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.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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