TRADE
China launches steel probe
Beijing has launched a trade investigation of steel from Europe and South Korea, potentially complicating efforts to recruit them as allies in its tariff dispute with US President Donald Trump. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said that it would look into whether some stainless steel products from the EU, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia are sold at improperly low prices and should be subject to anti-dumping duties. The announcement came as Beijing tries to rally foreign support in its dispute with Trump over the US’ tariff hikes imposed in response to complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Chinese leaders have tried, so far in vain, to appeal to European leaders and South Korean businesspeople by promising to increase imports — a step that would be set back if duties on steel increased.
BANKING
Barclays eyes India retail
Barclays PLC is considering a return to consumer banking in India as it seeks to deploy more of the capital it holds in the South Asian unit, people familiar with the matter said. The UK bank, which decided to pull out of the business in 2011, aims to rebuild the retail banking operation in Asia’s third-largest economy through digital channels, the people said. Barclaycard International chief executive Barry Rodrigues would oversee the platform, which would mobilize deposits and offer loans electronically, the people said. Barclays is reentering some businesses and markets in the Asia-Pacific region as CEO Jes Staley puts an era of restructuring behind him. The Indian retail business model would not require any additional capital infusion from the parent company because the amount that it holds in the nation would be enough for its growth plans there, the people said.
PRIVATE BANKING
UBS not to raise threshold
UBS Group AG has no plans to follow other banks and raise the US$2 million threshold for access to its private banking services, UBS China head of global wealth management Marina Lui said. “This is not under discussion,” Lui said in an interview in Hong Kong when asked about moves by other banks to raise the minimums required from private clients. Other wealth managers have raised their thresholds over the past few years, as tighter regulation and higher compliance costs have pushed banks to focus on higher-value clients. Standard Chartered PLC and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp’s (華僑銀行) Bank of Singapore have both announced plans to raise the minimum assets required from their private clients from US$2 million to US$5 million.
INVESTMENT
Julius Baer new money slows
Julius Baer Group Ltd, Switzerland’s third-largest wealth manager, is counting on faster hiring to boost growth after net new money slowed under chief executive Bernhard Hodler. The Zurich-based private bank added 10 billion Swiss francs (US$10.08 billion) in the first six months, a slower pace than a year ago, although within the bank’s target range. Net new money is a closely watched figure as an indicator for future revenue. The wealth manager hired 79 relationship managers, just short of its target for the entire year. While the firm has enjoyed stellar growth through high-profile acquisitions and a hiring spree, analysts are questioning whether Hodler can sustain the success of former CEO Boris Collardi, who left for rival Pictet Group. The bank has also been grappling with cost and margin pressures.
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
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day