TRADE
German imports hit record
The German trade surplus, one of the world’s largest, narrowed slightly to 245 billion euros (US$299.80 billion) last year from a record 253 billion euros in 2016, as imports outpaced exports, official data showed yesterday. Imports climbed 8.3 percent to an all-time high of 1.03 trillion euros, while exports rose at a slightly slower clip of 6.3 percent to 1.3 trillion — also a fresh record, the federal statistics authority Destatis said in a statement.
BANKING
Brazil cuts benchmark rate
The Brazilian central bank on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate to a new low of 6.75 percent, but hinted it was now done with a historic easing cycle. The bank lowered the Selic rate by 0.25 percentage points, its 11th consecutive cut aimed at helping Latin America’s largest economy emerge from a stifling two-year recession. The rate now stands at about half of what it was at the end of 2016, thanks to a strong fall in inflation in a nation historically dogged by surging prices.
MEDIA
LA paper sells for US$500m
A biotech billionaire on Wednesday struck a US$500 million deal to buy the Los Angeles Times, ending the newspaper’s quarrelsome relationship with its Chicago-based corporate overseers and bringing it under local ownership for the first time in 18 years. The agreement between Los Angeles medical entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong and Tronc Inc represents the latest instance of a rich, civic-minded individual purchasing a newspaper from a big corporation. The deal includes the purchase of the San Diego Union-Tribune and some other publications and the assumption of US$90 million in pension liabilities.
BANKING
Lying Rabobank unit settles
Dutch lender Rabobank’s California unit on Wednesday agreed to pay US$369 million to settle allegations that it lied to regulators investigating allegations of laundering money from Mexican drug sales and organized crime through branches in small towns on the Mexico border. The subsidiary, Rabobank National Association, said it does not dispute that it accepted at least US$369 million in illegal proceeds from drug trafficking and other activities from 2009 to 2012. It pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the US for participating in a cover-up when regulators began asking questions in 2013.
ENERGY
Total net profit jumps 39%
French oil and gas giant Total yesterday said that recovering oil prices and increased production gave profits a welcome boost last year. Total said in a statement that its net profit jumped 39 percent to US$8.6 billion last year. When adjusted for one-off and volatile items, the bottom-line profit figure advanced 28 percent to US$10.6 billion, the statement said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Soros funds halt-Brexit
Billionaire George Soros contributed £400,000 (US$554,840) through his foundations to a campaign group that is seeking to halt Brexit, group chairman Mark Malloch-Brown, a former diplomat who is chair of the Best for Britain campaign group, said on Wednesday. Best for Britain aims to halt Brexit and secure a rerun of the 2016 referendum on EU membership. Soros’ contributions to the group were first reported in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last