BANKING
Deutsche mulls bad-bank unit
Deutsche Bank AG is considering setting up a bad-bank unit that could eventually hold as much as 50 billion euros (US$56 billion) of risk-weighted assets, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. As part of the revamp, which is not finalized, Deutsche Bank’s equity and rates-trading businesses outside of Europe would be shrunk or closed entirely, according to the report. Managers are also set to unveil a new focus on transaction banking and private wealth management, the newspaper said. The proposed bad bank, known internally as the non-core asset unit, would be comprised mainly of long-dated derivatives.
ENERGY
Inpex reaches LNG deal
Japan’s Inpex Corp reached a new deal with Indonesia on the US$20 billion Abadi liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. A heads of agreement between the two includes an extension of the company’s contract to operate the Masela block by 27 years until 2055, Inpex president Takayuki Ueda told reporters on Sunday at a G20 energy and environment meeting in Japan. Inpex would start front-end engineering and design work after the government approves its development plan, which it would submit within weeks. A final investment decision is expected in two to three years, with output to begin in the second half of next decade, he said.
THAILAND
Clooney faker arrested
Police said they have arrested an Italian man wanted in his home country after he fled a jail sentence for fraudulently using the name of actor George Clooney to lure people into investing in a bogus clothing company. The Crime Suppression Division said in a statement that Francesco Galdeli, 58, was arrested on Saturday near the city of Pattaya on suspicion of staying in the country illegally. Also arrested was Vanja Goffi, 45, on suspicion of overstaying her visa. Interpol notice had been issued for Galdeli and he was arrested at an address provided by Italian authorities, Thai authorities said in a statement on Sunday.
DEVELOPERS
Kier to cut 1,200 jobs
Kier Group PLC plans to cut 1,200 jobs and exit its homebuilding and property maintenance businesses as chief executive officer Andrew Davies tries to lower debt by reversing the rapid expansion that put the British engineering group’s finances under pressure. The overhaul, which also includes the suspension of dividend payouts for this year and next, is expected to generate annual savings of £55 million (US$69 million) from 2021, the Bedfordshire, England-based company said in a statement yesterday. Kier shares fell as much as 13 percent in early trading.
AUTOMAKERS
VW workers reject union
Workers at Volkswagen AG’s (VW) plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Friday night voted against forming a factory-wide union, handing a setback to the United Auto Workers’ efforts to gain a foothold among foreign auto facilities in the US South. The vote of hourly workers began on Wednesday and concluded on Friday. Preliminary results showed 833 employees voted against representation and 776 voted for it, the German automaker said in a statement. VW said about 93 percent of the about 1,700 eligible employees voted. “Our employees have spoken,” Volkswagen Chattanooga president and chief executive officer Frank Fischer said in the statement.
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