BANKING
Next Commercial approved
Web-only Next Commercial Bank Co (將來商業銀行) yesterday obtained regulatory approval to begin operations, the Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement. The bank is the last of three Internet-based banks that planned to launch services in Taiwan. The two other banks, Rakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際商銀) and Line Bank Taiwan Ltd (連線商業銀行), began operations earlier this year. Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Lin Chih-chi (林志吉) said that Next Commercial would need to prepare for a couple of months and run a small-scale trial before launching its services. Established in August 2019, the bank’s major shareholders include state-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信).
INVESTMENT
‘Invest in Taiwan’ to extend
The government is likely to extend its “Invest in Taiwan” initiative for another three years, but new projects would have to meet additional environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) requirements, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) told an investment forum in Taipei on Wednesday. The initiative, which began in July 2019, was to end this year. Only advanced manufacturing projects — preferably in a “strategically important sector” that provides “high-value manufacturing” and generates quality employment opportunities — would be approved. After being extended, the program would likely require companies to fullfill additional items such as demonstrating that they are meeting realistic ESG goals and implementing decarbonization efforts, Kung said.
LOTTERY
‘Gaming’ of lottery to stop
People who attempt to “game the system” by making a large number of small purchases to win cash awards in the uniform invoice lottery would no longer be eligible to claim such awards as of next year, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday. Starting on Jan. 1, people who buy a large number of low-priced items just to increase their chances in the lottery would be prohibited from claiming any winnings, an amendment to the Uniform Invoice Award Regulations (統一發票給獎辦法) states. However, what constitutes “a large number” or “low-priced” is not defined. The ministry said there are scenarios that it considers to be “proper,” such as group shopping, in which case, the invoices would be “legitimate winners” if drawn. Enforcement would not pursue “improper” invoices drawn prior to next month, it said.
RETAIL
Me-Time stores planned
Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活) — which runs the Eslite bookstores, department stores and other businesses — plans to open its second Eslite Me-Time outlet in Hsinchu County’s Jhubei City (竹北) next year. The company aims to open 100 of the small neighborhood stores over the next three years, after launching the first one in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) in October. The company is “soon to open” a new bookstore in the Far Eastern Department Store (遠東百貨) in New Taipei City, Eslite president Li Chieh-hsiu (李介修) said on Monday. Eslite aims to open an 18,000 ping (59,504m2) mega outlet in a shopping mall being developed by the Yulon Group (裕隆) in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) in 2023, and an 8,000 ping store in Tainan in 2024, Li added. Eslite posted a net loss of NT$4.66 per share in the first nine months of this year, compared with a net profit of NT$0.43 over the same period last year.
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
The New Taiwan dollar is on the verge of overtaking the yuan as Asia’s best carry-trade target given its lower risk of interest-rate and currency volatility. A strategy of borrowing the New Taiwan dollar to invest in higher-yielding alternatives has generated the second-highest return over the past month among Asian currencies behind the yuan, based on the Sharpe ratio that measures risk-adjusted relative returns. The New Taiwan dollar may soon replace its Chinese peer as the region’s favored carry trade tool, analysts say, citing Beijing’s efforts to support the yuan that can create wild swings in borrowing costs. In contrast,
TARIFF SURGE: The strong performance could be attributed to the growing artificial intelligence device market and mass orders ahead of potential US tariffs, analysts said The combined revenue of companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange for the whole of last year totaled NT$44.66 trillion (US$1.35 trillion), up 12.8 percent year-on-year and hit a record high, data compiled by investment consulting firm CMoney showed on Saturday. The result came after listed firms reported a 23.92 percent annual increase in combined revenue for last month at NT$4.1 trillion, the second-highest for the month of December on record, and posted a 15.63 percent rise in combined revenue for the December quarter at NT$12.25 billion, the highest quarterly figure ever, the data showed. Analysts attributed the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) quarterly sales topped estimates, reinforcing investor hopes that the torrid pace of artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending would extend into this year. The go-to chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported a 39 percent rise in December-quarter revenue to NT$868.5 billion (US$26.35 billion), based on calculations from monthly disclosures. That compared with an average estimate of NT$854.7 billion. The strong showing from Taiwan’s largest company bolsters expectations that big tech companies from Alphabet Inc to Microsoft Corp would continue to build and upgrade datacenters at a rapid clip to propel AI development. Growth accelerated for
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