■BANKING
Local lenders resolve cases
Taiwanese banks have reached settlements in more than 2,000 cases linked to investments in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc-related securities, the financial regulator said on Friday. An average of 300 cases are being resolved per week with settlements already reached on investments worth NT$1.6 billion (US$46 million) as of Feb. 20, the Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement. All cases related to investments made in Lehman-linked notes after Sept. 1 have been resolved, the statement said.
■ELECTRONICS
Micron to transfer patents
Micron Technology Inc will transfer more than 2,500 of its chip patents to local chipmakers in exchange for the government’s financial aid, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing Michael Sadler, excutive vice president of Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技), a DRAM joint venture between Micron and Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技). The government is planning to form a new DRAM company to consolidate local memory chipmakers. Micron will invest more funds in this new company and start producing its most advanced 50-nanometer chip within a year at the earliest, the newspaper said.
■PETROLEUM
Pemex shows US$7bn loss
Mexican national oil company Pemex on Friday announced a loss of more than US$7 billion for last year, a sixfold increase over the previous year, a company spokesman said. The loss was attributed mainly to the drop in the peso’s value, the spokesman said. Pemex declared a loss of around US$1 billion in 2007. Mexico’s peso was on Friday trading at a record low of 15.22 to the US dollar, despite an injection of cash by the country’s Central Bank (Banxico).
■AVIATION
UK, China firms seal deals
A US$1.2 billion deal between British jet engine maker Rolls-Royce and Hainan Airlines of China was announced on Friday as British and Chinese firms signed deals worth up to US$1.9 billion. The announcements, sealed at a ceremony in London attended by China’s Trade Minister Chen Deming (陳德銘) and Britain’s Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, came on the last leg of a Chinese trade tour of Europe. The US$1.2 billion deal is for the purchase of Rolls-Royce jet engines and a service contract for Hong Kong Airlines planes, it was announced.
■BANKING
HSBC to sell shares
HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, plans to raise more than £12 billion (US$17 billion) in a share sale aimed at propping up its capital base in order to cope with the economic crisis, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The FT said the share issue would likely be announced alongside its full-year results for last year due tomorrow. The newspaper quoted unidentified people involved in the discussions as saying the offer price for the sale had not been set and the deal could still be postponed.
■INVESTMENT
GE to cut dividend
For the first time since the Great Depression of the 1930s, General Electric Co (GE) is cutting its quarterly dividend, a move that allows the struggling conglomerate to save US$9 billion a year as it braces for a tough year. GE said on Friday it would pay shareholders a US$0.10-per-share dividend beginning in the third quarter, 68 percent lower than the company’s original plan of US$0.31. The dividend cut is the company’s first since 1938.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
Taiwan would remain in the same international network for carrying out cross-border payments and would not be marginalized on the world stage, despite jostling among international powers, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday. Yang made the remarks during a speech at an annual event organized by Financial Information Service Co (財金資訊), which oversees Taiwan’s banking, payment and settlement systems. “The US dollar will remain the world’s major cross-border payment tool, given its high liquidity, legality and safe-haven status,” Yang said. Russia is pushing for a new cross-border payment system and highlighted the issue during a BRICS summit in October. The existing system
Convenience store operator Lawson Inc has registered trademarks in Taiwan, sparking rumors that the Japanese chain is to enter the local market. The company on Aug. 30 filed trademarks for the names Lawson and Lawson Station, according to publicly available information from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Intellectual Property Office. The product categories on the application include some of Lawson’s top-selling items for use in the convenience store market. The discovery has led to speculation online that the popular Japanese chain is to enter the Taiwanese market. However, some pointed out that it might be a preemptive application to avoid others from co-opting the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to grow its revenue by about 25 percent to a new record high next year, driven by robust demand for advanced technologies used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and crypto mining, International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday. That would see TSMC secure a 67 percent share of the world’s foundry market next year, from 64 percent this year, IDC senior semiconductor research manager Galen Zeng (曾冠瑋) predicted. In the broader foundry definition, TSMC would see its market share rise to 36 percent next year from 33 percent this year, he said. To address concerns
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