BANKING
FSC fines Mega International
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) NT$3 million (US$93,000) for oversights in its internal control protocols that led to it accepting US$2.44 million in counterfeit money deposits earlier this year. The bank was found to have contravened the Banking Act (銀行法) by failing to detect a sudden rise in transactions in the account involved in the case, which had been idle between December 2013 and January.
SUGAR
Taisugar to pay record profit
Shareholders of state-run Taiwan Sugar Co (Taisugar, 台糖) yesterday approved dividends of NT$2.7 per share. The amount surpassed last year’s distribution of NT$1.9 and is the highest in the company’s history. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, which holds an 86 percent stake in the company, is estimated to contribute NT$13.1 billion in revenue to the treasury. The company reported that operating profit in the first five months of this year totaled NT$3.2 billion, of which NT$2.8 billion was from its core businesses.
AUTOMAKERS
Yulon considering subsidiary
Yulon Group (裕隆集團) yesterday announced that it is mulling plans to establish a NT$3 billion construction subsidiary as part of the automobile conglomerate’s plan to expand into the real-estate market. The subsidiary might oversee the company’s massive land development project at its abandoned factory in New Taipei City’s Xindian District (新店). The company said the project is expected to receive approval from regulators next year and be completed by 2020. Shareholders also approved dividends of NT$0.9 per share, the highest in four years.
TEXTILES
Eclat to pay record dividends
Textile manufacturer Eclat Textile Co (儒鴻) shareholders yesterday approved record-high dividends of NT$10.5 per share. The company expects sales to experience faster growth in the second half of this year as global markets are forecast to see annual growth of between 10 percent and 15 percent this year, barring significant foreign exchange fluctuations. The company plans to continue developing new products based on its expertise in functional fabrics.
CHIPMAKERS
Inotera confirms sale price
DRAM chipmaker Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) yesterday confirmed the price of its acquisition by US company Micron Technology Inc at NT$30 per share, the firm said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Micron may purchase the remaining 67 percent share of Inotera on Friday, dispelling speculation that the price of the deal had been slashed to less than NT$20 per share. Inotera shares yesterday gained 0.79 percent to close at NT$25.65
EQUITIES
TAIEX ends at day’s high
The TAIEX yesterday rose 58.93 points, or 0.68 percent, closing at the day’s high of 8,684.85 after an early low of 8,627.40 on turnover of NT$68.71 billion. Buying momentum extended from the previous session as investors were encouraged by solid gains on Monday on Wall Street and European markets, amid reduced worries over a possible departure by Britain from the EU, dealers said. However, with turnover remaining low, the broader market failed to overcome technical resistance at 8,700 points, dealers said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
PROBE CONTINUES: Those accused falsely represented that the chips would not be transferred to a person other than the authorized end users, court papers said Singapore charged three men with fraud in a case local media have linked to the movement of Nvidia’s advanced chips from the city-state to Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm DeepSeek (深度求索). The US is investigating if DeepSeek, the Chinese company whose AI model’s performance rocked the tech world in January, has been using US chips that are not allowed to be shipped to China, Reuters reported earlier. The Singapore case is part of a broader police investigation of 22 individuals and companies suspected of false representation, amid concerns that organized AI chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of nations such
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