■STOCKS
NSF income passes NT$30bn
Taiwan’s National Stabilization Fund (NSF) is expected to report income exceeding NT$30 billion (US$936 million) for the first two quarters of the year at its regular quarterly meeting on Tuesday, according to financial officials. The fund earned about NT$25 billion in selling off NT$62 billion in shares on the local stock market between March 1 and April 9. The NSF began buying shares in September 2008 at the outset of the global financial crisis to help stabilize local markets, eventually buying NT$59.9 billion in shares. The quarterly meeting is expected to review the government-backed fund’s performance in the first half of the year.
■NATURAL GAS
Japan, Russia to build plant
Japan and Russia have agreed to jointly build a liquefied natural gas plant in Vladivostok, with 5 million tonnes of output to be shipped to Japan annually, a newspaper said yesterday. An official accord will be signed in November when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visits Japan to attend the APEC summit in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, the business daily Nikkei said. The new facility, expected to begin output as soon as 2017, will liquefy natural gas delivered by pipeline from eastern Russia. The Japanese trade and industry ministry as well as Japanese companies such as Itochu Corp and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co will be engaged in the construction, the newspaper said.
■COPYRIGHT
US judge reduces damages
A US federal judge on Friday drastically trimmed a US$675,000 verdict against a Boston University graduate student who was found liable for illegally downloading and sharing 30 songs online, saying the jury damage award against a person who gained no financial benefit from his copyright infringement is “unconstitutionally excessive.” Joel Tenenbaum, from Providence, Rhode Island, was sued by some of the largest music companies who said he violated copyright rules. He admitted in court to downloading songs between 1999 and 2007. The jury found him liable and assessed the damage award in July last year. His lawyers appealed, calling the award “severe” and “oppressive.”
■ENTERTAINMENT
Icahn, Lions Gate call truce
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn and the Lions Gate Entertainment Corp film studio have agreed to temporarily halt their fighting and work together on acquisitions. The agreement, announced on Friday after the market closed, isn’t a permanent fix for the acrimony between Icahn and Lions Gate. The agreement lasts only 10 days — until July 19 — but could be extended. Icahn has been trying to take over Lions Gate and force changes to the company’s spending and its acquisitions strategy that he says will benefit shareholders. One of Icahn’s issues is his disagreement with the company’s decision to explore a bid for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc film studio.
■BANKING
Bay National shuts down
Regulators have shut down a bank in Maryland, marking the 87th failure this year of a federally insured bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said on Friday it was appointed receiver of Bay National Bank, based in Baltimore. The bank had US$282.2 million in assets and US$$276.1 million in deposits as of March 31. With 87 closures nationwide so far this year, the pace of bank failures far outstrips that of last year, which was already a brisk year for shutdowns. By this time last year, regulators had closed 45 banks.
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
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
Intel Corp chief financial officer Dave Zinsner said that a formal separation of the company’s factory and product development divisions is an open question that would be decided by the chipmaker’s next leader. Zinsner, who is serving as interim co-CEO following this month’s ouster of Pat Gelsinger, made the remarks on Thursday at the Barclays technology conference in San Francisco alongside co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus. Intel’s struggles to keep pace with rivals — along with its deteriorating financial condition — have spurred speculation that the next CEO would make dramatic changes. That has included talk of a split of the company’s manufacturing
PROTECTIONISM: The tariffs would go into effect on Jan. 1 and are meant to protect the US’ clean energy sector from unfair Chinese practices, the US trade chief said US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to raise tariffs on solar wafers, polysilicon and some tungsten products from China to protect US clean energy businesses. The notice from the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) said tariffs on Chinese-made solar wafers and polysilicon would rise to 50 percent from 25 percent and duties on certain tungsten products would increase from zero to 25 percent, effective on Jan. 1, following a review of Chinese trade practices under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974. The decision followed a public comment period after the USTR said in September that it was considering
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