VIETNAM
Central bank calms market
The State Bank of Vietnam yesterday sought to calm markets after investors sold financial stocks, and customers of the nation’s fifth-largest commercial bank raced to withdraw their savings following a police probe into a prominent real-estate tycoon. The benchmark index and bank stocks plunged after police over the weekend announced the detention of Truong My Lan, chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, and other company officials for allegedly obtaining property through fraudulent means. The move was in relation to an investigation into the issuance and trading of bonds in which vast sums of currency were allegedly appropriated in 2018 and 2019.
SINGAPORE
MAS urges greater scrutiny
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) yesterday urged asset managers to ramp up pressure and scrutiny on environmental, social and corporate governance issues in their portfolio companies. “We encourage institutional investors to take the lead in exercising responsible investor stewardship,” MAS Deputy Managing Director Ho Hern Shin (何亨申) said at a corporate governance conference. This could be done through engagement with companies and proxy voting, she added. On pay transparency, Ho said it was “concerning” that most listed companies do not adhere to laws requiring disclosure of how much their CEOs and directors are paid.
AUTOMAKERS
Renault in Nissan sale talk
Renault SA’s stock surged after the automaker confirmed talks that could lead to the French company cashing in some of its 6.1 billion euros (US$5.9 billion) of shares in alliance partner Nissan Motor Co. The stock rose as much as 6.6 percent as of 9:30am yesterday in Paris after Renault said that it was discussing several initiatives with Nissan. The talks include the Japanese manufacturer potentially investing in the new electric vehicle entity that Renault is planning to create. People familiar with the matter said that as part of these talks, Renault is open to reducing it stake in Nissan, a prospect that has been cheered by several analysts.
ENERGY
Energean gas flow tests start
Energean PLC has begun pumping gas to its floating production facility in the offshore Karish gas field as part of reverse flow testing procedures approved by the Israeli government, the London-listed energy group said on Sunday. The testing phase is an important step in the commissioning process of the so-called FPSO Energean Power facility, it said. The development of the Karish field, about 80km west of the Israeli city of Haifa, has raised tensions between Israel and Lebanon in their protracted dispute over maritime boundaries. The US has been mediating indirect talks on the issue since 2020.
FINANCE
Auto debt market risks high
Ark Investment Management LLC founder and CEO Cathie Wood yesterday flagged the risk of “serious losses” in the trillion-dollar auto debt market, after statistics showed that used vehicle prices in the US decreased last month. Writing on Twitter, Wood cited a shift in consumer tastes toward electric vehicles as leading to a drop in the price of gasoline-powered vehicles. Wood also posted data released by Manheim Auctions, the world’s largest reseller of used vehicles. That organization’s US Used Vehicle Value Index showed a 3 percent drop last month from August.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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