BANKING
Swiss to track EU citizens
Switzerland has signed a preliminary agreement with the EU that would make it much harder for the 28-nation bloc’s citizens to evade taxes by hiding money in Swiss vaults. The deal initialed in Brussels on Thursday envisages that both sides would start collecting bank account data on each other’s citizens from 2017 and begin exchanging that information a year later. The Swiss government said in a statement that the agreement “will make an important contribution to the prevention of tax evasion.”
MACROECONOMICS
Russia says inflation at peak
Inflation in Russia has hit a zenith of about 17 percent, Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday, as the economic crisis roiling the country takes its toll. “The peak in inflation has not passed but we have reached the highest point and will probably stay at this level for some time,” Ulyukayev was reported as saying by Russian news agencies. “I think that for quite a long time, a month and a half or two months it will be at around 17 percent.”
MACROECONOMICS
China to grow 7%: OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) yesterday forecast the Chinese economy would grow 7 percent this year. China’s economy has embarked on what its leaders have taken to calling the “new normal,” meaning that the growth trajectory is slowing, with more sustainable expansion based on a growing consumer class, as in other major countries. The organization predicts growth of 6.9 percent in China next year.
BANKING
Banco de Sabadell buys TSB
TSB Banking Group PLC, a division of Britain’s bailed-out lender Lloyds Banking Group, has accepted a ￡1.7 billion (US$2.51 billion) takeover from Spain’s Banco de Sabadell SA, the two banks said yesterday. The two lenders have agreed terms on the bid which was pitched at ￡0.34 per share they said in a statement. Lloyds, which is 23 percent state-owned after a bailout at the height of the global financial crisis, is to sell its remaining 50 percent stake in TSB, which it floated on the London stock market nine months ago.
GAMING
PlayStation on sale in China
Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp yesterday launched its PlayStation gaming console in China, where authorities impose strict controls on content, but some popular titles including Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty were not available. The launch of Sony’s PlayStation 4 consoles, originally planned for January, makes it the second foreign company in the Chinese gaming market after Microsoft Corp, which launched its Xbox One in September last year.
SPORTING GOODS
Nike profit beats estimates
Nike Inc, the world’s largest sporting-goods maker, posted third-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, helped by demand in North America. Net income in the quarter ended Feb. 28 rose 16 percent to US$791 million, or US$0.89 per share, from US$682 million, or US$0.75 a year earlier, the Beaverton, Oregon-based company said on Thursday in a statement. The average of 27 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg was US$0.84.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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