■ Japan
Top broker to enter banking
Japan's top broker Nomura Securities plans to enter the banking business as early as next year by starting an Internet service for retail depositors, a newspaper said yesterday. Nomura will accept the opening of business accounts through its 130 branches across Japan, the Asahi Shimbun said without citing sources. Brokerages are currently prohibited by law from running banking businesses directly. However, the Financial Services Agency, the banking regulator, is set to submit a bill to parliament early next year which would allow brokers to offer such businesses for retailers by acting as an "agent" of banks, the daily said. Nomura Securities plans to become such an agent of Nomura Trust and Banking, which is part of the Nomura group, the Asahi said.
■ China
Underground bank busted
Authorities in China's financial hub Shanghai have busted an underground bank that was conducting millions of US dollars worth of foreign-currency transactions, state press reported yesterday. Investigators hauled in 15 suspects after a sting operation involving 100 police that lasted two months, the official Xinhua news agency said. One man, Zou Xudong, was fingered as the alleged ring leader of the black-market operation that extended to seven provinces and involved 90 domestic and foreign companies, it said. A recent government study found that underground lending totalled 750 billion yuan (US$92 billion) or 30 percent of legitimate lending from state banks.
■ Japan
Joint-venture plans scrapped
Japanese electronics company Hitachi Ltd and machinery maker Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd said yesterday they were scrapping plans to create a joint venture to combine their air-conditioning and refrigeration operations. The companies had said in June last year that the integration would be completed by April 1 this year. Under the deal, Hitachi Air Conditioning Systems, Hitachi's wholly owned unit, and Mitsubishi Heavy's air-conditioning and refrigeration systems division were to merge. A new agreement was reached to form ties in specific areas of the air-conditioning business, such as development, procurement and service operations, rather than seeking a full-scale integration, both sides said in a statement.
■ Auto industry
Suppliers to be rewarded
DaimlerChrysler AG said on Wednesday it will reward its highest-performing suppliers with longer-term contracts and other perks under a new system designed to cut costs and improve design. DaimlerChrysler said Johnson Controls Inc and Magna International Inc are among the first companies that will get contracts under the new system. Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls and Aurora, Ohio-based Magna are designing the interior of a 2008 Chrysler Group crossover, Chrysler Group vice president Peter Rosenfeld said at an annual automotive conference in Traverse City. DaimlerChrysler awarded contracts for the project 12 to 15 months earlier than usual because the companies met DaimlerChrysler's performance targets, Rosenfeld said. DaimlerChrysler looks at suppliers' costs and financial health, among other factors, and then invites them to work on projects.
ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: Only 11.4 percent of Taiwan’s overseas investments last year were in China, and businesses are dispersing their investments elsewhere, Lai said China’s ambition to annex Taiwan is based on a desire to change the rules-based international order, rather than a desire for territorial gains, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview. During an appearance on the talk show The View With Catherine Chang, aired last night, Lai said China aimed to achieve hegemony, and that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was an issue of worldwide concern. During the interview, Lai also discussed his “four-pillar plan” for peace and prosperity, which he first outlined in an article published by the Wall Street Journal on July 4 last year. That
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
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