BANKING
Forced divestment unlikely
Australian banks are likely to get out of their wealth-management businesses without the need for government to force divestment, according to the head of a parliamentary banking inquiry. “You will see over time banks will get out of their wealth management businesses because it is an area that has caused them problems and it’s a relatively small proportion of their business,” ruling Liberal Party lawmaker David Coleman told Sky News Australia yesterday. “I’m not sure I would support forced divestment.”
EGYPT
Inflation eased last month
The nation’s inflation eased last month, signaling that the surge in prices that followed the government’s latest round of subsidy cuts may have peaked. The annual rate for urban areas dropped to 31.9 percent from 33 percent in July, according to data released yesterday by the official statistics agency. Prices rose 1.1 percent on the month, compared with 3.2 percent in July, a month after fuel and utility prices were raised.
TRADE
HK-ASEAN pact ready
Hong Kong and ASEAN will sign a free-trade agreement (FTA) and a related investment agreement in November, according to a statement issued by the territory’s government on Saturday. The agreements are comprehensive in scope and would give the territory greater access to the ASEAN markets, create new business opportunities and enhance trade and investment flows, according to Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau (邱騰華). The trade negotiations between Hong Kong and ASEAN started in July 2014 and were completed in July this year.
FOREIGN RESERVES
China sees more gains
China’s foreign-exchange reserves posted a seventh straight gain last month as the yuan rose in its best monthly performance in at least a decade. The stockpile climbed US$11 billion to US$3.09 trillion, the People’s Bank of China said on Thursday. The figure is compared with a US$3.1 trillion estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Reserves denominated in the IMF reserve currency known as Special Drawing Rights were at SDR 2.19 trillion, little changed from July.
INVESTMENT
MIT portfolio gains 14.3%
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) posted an investment gain of 14.3 percent in fiscal 2017 as the endowment’s value reached US$14.8 billion. The school’s investment management company oversees a total of US$23.3 billion of endowment, retirement and operating funds, according to a statement on Friday. MIT, based in Cambridge, posted a gain of 0.8 percent last year. Its endowment is the sixth-largest in higher education in the US, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The value of the fund increased 12.1 percent in the 12 months through June 30.
INVESTMENT
CVC eyes Middle East
CVC Capital Partners is considering its first investment in the Middle East as Europe’s largest private equity firm works to expand its business into new areas. The London-based buyout firm has considered potential targets including United Arab Emirates-based shisha maker Al Fakher Tobacco Trading as well as education companies, people familiar with the matter said. It was also considering a bid for a stake in Emaar Properties PJSC’s entertainment division.
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
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
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks