JAPAN
Toshiba scandal deepens
An accounting scandal involving massive conglomerate Toshiba Corp deepened yesterday as reports said the company’s president would likely be forced to resign. The resignation of president Hisao Tanaka would be finalized after a third-party panel tasked with investigating the scandal releases its report as early as next week, the Kyodo news agency said, citing unnamed sources. The firm has allegedly overstated about ¥200 billion (US$1.6 billion) in its group operating profits for the five years to March last year, Kyodo and Jiji Press said. Tanaka and former president and current vice chairman Norio Sasaki are among those behind the profit-padding, the reports said.
BRAZIL
Currency suspects named
The antitrust regulator named 30 people it is investigating as part of a civil probe into anti-competitive practices in the currency market. If found to have violated the law, the individuals might each face penalties of as much as 2 billion reais (US$632 million), Cade, as the agency is known, said in a July 1 document posted on its Web site. Banks they work for might be fined as much as 20 percent of the revenue from operations involved in the transactions, which took place from 2007 to 2013, according to the agency.
MACROECONOMICS
Soft recovery hurts Chile
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Friday scaled back expectations for her ambitious reform drive, saying her government would have to prioritize some policy decisions as an economic slowdown has eaten into fiscal resources. Bachelet came into office for a second non-consecutive term in March last year promising a raft of social reforms, including a labor reform bill, additional changes to education and an easing of abortion laws. However, a softer-than-expected economic recovery, which prompted the government on Monday to cut its forecast for this year’s economic growth to 2.5 percent from 3.6 percent, is squeezing government revenue.
TRADE
US mulls Canada TPP denial
The US, frustrated over the lack of progress with Canada over new rules for agriculture trade, is weighing “contingencies” that could include completing a Pacific Rim trade pact that excludes Canada, according to two sources familiar with the issue. Meanwhile, a US Senate aide said that US Trade Representative Michael Froman met with a group of US senators on Thursday, at which time several of the senators urged him to “move forward on TPP without Canada unless a serious offer on dairy, poultry and agriculture market access” was made. Froman said he preferred to move forward with Canada, but added that the US is “preparing for all contingencies.”
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
Edwards to buy CardiAQ
Edwards Lifesciences Corp agreed to buy CardiAQ Valve Technologies Inc for US$350 million in cash plus future payments to expand its work in heart valve replacements. CardiAQ is developing a replacement mitral valve that can be inserted into the heart via a catheter. That’s a key future business area for Edwards. Closely held CardiAQ has approval from US regulators to test the device in 20 patients and plans to begin a study for European approval.
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