■CRIME
Danny Pang allowed bail
A US federal magistrate has ruled that California-based financier Danny Pang (彭日成) can be released on US$1 million bail following his arrest on a complaint alleging he evaded currency reporting laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit last week against Pang and the company he founded, Private Management Group, accusing him of bilking investors by falsely portraying returns as coming from investments when the money instead came from a pyramid scheme.
■ELECTRONICS
Fujitsu announces losses
Japan’s Fujitsu Ltd said yesterday it suffered a ¥112.4 billion (US$1.15 billion) net loss for the business year through March due to the global economic crisis. The loss, which compares with a ¥48.1 billion profit a year earlier, was more than twice as big as the company’s own forecast. In addition to weak sales, restructuring costs weighed heavily on the bottom line. The company expects to return to the black in the current business year, projecting a net profit of ¥20 billion, an operating profit of ¥80 billion and revenue of ¥4.8 trillion.
■TELECOMS
Softbank makes record profit
Japanese Internet and telecom company Softbank Corp yesterday reported a record operating profit for the past financial year despite lower sales of mobile telephones. Softbank booked an operating profit of ¥359.12 billion in the year to March, up 10.7 percent from the previous year, while net profit plunged 60.3 percent to ¥43.17 billion partly on the early redemption of bonds and book losses on broadband infrastructure.
■AVIATION
Lufthansa reports losses
Germany’s leading airline Lufthansa posted yesterday a first-quarter net loss of 256 million euros (US$290 million), compared with a profit of 44 million euros in the same period a year earlier. On Wednesday, Lufthansa had reported an operating loss of 44 million euros in the first three months of the year and said it expected a drop in sales this year because of a dip in short-term demand for flights.
■BANKING
BOA chairman removed
Bank of America’s (BOA) shareholders on Wednesday removed Kenneth Lewis from the chairman’s post, but he will remain the chief executive, the US banking giant said. The decision to oust Lewis, who had angered shareholders by acquiring Merrill Lynch without informing them of the investment bank’s massive losses, was taken at the company’s annual meeting. Shareholders narrowly approved a proposal to change the firm’s by-laws to require an “independent chairman,” the bank said in a statement late on Wednesday.
■FINANCE
New rules on reporting
Beijing announced rules that ease controls on foreign financial information providers yesterday under an agreement with the US, Europe and Canada, but said those already operating in China must apply for permission to continue. The rules drop a requirement that foreign providers must work through a Chinese agent and reduces the amount of information they must disclose about their operations. Trade officials said the settlement would help Thomson Reuters Corp, Bloomberg LP and Dow Jones & Co. Xinhua was replaced as the industry regulator in February with a Cabinet body, the State Council Information Office, after complaints that Xinhua should not be allowed to regulate its competitors.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
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