■INSURANCE
Taiwan AIG deal approved
Bank of East Asia Ltd (東亞銀行) said it has received regulatory approval to buy American International Group Inc’s wealth management services in Taiwan. The Hong Kong-listed bank received approval from the Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs for the acquisition, the company said in a statement. The bank said it expected the transaction to be completed by the end of this month.
■SECURITIES
President plans joint venture
President Securities Corp (統一證券) plans to set up a brokerage joint venture with Xiamen C&D Inc (廈門建發) of China, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday, citing an unnamed official with the Fujian provincial government. President Securities opened a representative office in Xiamen in September last year. The Taiwanese brokerage said it was still discussing the plan with Xiamen C&D, the newspaper said. The joint venture will be made public only after the two sides sign memorandums of understanding on financial supervisory, the paper said.
■SECURITIES
China bans trader
China’s securities regulator permanently banned Zhang Ye (張野), a former fund manager at Rongtong Fund Management Co (融通基金), from entering the nation’s capital market after finding him guilty of illegal trading. When a fund manager, Zhang misused trading and research information from Rongtong to benefit himself and other people between 2007 and this February, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement on its Web site on Friday. Zhang will be fined 4 million yuan (US$585,100) and the 2.3 million yuan he gained from illegal trading will be confiscated, the statement said.
■TELECOMS
Nokia to buy Nortel business
Canadian telecommunications company Nortel that has been in bankruptcy protection since January announced on Friday that it will sell most of its wireless business to Nokia Siemens Networks for US$650 million. In addition, Nortel announced that it is advancing in its discussions with other parties to sell its other businesses. Nortel will apply to delist its common shares from trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the company said in a statement.
■AUTOMOTIVE
Objections may stall GM
A group of General Motors Corp (GM) bondholders and some of the automaker’s labor unions filed objections on Friday to GM’s plan to sell its assets to a new company that can emerge from bankruptcy protection. Their opposition, along with additional objections filed by consumer groups, a handful of states and cities, and individual retirees, shareholders and bondholders, threatens to put the brakes on what has so far been a speedy trip through the bankruptcy process.
■ENERGY
Total sacks 647 strikers
Strikes spread to energy facilities across Britain Friday after almost 650 workers were sacked at an oil refinery after they called a wildcat strike, unions said. French oil giant Total, the owner of the Lindsey refinery in Lincolnshire, eastern England, said it had sent termination letters to 647 workers, after previous reports said that 900 would be affected. The dispute deepened when talks to try to resolve it failed to take place.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
Industrial production expanded 22.31 percent annually last month to 107.51, as increases in demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove demand for locally-made chips and components. The manufacturing production index climbed 23.68 percent year-on-year to 108.37, marking the 14th consecutive month of increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. In the first four months of this year, industrial and manufacturing production indices expanded 14.31 percent and 15.22 percent year-on-year, ministry data showed. The growth momentum is to extend into this month, with the manufacturing production index expected to rise between 11 percent and 15.1 percent annually, Department of Statistics
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
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