FINANCE
UBS Trader jailed for fraud
UBS trader Kweku Adoboli was jailed for seven years on Tuesday for the biggest fraud in British history, which cost the Swiss bank US$2.3 billion. The 32-year-old had admitted trading far in excess of authorized risk limits and booking fictitious trades to hide his true positions, but said everything he did was to make profits for UBS and was in line with the bank’s culture. Tom Naratil, the bank’s chief financial officer, told the court during the trial that Adoboli’s losses had precipitated some job cuts and led to smaller bonuses for remaining staff. UBS has now axed 10,000 jobs and plans to wind down much of its investment bank. It says that is not linked to the Adoboli case, but bank sources say it would not have happened without the management shake-up caused by the rogue trading scandal.
BANKING
Philippine bank eyes deal
Bank of the Philippine Islands is in talks with billionaire Lucio Tan (陳永裁), who controls Philippine National Bank and Allied Banking Corp, on a deal that could create the nation’s largest lender. “We confirm discussions with the Lucio Tan Group,” Bank of the Philippine Islands said in a stock-exchange disclosure. Philippine National confirmed the talks in a separate filing. Shares of both banks were suspended in Manila trading yesterday upon their requests, the stock exchange said. Philippine Daily Inquirer reported yesterday that Bank of the Philippine Islands is in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in Philippine National Bank. The two banks had a combined market value of 370 billion pesos (US$8.9 million) as of Tuesday.
TECHNOLOGY
Toshiba unveils safety robot
Toshiba Corp’s four-legged robot is designed to help at the meltdown-crippled Japanese nuclear plant, climbing over debris and venturing into radiated areas off-limits to human workers. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the utility that operates the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, said it was considering using the robot to look at a highly radiated part of the plant called the suppression chamber. Toshiba, which also makes reactors, said it was ready to go if TEPCO said so.
RETAIL
Sales fall in South Korea
Sales at major South Korean department stores declined for a fifth month last month as the slowest economic growth in three years damped sentiment. Outlays at the three biggest chains declined 0.4 percent from a year earlier last month after a 0.8 percent drop in September, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said yesterday. Discount-store sales declined 6.6 percent last month, the report showed. South Koreans may still wait until after a presidential vote next month and for a budget compromise in the US before spending more, said Lee Sang Jae, a Seoul-based economist at Hyundai Securities Co.
FOOD
Hostess negotiations fail
Hostess Brands Inc, the maker of Twinkies and other snack cakes, said late on Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second-biggest union. As a result, Hostess was set to continue with a hearing yesterday in which a bankruptcy court judge in White Plains, New York, will decide if the company can shutter its operations. The renewed talks between Hostess and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union came after the company declared last week that it would move to wind down its business and start selling off its assets in bankruptcy court.
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
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
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