E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) and HSBC Bank Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) have provided sustainability-linked loans (SLL) of NT$2 billion (US$71.9 million) and US$60 million respectively to Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), the banks said yesterday.
The offer includes lower interest rates if the contract notebook computer maker meets environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets.
Compal has adopted a cleaner manufacturing process, with 87 percent of its laptops receiving green-label marks, E.Sun said, adding that it would monitor Compal’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next three years.
Compal plans to use the loans to reduce its carbon emissions and utility consumption, as well as to boost its waste management and use of green energy, HSBC said.
As of the end of June, E.Sun Bank had approved NT$68.7 billion of SSLs, ranking first among all local banks.
The bank has committed to using green power for all offices and operation sites by 2030 and reaching net-zero carbon emission by 2050.
HSBC said it had offered US$500 million SLLs as of June 30.
In Taiwan, the largest syndicated SLL so far is LCD panel maker AU Optronics Corp’s (友達光電) NT$50 billion loan provided by 25 banks, while the largest single SLL is ASE Technology Holding Co’s (日月光投控) US$505 million loan by Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Ltd (渣打國際商業銀行).
There are more local companies favoring SLLs over regular corporate loans or green bonds to facilitate their ESG practices, a Financial Supervisory Commission official said yesterday.
Companies in the technology sector face more pressure from clients or suppliers to transition to clean energy compared with those in other sectors, the official added.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained