INVESTMENT
First Lehman share sold
The first share ever issued by former merchant bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, whose collapse in September 2008 sparked the world economic and financial crisis, fetched 24,000 euros (US$33,000) at an auction in Germany on Saturday. The share, issued by the bank on May 31, 1994, used to hang over the manager’s desk at Lehman Brothers and was put up for sale by specialist auction house Historisches Wertpapierhaus at a starting price of 5,000 euros. Numbered LB0001, the share measuring 30cm by 20cm was issued to the bank’s boss at the time, Richard Fuld. It was sold earlier this year in a mixed lot of financial paper in the US, before being offered as a single item to the Wuerzburg--based auctioneers.
AUTOMAKERS
GM recalls Pontiacs
General Motors Co is recalling more than 38,000 Pontiac G8 models in order to reprogram airbag modules for the front passenger seats, the US automaker said on Saturday. The airbag modules for vehicles built for the 2008 and 2009 model years might not be in compliance with US federal standards for head injury protection of some passengers, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall notice. The recall affects 38,444 Pontiac G8 models, which were manufactured in Australia and imported to the US. The issue was discovered in Australia during testing. There have been no crashes, injuries or complaints related to the airbag issue, the statement said, but the company found that in case of a crash, the air-bag sensor could be delayed and put some passengers at increased risk of head injury.
FRANCE
‘Rigorous’ budget ahead
Prime Minister Francois Fillon has warned the nation that belts must tighten next year to reduce the debt. He said on Saturday that next year’s budget “will be one of the most rigorous France has known since 1945.” Fillon spoke ahead of a meeting called by President Nicolas Sarkozy with a small group of ministers to plot measures aimed at filling public coffers with up to 8 billion euros more in funds. A plan could be announced today after a special Cabinet meeting. Sarkozy, expected to seek a new mandate in next year’s presidential elections, wants to keep the country’s excellent credit rating amid Europe’s debt crisis. The G20 summit he hosted failed to deliver funds to ease the panic.
CHINA
Business abroad assessed
The government is drafting rules to regulate local companies’ foreign investments, said Zhang Xiaoqiang (張曉強), deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission. The country will increase loans and financial support to encourage companies to invest abroad, he said. Meanwhile, Beijing is in talks with “relative parties” to study railway and port construction projects in western Australia, Luo Tiejun (駱鐵軍), deputy director of raw materials department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in Tianjin yesterday.
SOUTH KOREA
Lenders to refund borrowers
The nation’s financial watchdog said four domestic loan companies, including A&P Financial Co, lent money at rates above the permitted level and should give money back to customers. The Financial Supervisory Service told the companies yesterday to immediately return a total of 3.06 billion won (US$2.8 million) in excess interest payments to customers.
Napoleon Osorio is proud of being the first taxi driver to have accepted payment in bitcoin in the first country in the world to make the cryptocurrency legal tender: El Salvador. He credits Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s decision to bank on bitcoin three years ago with changing his life. “Before I was unemployed... And now I have my own business,” said the 39-year-old businessman, who uses an app to charge for rides in bitcoin and now runs his own car rental company. Three years ago the leader of the Central American nation took a huge gamble when he put bitcoin
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips should spur growth for the semiconductor industry over the next few years, the CEO of a major supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said, dismissing concerns that investors had misjudged the pace and extent of spending on AI. While the global chip market has grown about 8 percent annually over the past 20 years, AI semiconductors should grow at a much higher rate going forward, Scientech Corp (辛耘) chief executive officer Hsu Ming-chi (許明琪) told Bloomberg Television. “This booming of the AI industry has just begun,” Hsu said. “For the most prominent
PARTNERSHIPS: TSMC said it has been working with multiple memorychip makers for more than two years to provide a full spectrum of solutions to address AI demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it has been collaborating with multiple memorychip makers in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications for more than two years, refuting South Korean media report's about an unprecedented partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. As Samsung is competing with TSMC for a bigger foundry business, any cooperation between the two technology heavyweights would catch the eyes of investors and experts in the semiconductor industry. “We have been working with memory partners, including Micron, Samsung Memory and SK Hynix, on HBM solutions for more than two years, aiming to advance 3D integrated circuit
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