FINTECH
FSC signs cooperation pact
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has signed a financial technology cooperation agreement with eight of the members of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). The agreement aims to facilitate cooperation in fintech development by gaining access to the work of the CSA Regulatory Sandbox Initiative and the FSC FinTech Regulatory Sandbox, the commission said in a statement on Thursday. The agreement should enable financial regulators from Taiwan and Canada to refer start-ups to their counterparts, provide support to allow the regulatory system in each jurisdiction to be better understood, and share related information on their respective markets and innovations in financial services, it said.
ENERGY
Taipower to issue bonds
State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said that it would issue NT$11.7 billion (US$393.12 million) in unsecured straight bonds next month to finance its plans to increase electricity generation. The bond issuance would comprise three tranches: NT$4.7 billion of five-year bonds with a 0.55 percent coupon rate, NT$5.6 billion of seven-year bonds with a 0.60 percent coupon rate and NT$1.4 billion of 10-year bonds with a 0.66 percent coupon rate, Taipower said in a statement on Wednesday. The proceeds from the bond sale would be used to install new generators at Taipower’s natural gas-fired Datan Power Plant (大潭電廠) in Taoyuan, expand its coal-fired Linkou Power Plant (林口發電廠) in New Taipei City, and improve its power transmission equipment, the company said. The launch of the bond sale would be Taipower’s third this year, after a NT$20.5 billion sale in April and a NT$15.2 billion issuance scheduled for the middle of this month.
STEADY: Prices are to rebound following inventory rebuilding demand, TrendForce said, with Samsung Electronics Co further trimming capacity as it slashes DDR4 lines The contract prices of DRAM chips are to rise by as much as 18 percent sequentially this quarter — the first price upticks in about eight quarters — driven mainly by inventory rebuilding demand for DRAM chips used in mobile devices and PCs, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) projected yesterday. The price rebound is led by a quarterly increase of mobile DRAM chips, which are to climb between 13 percent and 18 percent quarter-on-quarter this quarter, which has not been seen since the fourth quarter of 2021, the Taipei-based market researcher predicted. Likewise, the price of mainstream PC DDR4 DRAM is expected to bounce
CHINA NOT A FRIEND: ‘Newsflash: Democracy is good for your businesses,’ US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said as she gave a speech at a national defense forum US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Saturday urged lawmakers, Silicon Valley and US allies to stop China from getting semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies key to national security. Speaking at an annual national defense forum in Simi Valley, California, Raimondo called Beijing “the biggest threat we’ve ever had” and stressed that “China is not our friend.” The world’s top two economies are locked in a fierce commercial and geopolitical rivalry, in which her department plays a leading role. In October, Raimondo unveiled a series of restrictions on the export of advanced chips to China, including those used in the development of artificial intelligence
SOLID FOUNDATION: Given its decades of expertise in megatronics, manufacturing and robotics, Japan has the wherewithal to create its own AI, Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp plans to help build an artificial intelligence (AI) tech-related ecosystem in Japan to meet demand in a country eager to gain an edge in this emerging technology. The US company will seek to partner with Japanese research organizations, companies and start-ups to build factories for AI, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday during opening remarks in a meeting with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura. The company is to set up an AI research laboratory, and invest in local start-ups and educate the public on using AI, Huang said. Huang earlier this week met with Japanese Prime
A Hong Kong court postponed a court hearing on troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande Group’s (恆大集團) winding-up petition scheduled for yesterday until Jan. 29. Evergrande is trying to win support from its creditors for a plan to restructure more than US$300 billion in debt to stave off liquidation. The company’s lawyer told the court it was requesting an adjournment to “refine” its new debt restructuring plan. The Hong Kong High Court has postponed the hearing over Evergrande’s potential liquidation several times. Judge Linda Chan (陳靜芬) had said in October that yesterday’s hearing would be the last before a decision is handed down. Chan
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