BROKERAGES
Credit Suisse to be penalized
The Japanese Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended that the Financial Services Agency penalize Credit Suisse Group AG’s Japanese brokerage unit for leaking private information about a company, the commission said in a statement yesterday. An analyst at the Swiss firm gave non-public information to a colleague in the sales division, plus at least one customer, about an unidentified company’s earnings forecast, the commission said. The sales employee then solicited at least 33 customers to buy shares in the company whose information was leaked, the commission said.
AUTOMAKERS
Cherokee declared green
Chrysler’s Jeep has been declared green by the Japanese government, becoming the first gasoline-engine US-brand vehicle to qualify for this nation’s green-car tax incentive. The automaker said yesterday this year’s Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk meets the emissions and fuel-efficiency standards allowing buyers to take a tax break of about ¥58,000 (US$530) off the price tag. The vehicle sells for about ¥5.1 million in Japan, although the cost depends on the model and other options.
INTERNET
Tencent seeking US$2bn
Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊), Asia’s biggest Internet company, is speaking with banks about getting a syndicated loan of as much as US$2 billion as it expands operations and pushes ahead with acquisitions, people familiar with the matter said. The Chinese firm, which operates the WeChat and QQ instant message systems, is seeking a five-year facility of US$1.5 billion to US$2 billion, the people said. The financing is separate from a five-year loan of US$2.45 billion it worked out with banks last year, the people said.
RETAILERS
Carrefour revenue rises
Carrefour SA, France’s largest retailer, reported stronger first-quarter revenue, boosted by growth in southern Europe and Latin America, and improving sales in China. Revenue reached 20.1 billion euros (US$22.6 billion), Boulogne-Billancourt-based Carrefour said yesterday in a statement. Analysts expected 20 billion euros, according to the median of 13 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Growth was 3.1 percent excluding calendar effects and gasoline sales.
CAMERA MAKERS
GoPro eyeing versatility
GoPro Inc on Thursday announced that it is teaming up with outside developers to make it easier to use the company’s mini-cameras with apps or synch them with other devices. The effort to make GoPro products more versatile and, ideally, more tempting to buyers came after a GoPro Developer Program in San Francisco has been underway quietly for more than a year, the company said. A hundred companies have partnered with GoPro in the program.
BANKING
BNP Paribas to axe 675 jobs
BNP Paribas SA plans to eliminate as many as 675 jobs at its investment-banking division in France, or about 11 percent of the unit’s workforce, as regulators increase scrutiny of riskier activities. The cuts in the corporate and institutional banking unit are to be carried out through a voluntary departure program, France’s largest lender said on Thursday. The bank is seeking 1 billion euros in annual cost savings at the securities unit by 2019 as it focuses on businesses that absorb less capital and generate higher fees.
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