BANKING
Next Commercial approved
Web-only Next Commercial Bank Co (將來商業銀行) yesterday obtained regulatory approval to begin operations, the Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement. The bank is the last of three Internet-based banks that planned to launch services in Taiwan. The two other banks, Rakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際商銀) and Line Bank Taiwan Ltd (連線商業銀行), began operations earlier this year. Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Lin Chih-chi (林志吉) said that Next Commercial would need to prepare for a couple of months and run a small-scale trial before launching its services. Established in August 2019, the bank’s major shareholders include state-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信).
INVESTMENT
‘Invest in Taiwan’ to extend
The government is likely to extend its “Invest in Taiwan” initiative for another three years, but new projects would have to meet additional environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) requirements, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) told an investment forum in Taipei on Wednesday. The initiative, which began in July 2019, was to end this year. Only advanced manufacturing projects — preferably in a “strategically important sector” that provides “high-value manufacturing” and generates quality employment opportunities — would be approved. After being extended, the program would likely require companies to fullfill additional items such as demonstrating that they are meeting realistic ESG goals and implementing decarbonization efforts, Kung said.
LOTTERY
‘Gaming’ of lottery to stop
People who attempt to “game the system” by making a large number of small purchases to win cash awards in the uniform invoice lottery would no longer be eligible to claim such awards as of next year, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday. Starting on Jan. 1, people who buy a large number of low-priced items just to increase their chances in the lottery would be prohibited from claiming any winnings, an amendment to the Uniform Invoice Award Regulations (統一發票給獎辦法) states. However, what constitutes “a large number” or “low-priced” is not defined. The ministry said there are scenarios that it considers to be “proper,” such as group shopping, in which case, the invoices would be “legitimate winners” if drawn. Enforcement would not pursue “improper” invoices drawn prior to next month, it said.
RETAIL
Me-Time stores planned
Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活) — which runs the Eslite bookstores, department stores and other businesses — plans to open its second Eslite Me-Time outlet in Hsinchu County’s Jhubei City (竹北) next year. The company aims to open 100 of the small neighborhood stores over the next three years, after launching the first one in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) in October. The company is “soon to open” a new bookstore in the Far Eastern Department Store (遠東百貨) in New Taipei City, Eslite president Li Chieh-hsiu (李介修) said on Monday. Eslite aims to open an 18,000 ping (59,504m2) mega outlet in a shopping mall being developed by the Yulon Group (裕隆) in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) in 2023, and an 8,000 ping store in Tainan in 2024, Li added. Eslite posted a net loss of NT$4.66 per share in the first nine months of this year, compared with a net profit of NT$0.43 over the same period last year.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
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