■BANKING
Citigroup fixing iPhone flaw
Banking giant Citigroup on Monday released an update to stop its iPhone mobile banking software from secretly squirreling away basic account and transaction data. “During a recent review, we discovered that our US Citi Mobile iPhone banking app was accidentally saving information related to customer accounts in a hidden file on their iPhones,” Citigroup said in a release. “This information may also have been saved on their computer if they had been synchronizing their iPhone with their computer via iTunes,” it said. “We have no reason to believe that our customers’ personal information has been accessed or used inappropriately by anyone,” Citigroup said. “There has been no data breach.”
■STEEL
JFE to buy stake in JSW
Japan’s JFE Holdings said yesterday its steel unit plans to buy a stake of nearly 15 percent in India’s JSW Steel for about US$1 billion as it looks to boost its presence in the fast-growing market. The Japanese company will also provide technology support and expertise in automobile steel production, with carmakers increasingly looking to assemble vehicles in India for the local market. “With this capital link, the two companies will expand their relations and consider joint projects,” a JFE statement said. JFE also announced a fiscal first-quarter net profit of ¥27.9 billion (US$322 million,) compared with a ¥41.6 billion loss in the same period a year earlier, thanks to cost reductions and improving demand.
■SOFTWARE
SAP Q2 net profit up 15%
German professional software giant SAP yesterday reported a 15 percent jump in second-quarter net profit to 491 million euros (US$638 million). Sales of software and related services gained 16 percent to 2.26 billion euros, a statement added. SAP said it had also completed a cash tender for outstanding shares in its Sybase unit, which focuses on database, information management and mobile activities. For the first six months of this year, SAP posted a net profit of 878 million euros, up from 622 million euros in the first half of last year.
■MANAGEMENT
Oracle CEO tops pay: ‘WSJ’
Oracle Corp founder and chief executive Larry Ellison topped the list of best-paid executives of the decade with US$1.84 billion, a Wall Street Journal report said on Monday. The 65-year-old software pioneer, who founded Oracle in 1977, beat Internet tycoon Barry Diller into second place. Diller received US$1.14 billion from IAC/Interactive and Expedia Inc, the online travel site IAC spun off in 2005, where he remains chairman. Occidental Petroleum Corp CEO Ray Irani came in third place, with US$857 million, followed by Apple’s Steve Jobs with US$749 million and Capital One Financial Corp CEO Richard Fairbank with US$569 million.
■SECURITIES
China okays Everbright IPO
China’s securities regulator has given the green light to China Everbright Bank’s (光大銀行) planned initial public offering, which could raise up to 20 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion). The decision by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, announced late on Monday, comes as state-owned banks seek to raise billions of yuan to meet increased capital requirements following a lending binge last year. Mid-sized lender Everbright plans to issue up to 6.1 billion shares at the Shanghai listing, according to a draft prospectus for the initial public offering.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary