BANKING
Mizuho seeks foreign income
Mizuho Financial Group Inc wants to grow its business managing overseas corporate money by US$100 billion this fiscal year, as it seeks new ways to boost international earnings at a time of negative interest rates at home. “We’re expanding with a focus on the cross-border transactions of non-Japanese corporations doing business in Asia,” Zenichi Tanakamaru, a senior vice president in Mizuho’s global corporate department, said in an interview. He hopes the push into transaction businesses — which include cash management and trade finance services for corporate clients —will help to boost the volume of foreign exchange Mizuho handles by 20 percent in the year to March 31, from US$500 billion in the previous fiscal year.
BANKING
Morgan Stanly JP profits rise
Morgan Stanley beat Goldman Sachs Group Inc to become the most profitable foreign securities firm in Japan last fiscal year after it boosted structured-product sales and managed the two biggest initial public offerings. Net income at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co rose 32 percent to ￥29 billion (US$264 million) in the year that ended on March 31, the most among 10 large global banks, according to regulatory filings seen by Bloomberg. The venture with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc and controlled by the New York-based firm posted its biggest revenue in three years as Japan’s introduction of negative interest rates prompted clients to seek assets with better returns than government bonds. It also underwrote the debut share sales of Kyushu Railway Co and Line Corp, the largest in Japan last year.
AUTOMAKERS
VW to offer huge discounts
Volkswagen on Tuesday said it would offer cash incentives of up to 10,000 euros (US$11,740) to trade in old diesel cars, as Germany struggles to reduce harmful emissions following a cheating scandal. The brand said it would offer buyers trading in an old diesel a discount on cars meeting the latest Euro 6 emissions standard, ranging from 2,000 euros on its compact cars to 10,000 euros for a Touareg SUV. The carmaker also proposed an additional discount of between 1,000 and 2,380 euros for those buying more environmentally friendly hybrid, all-electric or natural-gas-powered vehicles.
COMMODITIES
Cocoa traders arrested
Three former executives of a major cocoa company were arrested on Tuesday on charges that they defrauded lenders out of hundreds of millions of dollars by lying repeatedly about the company’s financial condition. Acting Manhattan US Attorney Joon Kim announced the arrests of executives of Transmar Commodity Group Ltd, saying evidence against the men included e-mails in which they discussed using fake financial records to maintain a US$250 million to US$400 million line of credit from banks.
UNITED STATES
Duties put on aluminium foil
The US Department of Commerce on Tuesday announced that it was imposing preliminary duties ranging from 16.5 to 81 percent on aluminum foil imports from China after finding they were subsidized. The department “will instruct US Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of aluminium foil from China based on these preliminary rates,” it quoted US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross as saying. The move follows an anti-dumping investigation announced in spring, with a final decision to be made on Oct. 24.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
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