Ex-TSMC boss gets jail time
A former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) manager was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his part in an insider-trading scheme involving Primary Global Research LLC.
Manosha Karunatilaka, of Marlborough, Massachusetts, who worked as an account manager for TSMC, pleaded guilty in May to accepting about US$35,000 to pass material, nonpublic information about the company’s orders while also working as a consultant for Primary Global.
His lawyer, Brad Bailey, had asked US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan for a one-year sentence, with six months in prison and six months of home confinement.
“I want to say how sorry I am for my conduct,” Karunatilaka, 37, told Rakoff.
An analyst at an unidentified New York-based hedge fund, which used Primary Global’s services, spoke to Karunatilaka frequently from 2008 to last year, prosecutors said in court papers. In May 2009, acting on a recommendation from Karunatilaka to bet that TSMC shares would fall, the fund made a profit of about US$1.7 million, the US said.
Auto center sees successes
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said Hua-chuang Automobile Information Technical Center (華創車電), an automaker initiated by the government, had successfully generated an output value of NT$53.35 billion (US$1.8 billion) and created more than 4,000 jobs since its inception in 2005.
The center has attracted as many as 195 partnering companies and successfully produced the first Taiwanese automobile brand, Luxgen. Luxgen’s multi-purpose vehicle model was developed in August 2008; its sports and utility vehicle model was developed in December 2008; and its sedan model was introduced in August last year, the statement said.
The center was established in December 2005 by Yulon Group (裕隆集團) and other stakeholders from the tech industry including HTC Corp (宏達電) and E-ton Solar Tech Co (益通光能).
With the inception of the center, the government aims to combine Taiwan’s technology know-how into automobile production and allow Taiwanese firms to have the capability of producing a car.
Chinatrust plans bond issue
Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀) plans to issue NT$12.9 billion of unsecured subordinated bonds in two tranches on Sept. 27, parent Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The lender plans to issue NT$8.9 billion of seven-year debt at a coupon of 1.8 percent per annum, the statement said.
The coupon rate of NT$4 billion of 10-year bonds will be 1.95 percent for the first three years and 0.55 percentage point over the benchmark rate for the remaining years, it said.
The proceeds will be used to redeem 2006-2 financial debentures before their maturity, the company said.
NT dollar ends losing run
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.051 to close at NT$29.584, snapping a nine-day decline on a robust rebound in the local stock market, dealers said.
The central bank was believed to have intervened in late trade to help the greenback recoup part of its early losses, in a bid to protect Taiwan’s exports, dealers said.
A rebound by the South Korean won against the US dollar on eased concerns over the debt problems in Europe added downward pressure on the greenback in the local foreign exchange market, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$928 million during the trading session.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
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