INVESTMENT
FOI to complete mediations
The Financial Ombudsman Institution (FOI) yesterday said that it expects to complete two or three mediations on yuan-linked target redemption forward disputes between investors and banks before the Lunar New Year holiday. As of Monday, the institute has accepted 80 complaints involving the risky derivative that has caused massive losses for many investors, most of which are small and medium-sized enterprises, it said. The institute has begun mediation of 53 complaints, while five have reached a resolution, 21 were declined and one is awaiting immediate consent for resolution, it added.
BANKING
Watchdog approves merger
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday approved a merger between Yuanta Commercial Bank (元大銀行) and Ta Chong Bank Ltd (大眾銀行), with Yuanta designated as the surviving entity. The merger is expected to be completed before the end of the third quarter, as the companies need time to consolidate back-end systems, the commission said. Following the merger, Yuanta would see its assets swell from NT$833.6 billion to NT$1.26 trillion (US$26.38 billion to US$39.87 billion), with its ranking among local peers in terms of assets rising from 16th to 15th, the commission said.
ENTERTAINMENT
XPEC boss’ checks bounce
Troubled game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞) yesterday said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that two checks from chairman Aaron Hsu (許金龍), worth a combined NT$34 million, bounced on Sunday due to lack of funds. Hsu’s personal financial situation will not affect XPEC’s financial health, the firm said. In a separate filing, the company said chief financial officer Tan Chuan-chung (譚傳忠) has resigned with immediate effect. Tan’s exit marked the company’s latest personnel change, after XPEC on Friday last week announced that acting chairman Ding Wan-ming (丁萬鳴) and CEO Jean-Marc Morel both resigned from their positions.
STEELMAKERS
Yieh Phui to invest in units
Yieh Phui Enterprise Co (燁輝), the nation’s largest manufacturer of galvanized steel, yesterday said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that it would acquire shares of Yieh United Steel Corp’s (燁聯) two major subsidiaries in a bid to further raise its competitiveness in the stainless steel sector. The plan is in line with the company’s long-term investment strategy, which aims to expand investment in stainless steel-related businesses, vice president Chen Yung-hsien (陳永賢) said yesterday. Yieh Phui and Yieh United are subsidiaries of E-United Group (義聯集團), which operates E-Da Theme Park and several companies in Kaohsiung.
ROBOTICS
Cobots to see rapid growth
The collaborative robotics sector is expected to grow rapidly in the next four years and be worth US$1 billion by 2020, the Institute for Information Industry’s Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute said. The sector had an economic value of US$95 million in 2014, but is likely to soar as collaborative robots (“cobots”) designed to work alongside human workers become more widely used in the plastics and electronics industries, research fellow Lee Yi-cing (李亦晴) said, adding that the growth in demand for cobots could even cut into demand for traditional industrial robots.
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],”