FINANCE
London’s women expect less
Women working in London’s financial services sector have much lower expectations for their annual bonuses than their male colleagues, reflecting the fact that they are less well represented in more lucrative jobs, a survey found. Women surveyed by recruitment firm Astbury Marsden on average expected to receive a bonus this year of about £16,000 (US$24,248) — 21 percent of their salary — while men anticipated bonuses of £3,000 — 34 percent of their salary. “The reality is that the sectors where there is a high-reward culture are still male-dominated with women often making up a larger proportion of the non-commission earning side of businesses such as HR [human resources] or marketing,” Astbury Marsden managing director Adam Jackson said. The survey also found that the gap in expectations was present at senior levels, with female directors and executive directors expecting bonuses half the size of those anticipated by their male counterparts.
ENTERTAINMENT
Apple wins Taylor Swift deal
Apple Inc won a deal with pop star Taylor Swift to exclusively release a concert video of her recent world tour through its music streaming service, Apple Music, the company and the singer said on Sunday. Swift, who celebrated her 26th birthday on Sunday, tweeted a trailer for the 1989 World Tour Live concert video and said: “Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes. I have a little surprise for you.” The video is scheduled to air on Sunday. “It sounds like a very, very significant win for Apple,” International Data Corp (IDC) Boston-based analyst John Jackson said.
MACROECONOMICS
Japan confidence surprises
Confidence in Japan’s economy among large manufacturers unexpectedly held up in the past few months, suggesting that record corporate profits are compensating for uncertainty about the effects of an expected US rate increase and a slowdown in China. The Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan survey of business sentiment among big manufacturers was unchanged at 12 this month, the bank said yesterday, slightly better than the median estimate of 11 in a Bloomberg survey. The index is forecast to fall to seven in March. A positive number means there are more optimists than pessimists among manufacturers. The data are the latest in a string of recent optimistic reports on Japan’s economic growth and capital spending, supporting a view that additional monetary stimulus is not imminent. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is counting on companies to boost investment and wages to stimulate the economy as the central bank’s main price gauge has been falling since August.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Paris pact sparks side deal
Eighteen nations including the US, Japan and Germany are to work together to develop international carbon markets to help speed the pace of emission reductions under the Paris climate deal struck on Saturday, according to the New Zealand government. The nations are to develop standards and guidelines to ensure trading of carbon credits has environmental integrity, New Zealand Minister for Trade and Climate Issues Tim Groser’s spokesman Jonathan Franklin said in a statement. Saturday’s deal allows cooperation between nations to meet emission-limitation pledges. It also creates a new market to promote sustainable development, speeding carbon cuts by state entities and private companies.
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