■BANKING
UBS to cut 240 jobs
Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS said yesterday that 240 jobs would be cut from its wealth management division in the Asia-Pacific region as part of a cost reduction exercise. Despite the job losses, the region remains important for the company, UBS said in a statement from its Singapore office. The job cuts represent less than three percent of the bank’s total staff force in the region and under eight percent of its employees in the wealth management group, a UBS spokeswoman said. She said the job cuts extend across all levels within the wealth management group.
■TIRES
Alabama plant to close
The US subsidiary of French tire maker Michelin said on Monday it will shut a US plant in Alabama, where it employs 1,000 people, due to an “unprecedented” slump in demand. Michelin North America said the closure of the plant in Opelika, Alabama, by Oct. 31 was part of a restructuring plan for its manufacturing operations “in response to the unprecedented drop in market demand.” “The decision comes in the wake of the continuing economic crisis as consumers are driving fewer miles, purchasing fewer vehicles and delaying tire replacement purchases,” the company said in a statement.
■BANKING
Fortis reports loss
Fortis Bank, the former Belgian banking arm of stricken financial group Fortis, yesterday reported a loss of 20.6 billion euros (US$27.5 billion) for last year owing to the group’s break-up and losses on toxic assets. The bulk of the loss, which was roughly in line with a previous estimate, came from the “negative impact of 12.5 billion euros” relating to the parent company’s carve-up by the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg states. As part of a bailout of the group, Belgium took over Fortis Bank and is now in the process of selling a 75 percent stake to French banking group BNP Paribas. Shareholders in Fortis Holding are to vote on the sale of Fortis Bank to BNP on April 28 and April 29.
■OIL
Shell talking to Chinese firms
Royal Dutch Shell is talking to Chinese oil companies about a possible bid to develop oil fields in Iraq, CEO Jeroen van der Veer said yesterday. “We are in the process of forming partnerships for certain bids, and Chinese companies are a part of that,” van der Veer said. He declined to say which potential partners Shell is talking to, or which fields they might bid on. Van der Veer said the deadline for bids is expected to be in late June or early July and details on partnerships would be announced then.
■COMMUNICATIONS
Mobile data use soars
People in Hong Kong people sent 14 times as much mobile data in January than they did in the same month two years ago, figures released yesterday revealed. The rise in the sending of mobile data from phones and hand-held computers also represented a four-fold increase on the figure from January last year, the territory’s telecommunications authority said. Figures from the authority show that there were 10.5 million mobile phone subscriptions in Hong Kong in January, equivalent to 1.5 subscriptions for every person in the former British colony. Every mobile phone customer sent an average of 41 SMS messages in January while the total number of SMS messages sent was 421.5 million, a 22 percent year-on-year rise.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS