BANKING
Techcombank eyes IPO
Techcombank, the Vietnamese lender backed by Warburg Pincus, and some investors are poised to raise about 21 trillion dong (US$922 million) in a domestic initial public offering (IPO), people with knowledge of the matter said. The bank is planning to price the sale of 164.1 million shares at 128,000 dong each, the top end of a marketed range, the people said. A US$922 million deal would be Vietnam’s biggest initial equity offering ever, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Techcombank, formally known as Vietnam Technological & Commercial Joint Stock Bank, aims for its shares to begin trading on June 4.
MINERS
Glencore unit to be dissolved
Glencore PLC said the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) state-owned mining company began legal proceedings to dissolve one of its subsidiaries because of a capital shortfall. The Baar, Switzerland-based company said it has several options to remedy the deficit at Kamoto Copper Co (KCC), according to a statement issued on Sunday. Possible courses of action include the conversion of a portion of debt owed by KCC to Katanga Mining Co, the Toronto-listed company that controls KCC, or forgiving that debt, it said. Heavy levels of debt at mining companies are a heated issue in the DRC, the world’s largest source of cobalt and Africa’s biggest copper producer.
IRAN
Bitcoin banned for lenders
The government yesterday banned the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by banks and financial institutions amid ongoing debate over how best to regulate the technology. The government’s money-laundering committee had taken the decision in late December last year and it was now being put into effect, it said. The ban came because “all cryptocurrencies have the capacity to be turned into a means for money laundering and financing terrorism, and in general can be turned into a means for transferring criminals’ money,” it added. Many in the country see great potential in digital currencies as a way to overcome problems related to international sanctions and difficulties facing the country’s ailing banks.
COMPUTERS
Lenovo sinks on ZTE ban
Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) sank to its lowest level since 2009 as a US ban on ZTE Corp (中興) undermined sentiment toward China’s technology sector. The company’s shares dropped 3.4 percent in Hong Kong as of 11:50am. The MSCI China Technology Index slipped 0.8 percent. ZTE shares have been suspended from trading since the US government last week imposed a seven-year ban on its purchases of crucial US components. Bears are targeting Lenovo in particular amid doubts that a company once regarded as a potential challenger to Apple Inc might not be able to revive itself.
ECONOMY
Eurozone keeps steady
Economic momentum in the eurozone kept a steady pace this month after softening earlier in the year, in a sign that growth in the region is set to continue, albeit at a slower pace. A composite Purchasing Managers’ Index remained unchanged at 55.2, IHS Markit said yesterday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted a decline to 54.8. While activity in services picked up, growth in manufacturing slowed to the weakest in more than a year. Slower growth in new orders, as well as weakened optimism about the business outlook, suggests output could decelerate further in coming months, IHS Markit said.
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
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure