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.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part