TRADE
PRC buys US pork, soybeans
Beijing yesterday said that it had bought a “considerable” amount of US pork and soybeans, the latest sign of conciliation between the two nations. “Recently Chinese enterprises have ... started price inquiry and purchases of US agricultural products, and have also completed a transaction of soybeans and pork of considerable size with the US,” Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng (高峰) told a press briefing.
BANKING
ABN Amro being probed
Dutch prosecutors are investigating alleged money laundering at ABN Amro, saying that they suspect the lender had failed to report or probe suspicious transactions for years. Prosecutors yesterday said they believe ABN Amro reported suspicious transactions too late or not at all over a long period, adding that the bank failed to properly investigate client behavior and did not sever ties with suspect clients in a timely fashion. Prosecutors said the probe was based on information provided by the Dutch central bank, which earlier this year ordered ABN to review all local retail clients for possible money laundering or other criminal activities.
SINGAPORE
Factory output dives
Factory output last month plunged far more than economists predicted, in a sign that the city-state’s manufacturing downturn could be worsening. Industrial production dropped 8 percent from a year earlier, worse than all the forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists, making it the biggest contraction this year, including June’s revised 7.9 percent decline. It shrank 7.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis. US-China and Japan-South Korea trade tensions, as well as a broader slowdown in China and elsewhere, continue to weigh on Singapore, where the government has slashed its full-year growth forecast to nearly zero.
INTERNET
Baidu to sell some of Ctrip
Baidu Inc (百度) is selling about one-third of its stake in online travel Web site Ctrip.com International Ltd (攜程旅行網), generating about US$1 billion to counter a slowing economy and intensifying competition in its key advertising business. Ctrip yesterday announced a proposed secondary offering of 31.3 million American depositary receipts held by Baidu. That represents about 30 percent of its stake in Ctrip and is equivalent to about US$1 billion based on Ctrip’s current share price. Baidu is to remain Ctrip’s largest shareholder, with a 19 percent stake.
INDIA
Fiscal gap to widen: Fitch
The nation’s combined fiscal gap, including states’ deficits, is seen widening to the highest in about eight years, as the government boosts measures to stimulate a slowing economy. The general government deficit is seen at 7.5 percent of GDP in the year to March, Fitch Ratings said. Fitch’s reading is well above the “BBB” category median of 1.9 percent.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Glaxo targets RSV vaccine
GlaxoSmithKline PLC is taking aim at respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which kills tens of thousands of children each year. Experimental shots targeting RSV are the top pipeline priority for Glaxo’s vaccines unit, senior vice president for research and development Emmanuel Hanon said in an interview yesterday. Glaxo plans to move those vaccines into the final stage of testing by the end of next year, he said.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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