TRADE SANCTIONS
Amazon issues Iran warning
Amazon.com Inc on Friday disclosed Iranian business ties that might have violated US sanctions, warning that it might be penalized after a regulatory review of the activities. The company said in a regulatory filing that from 2012 to last year it “processed and delivered orders of consumer products for certain individuals and entities located outside Iran covered by the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act.” Amazon said it reported the transactions to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
ACQUISITIONS
Blackstone to buy Aon assets
Investment firm Blackstone Group LP is buying Aon PLC’s technology-enabled benefits and human-resources assets in a deal valued at up to US$4.8 billion. The transaction includes US$4.3 billion at closing and the potential for up to an additional US$500 million based on future performance. The companies on Friday said that the Aon assets being purchased are the largest benefits administration platform in the US, serving about 15 percent of the US working population across more than 1,400 companies.
MACROECONOMICS
Canada jobless rate falls
Canada’s unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent last month to 6.8 percent, the government said on Friday. About 48,000 new jobs were added, in contrast with forecasts that had predicted a modest loss of 10,000 jobs and a stable unemployment rate. Employment grew by 276,000 jobs year-on-year, with the bulk of hires occurring since August last year. Job growth was strongest in the service sector, but declined in the information, culture and recreation sectors. Employment grew among men and women aged between 25 and 54 and varied little in other population segments, according to Statistics Canada. The private sector saw the bulk of job growth with modest increases in the public and self-employed sectors, it said.
MONGOLIA
Metals to be nationalized
The nation’s parliament approved a resolution to nationalize copper, gold and iron-ore assets in the country following a probe that found a US$400 million transaction with a closely held company was illegal. Parliament’s resolution invalidates a previous government decision that had authorized the sale of 49 percent stakes in both Erdenet Mining Corp and Mongolrostsvetmet LLC to Mongolian Copper Corp. The resolution was approved by a vote of 49 in favor to 12 against, according to a broadcast carried on Bloomberg TV Mongolia.
STEELMAKERS
ArcelorMittal profits rise
ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, reported a 20 percent increase in annual profits on rising steel and iron ore prices, and forecast higher demand this year. The company decided not to reinstate its dividend and stopped providing earnings guidance. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) last year rose to US$6.26 billion, the Luxembourg-based company said in a statement on Friday. EBITDA in the fourth quarter of last year was US$1.66 billion, 51 percent higher than a year ago.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the