, money laundering and obstruction of justice in the case that ended in convictions for several Qualcomm employees. Wang made three trades based on insider information.
MACROECONOMICS
Germany to raise spending
The German government plans to increase spending by 3.4 percent next year while borrowing no new money for the third year running — helped by a strong economy that has boosted its tax income. The budget plan released on Friday envisions 312 billion euros (US$348.44 billion) in spending, up from 301.6 billion euros this year. The budget is expected to increase over the following three years, reaching 333.1 billion euros in 2019, while new borrowing remains at zero. The government plans to put more money into transport infrastructure over the coming years and offering limited tax relief.
EUROZONE
EU fails Romania progress
Romania failed to make sufficient progress in implementing promised economic reforms in exchange for rescue funds, the European Commission said in a statement on Friday after a meeting in Bucharest. Romania only managed to claw out of a deep recession after the EU and the IMF agreed to a bailout program of 20 billion euros (US$22.34 billion) in 2009. In 2013, it concluded a new deal of two years that opened a credit line of 4 billion euros that it could tap on in case of a serious crisis. Romanian Minister of Finance Eugen Teodorovici said after the meeting with EU auditors that a decision concerning whether to carry on with the bailout would be made at the next meeting of EU ministers of finance on July 14.
TRADE
Ukraine broke rules: WTO
Emergency car import duties imposed by Ukraine in 2012 to safeguard its own auto industry violate global trade rules, the WTO said on Friday, urging Kiev to lift them. A WTO panel of experts found in favor of Japan, which brought the complaint against Ukraine in late 2013, ruling that “Ukraine acted inconsistently” with a range of international trade rules, including the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade agreement. Both Ukraine and Japan can appeal the ruling if they do so within 60 days.
FERTILIZER
Bid poses antitrust issues
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc’s bid for rival fertilizer producer K+S AG could face tough regulatory hurdles as more than half of global capacity would end up in the hands of four companies, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The proposed US$8.6 billion takeover of K+S would give about 8 percent of global capacity to Potash, which already controls about 20 percent of the market, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.The possibility of further consolidation in the industry would increase the likelihood of antitrust challenges, Bloomberg Intelligence said.
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