BANKING
Spanish bank taken over
Banco Popular Espanol SA was taken over by larger Spanish competitor Banco Santander SA after European regulators determined that Banco Popular was likely to fail. Banco Popular will continue to operate under “normal business conditions” after its shares and capital instruments were transferred to Santander, the EU’s Single Resolution Board said in a statement yesterday. The purchase price was 1 euro, the statement said. Santander plans to raise about 7 billion euros (US$7.9 billion) of capital as part of the transaction. Banco Popular had been looking for a buyer or a possible share sale after its balance sheet was battered by soured real-
estate loans that are eroding capital.
CHINA
Foreign reserves rise
Foreign-exchange reserves last month rose modestly for a fourth straight month and by more than markets had expected, as stringent capital control measures and a weakening dollar helped staunch outflows. Reserves rose US$24 billion last month to US$3.054 trillion, compared with an increase of US$21 billion in April to US$3.03 trillion, central bank data showed yesterday. It was the first time that reserves had climbed for four months in a row since June 2014. Economists polled by Reuters had expected reserves to rise US$10 billion to US$3.04 trillion.
ECONOMY
US debt rating affirmed
Standard & Poor’s rating agency has affirmed the US’ long-term debt rating at “AA+,” but said that the world’s largest economy faced uncertain fiscal policy. The rating, one notch below the top grade, is justified by the “resilient” US economy, flexible monetary policy and the nation’s unique position as the issuer of the global currency of reserve, It said in a statement. S&P said the high level of US government debt and uncertainty about the future of economic policy constrains the rating, even while it also affirmed a “stable” outlook.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Pinterest raises US$150m
Pinterest Inc raised US$150 million in venture funding from a group of existing investors at the same share price as two years ago, the company said on Tuesday. The last fundraising round was in April 2015, valuing the business at about US$11 billion. Because the number of shares in the company has grown, the new valuation is US$12.3 billion, Pinterest said. By raising money, Pinterest is choosing to delay a potential initial public offering as its business model matures. The company makes money by selling ads that look like posts on its site.
REAL ESTATE
Emaar plans debut
Emaar Properties PJSC, the Dubai-based developer of the world’s tallest skyscraper, plans to sell as much as 30 percent of its real-estate development business in the United Arab Emirates in an initial public offering. The funds raised are primarily to be distributed as dividends to Emaar’s shareholders, the company said in a statement yesterday. Emaar shares jumped as much as 7.1 percent, the most since January last year, in Dubai trading. The shares of the unit will also be listed on the Dubai Financial Market and the sale is subject to market conditions. The debut would be the largest in the UAE since Emaar Malls PJSC raised US$1.58 billion in an offering in 2014.
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
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
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