■SEMICONDUCTORS
Unimicron to acquire rival
Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子), a Taiwan-based maker of circuit boards, plans to acquire Phoenix Precision Technology Corp (全懋精密) to expand its market share. In the all-stock acquisition, each Phoenix share will be exchanged for 60 percent of a Unimicron share, the companies said in separate exchange filings on Friday. The swap ratio indicates Unimicron will get Phoenix at a 6.5 percent discount, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Friday’s closing share prices.
■BANKING
Bankruptcies in HK surge
Bankruptcies in Hong Kong soared as the territory’s recession deepened, reaching the highest level since the aftermath of the SARS epidemic in 2003. A total of 1,500 bankruptcy petitions were filed last month, up from 1,266 in January, the Official Receiver’s Office said on its Web site on Friday. Filings last month were the highest since October 2003, after SARS caused the city to slide into its last recession. The number of bankruptcy petitions increased to 11,620 last year from 10,918 in 2007.
■ECONOMY
PRC not the solution: expert
A recovery in China’s economy is not enough to haul the world out of its economic crisis because it is still a developing country, Xinhua news agency cited a leading Chinese economist as saying yesterday. A pickup in Chinese growth would have a positive but limited effect on the world economy, which needs a rally in major economies to recover, said Fan Gong, a member of the central bank’s monetary policy committee.
■AVIATION
Air France offers new class
Air France hopes to woo back crisis-hit executives who are deserting premium airline tickets with a new seat category priced half way between business and economy. Set for launch on April 1, the “Premium Voyageur” cabin promises long-haul passengers more leg space than economy class at a “highly competitive” price pitched at small and medium-sized businesses. The new cabin will be introduced on Paris flights to New York, Tokyo and Osaka — popular business routes — and then gradually phased in on all long-haul flights operated by Boeing 777s, Airbus A340s and A330s.
■BANKING
FDIC shutters FirstCity Bank
Regulators on Friday shut down FirstCity Bank in Georgia, marking the 18th failure this year of a federally insured US bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) was appointed receiver of the failed bank in Georgia, with more expected to succumb because of the recession. The FDIC estimated that the cost to the deposit insurance fund from the closing of FirstCity Bank would be about US$100 million. The fund now stands at its lowest level in nearly a quarter-century at US$18.9 billion as of Dec. 31, compared with US$52.4 billion at the end of 2007.
■TELECOMS
3D porn on iPhones
IPhone lovers can use their hot devices to view steamy adult videos in 3D. Adult entertainment titan Pink Visual is filming porn videos that can be viewed in 3D on iPhones encased in Wazabee 3DeeShells tailored for the popular Apple mobile devices by German firm Spatial View. 3DeeShell is described as “protective skin” that iPhones can slide into. A window built into the shell allows 3D viewing without special eyeglasses. Pink Visual saw visits to its video service soar after Christmas as people turned on new iPhones and tapped into porn.
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
Twenty years after he was a young, struggling actor in Toronto, Thomas Lo (盧瑞麟) is now the one giving young Asian actors their big breaks. He just had to go to Hong Kong to do it. The Chinese Canadian has been the creative director of one of the territory’s biggest TV broadcasting companies for only a few years, but is already making original English-language content to reach viewers around the world. “It was a bit of a full-circle moment for me,” Lo said. “You see more Asians, but you’re still seeing the same Asians on screen, right? We’re looking for more opportunities
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