ENERGY
US said to mull oil exports
The 40-year-old ban on most US crude oil exports will “very likely” be lifted in the government spending bill, and talks on the final budget deal are likely to continue through the weekend, a US Senate aide said on Friday. The aide did not want to be identified due to the ongoing nature of the talks. When asked if it was likely that the oil export ban would be lifted, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s spokeswoman Kristen Orthman said there was no final deal yet.
REAL ESTATE
Canada tightens mortgages
The Canadian government on Friday announced a tightening of mortgage rules to curb overspending on homes in a sluggish economy that could collapse with the burst of a possible housing market bubble. Canadian Minister pf Finance Bill Morneau unveiled the increase in minimum down-payment for government-backed mortgages from 5 to 10 percent for homes priced at more than C$500,000 (US$363,451) to address “potential future vulnerabilities in our housing sector.” Average home prices in Canada rose 8 percent year-on-year in October, according to Canadian Real Estate Association data.
BANKING
Deutsche to expand Maxblue
Deutsche Bank AG said it is introducing a free software program that would automatically build and manage securities portfolios for German clients, joining companies such as BlackRock Inc and Bank of America Corp in offering cheaper investment products. Germany’s largest lender developed the AnlageFinder product with Fincite — a Munich-based software company — and is to provide the service as part of its Maxblue online investment platform in its home market from next year, Deutsche said.
RATINGS
UK’s ‘AAA’ rating at risk
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s on Friday said that the risk of Britain leaving the EU could affect its triple-A ranking. Standard & Poor’s, the only major ratings agency to rate Britain as “AAA,” maintained the ranking with a negative outlook due to uncertainties over a coming referendum on Britain’s EU membership. Another agency, Fitch Ratings Ltd, said on Friday that it believed it was most likely Britain would remain in the EU, saying its outlook was “stable.”
CURRENCIES
Craig Wright bankrupt: report
Craig Wright, the man who has been outed as the possible creator of digital currency bitcoin, was previously issued with a bankruptcy notice valued at A$425,000 (US$305,532) for debts in a liquidated company he was associated with in 2003, the Australian newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. Wright had a restraining order issued against him after a series of disputes with his former employer, before settling the claim in 2013 and avoiding bankruptcy, the report said.
ACQUISITIONS
Carlyle to buy Hunkemoeller
US private equity firm Carlyle Group on Friday agreed to buy Dutch lingerie chain Hunkemoeller from PAI Partners for an undisclosed amount. Hunkemoeller, founded in 1886 in Amsterdam, has more than 700 retail stores across Europe and the transaction is due to be completed in the first quarter of next year.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”