PHILIPPINES
Casino fee backed
The government’s tax research unit said that it supports pending bills in the nation’s Congress to charge entrance fees in casinos and tax lottery winnings because horse racing, another form of gambling, is taxed, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported yesterday on its Web site. The Department of Finance’s National Tax Research Center backs a 3,500 pesos (US$74) entrance fee for casinos, the newspaper said, citing the center’s “Profile and Taxation of Selected Gambling and Betting Activities in the Philippines.”
AVIATION
Cathay Pacific hit with fine
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd was fined almost 500,000 euros (US$547,000) for what a French court termed irregular pay practices concerning pilots operating European routes for the Hong Kong-based airline. The penalty was imposed after union complaints that crew stationed at Charles de Gaulle airport were not being recognized by Cathay as based in France.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Valeant CEO hospitalized
The chief executive of embattled Canadian pharmaceutical company Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, J. Michael Pearson, has been admitted to hospital for “severe” pneumonia, a spokeswoman said on Friday. It has been a challenging few months for the Canadian drug maker, which has been the target of concerns over its pricing and distribution policies. Valeant has rejected all accusations that it has engaged in deceptive business practices.
UKRAINE
Budget deficit adopted
The nation’s parliament on Friday adopted a budget for next year with a deficit of 3 percent of GDP, crucial for unlocking much-needed aid from the IMF and Western countries. The budget was passed after an acrimonious all-night debate and was finally approved by 263 lawmakers, about 40 more than the minimum required number. This move is crucial in unlocking the release of a delayed US$1.7 billion loan from the IMF and other Western aid.
INVESTMENT
Singha eyes Vietnam market
Singha Asia Holding Pte Ltd is investing US$1.1 billion in Masan Group Corp’s consumer and brewery units to take advantage of Vietnam’s young and growing middle class, the companies said in a joint statement on Friday. Singha, a privately held unit of Thailand’s Boon Rawd Brewery, is to acquire 25 percent of Masan Consumer and 33.3 percent of Masan Brewery in a transaction comprised entirely of new capital that is expected to close in January, according to the statement.
AUTOMAKERS
Ferrari recalls cars in US
Ferrari North America Inc has recalled next year’s California T convertibles that it made over a two-month period this year because of the risk of fuel leaks. The California Ts might have a low-pressure fuel line that does not connect properly to the fuel-pump feed pipe, creating a fire risk, the US National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday. The company has notified owners of the 185 luxury cars potentially affected and dealers are to replace the low-pressure fuel assembly at no cost, the advisory said.
PERSISTENT RUMORS: Nvidia’s CEO said the firm is not in talks to sell AI chips to China, but he would welcome a change in US policy barring the activity Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company is not in discussions to sell its Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese firms, waving off speculation it is trying to engineer a return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Huang, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of meetings with longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), took the opportunity to clarify recent comments about the US-China AI race. The Nvidia head caused a stir in an interview this week with the Financial Times, in which he was quoted as saying “China will win” the AI race. Huang yesterday said
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
MORE WEIGHT: The national weighting was raised in one index while holding steady in two others, while several companies rose or fell in prominence MSCI Inc, a global index provider, has raised Taiwan’s weighting in one of its major indices and left the country’s weighting unchanged in two other indices after a regular index review. In a statement released on Thursday, MSCI said it has upgraded Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index by 0.02 percentage points to 2.25 percent, while maintaining the weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the most closely watched by foreign institutional investors, at 20.46 percent. Additionally, the index provider has left Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index unchanged at 23.15 percent. The latest index adjustments are to
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