PANAMA
Banks manage record assets
Banks based in Panama managed a record level of assets last year despite fallout from the “Panama Papers” scandal, the International Banking Center said on Thursday. The center, which represents Panamanian and foreign banks, said members’ assets “reached the record level of US$121.075 billion” — a jump of 3.3 percent over 2015. The country is a regional transport hub, with a major international airport and the recently expanded Panama Canal.
EUROPEAN UNION
Whistle-blowing tool set up
The EU’s antitrust watchdog on Thursday said it has set up a new system to allow whistle-blowers to secretly denounce cartels or companies that might be fixing prices. The system involves encrypted messaging and allows users to send information without forwarding any of the usual metadata that would identify the person. European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said that “inside knowledge can be a powerful tool to help the commission uncover cartels and other anti-competitive practices.”
AVIATION
France probing Airbus
French authorities joined the UK in a corruption probe of Airbus Group SE centered on allegations of fraudulent practices related to selling planes and arranging aircraft financing. The probe by France’s Parquet National Financier follows steps by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office in August last year to look into possible fraud, bribery and corruption in Airbus’ civil aviation business related to third-party consultants, the firm said. The two authorities will coordinate with one another, it said. The company has said it dropped the questionable intermediaries and expects suspended financing guarantees to be restored.
SMARTWATCHES
Swatch developing OS
Swatch Group AG said it is developing an alternative to the iOS and Android operating systems for smartwatches as Switzerland’s largest maker of timepieces vies with Silicon Valley for control of consumers’ wrists. The company’s Tissot brand will introduce a model toward the end of next year that uses the Swiss-made system, which will also be able to connect small objects and wearables, Swatch CEO Nick Hayek said in an interview on Thursday. The technology will need less battery power and it will protect data better, he said.
AUTOMAKERS
Volvo seeks to raise US$1bn
Swedish automaker Volvo Cars Corp, owned by China’s Geely Holding Group (吉利控股集團), is seeking to raise US$1 billion through the sale of preferred shares ahead of a potential initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Quoting sources close to the negotiations, the Journal said Volvo Cars had “approached a number of Chinese investors about the share purchase, including sovereign wealth funds and private-equity firms.”
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla to raise US$1.15bn
Tesla Motors Inc on Wednesday announced plans to raise US$1.15 billion in new funding to help fuel production of a mass market-targeted Model 3 electric car set for release this year. Tesla said it plans to offer US$250 million in common stock and US$750 million in convertible notes, with underwriters being given the option to buy an additional 15 percent of each offering. Tesla cofounder and CEO Elon Musk will take part by buying US$25 million worth of new shares, the company said.
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],”