CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Authorities raid Coincheck
Japanese authorities yesterday raided virtual currency exchange Coincheck Inc, a week after the Tokyo-based firm lost US$530 million in cryptocurrency to hackers. The raid comes as bitcoin dipped to less than US$9,000 for the first time since November last year after India on Thursday said it would take measures to prevent the use of cryptocurrencies. The search of Coincheck’s headquarters in Tokyo’s Shibuya District was carried out by the Japanese Financial Services Agency, which had already slapped the company with an administrative order following the hack. Government officials have suggested Coincheck lacked proper security measures, making itself vulnerable to theft.
AUTOMAKERS
SUVs, pickups pad US sales
Automakers reported mixed US car sales for last month, with strong demand for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks continuing to provide a cushion in a declining overall auto market. Ford Motor Co, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Honda Motor Co all reported declines in year-on-year sales, while General Motors Co scored a modest increase and Toyota Motor Corp reported a more substantial jump. Overall new car sales totaled 1.15 million, up 1 percent compared with January last year, Autodata Ltd said, adding that last month’s figures mean the market is on track for annual sales of 17.12 million.
BANKING
Deutsche Bank reports loss
Deutsche Bank AG yesterday said that US President Donald Trump’s tax reforms pushed it into the red last year. The Frankfurt, Germany-based bank said in a statement that its net loss last year totaled 512 million euros (US$640.8 million), narrower than the loss of 1.4 billion euros in 2016. Revenue last year fell to 26.4 billion euros, compared with 30 billion euros in 2016. However, at a pretax level, Deutsche Bank was back in the black, notching up a profit of almost 1.3 billion euros, compared with a loss of 810 million euros in 2016.
MEDIA
CBS mulling Viacom merger
US TV network CBS Corp on Thursday announced that it would explore a possible merger with Viacom Inc amid accelerating consolidation in the media industry. The CBS board “has established a special committee of independent directors to evaluate a potential combination with Viacom,” CBS said in a news release after the stock market closed. The move opens the potential to rejoin two companies that were split in 2006, combining CBS with Viacom’s networks, which include Nickelodeon, MTV, Black Entertainment Television and Comedy Central.
INDIA
Budget to help farmers, poor
Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced a federal budget with a string of populist giveaways, from affordable housing to a health plan for millions of the poor, in an attempt to woo voters ahead of national elections next year. Speaking in parliament, Jaitley also announced a liberalization of agricultural exports, which would increase from US$30 billion to US$100 billion per year, to help push up crop prices for farmers. The government is also to help build more than 5 million affordable houses for the poor in the next financial year, which runs from April 1 to March 31 next year.
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
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
RSS