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Life insurers keen on regulatory easing
By Crystal Hsu
Major life insurance companies yesterday welcomed the government’s planned regulatory easing that would allow them to expand into non-life insurance businesses, including public construction projects. The plan could channel about NT$1.4 trillion (US$46.62 billion) in funds into public construction projects, or 10 percent of theFULL STORY
HannStar shares margin trading rules tightened
By Lisa Wang
LCD panel maker HannStar Display Corp’s (瀚宇彩晶) shares plummeted near their daily limit yesterday after the stock market regulator tightened the rules on margin trading of the stock to prevent it from overshooting. Investors who maintain a long position on HannStar can now only borrow 40FULL STORY
Singfore Life fined for land hoarding
By Crystal Hsu
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Thursday stepped up its action against Singfore Life Insurance Co (幸福人壽) for land hoarding, meting out a fine of NT$8.4 million (US$279,720) and banning it from making new stock and property investments. The commission also ordered the insurer to removeFULL STORY
TEEMA chairman supports a weaker New Taiwan dollar to bolster exports
By Lisa Wang
Allowing the New Taiwan dollar depreciate to NT$32 against the US dollar would boost the nation’s exports, the new chairman of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA, 電電公會) said yesterday. Since Taiwan is an export-oriented economy, the government’s currency policy has a tremendous impactFULL STORY
Largan benefitting from demand for high-end lenses
By Kevin Chen
Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s leading maker of handset lenses, is expected to post stronger revenue and profit growth in the second half of this year, bolstered by the trend toward high-pixel resolution lenses in China, SinoPac Securities Co (永豐金證券) said yesterday. The company —FULL STORY
M1B, M2 money supply expansion slowed in April
By Amy Su
Annual growth in M1B and M2 money supply dropped last month, as the government-run Taiwan Insurance Guaranty Fund (TIGF, 保險安定基金) transferred a deposit to a local life insurer, which is not included in the monetary aggregates, the central bank said yesterday. Transglobe Life Insurance Co (全球人壽)FULL STORY
Lenovo can buy ‘almost any size’ asset
Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), the world’s second-biggest PC maker, said the company’s cash reserves of more than US$3 billion enable it to pursue an acquisition of almost any size to expand in new business areas. The company is most interested in adding assets to bolster itsFULL STORY
Nokia sues HTC in US over alleged patent infringement
Nokia Oyj sued rival mobile phone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) for selling products in the US, including the HTC One handset, that allegedly infringe three of its patents. The three patents pertain to “terminal, method and computer program product for interacting with a signaling tag,” accordingFULL STORY
TransAsia shares rise on hopes of a strategic investor; lower oil prices
Shares of TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空), a local mid-sized international carrier, rose by the daily limit yesterday on hopes that the airline will introduce a strategic investor through a stake disposal by one of its major shareholders, dealers said. In addition, with international crude oil pricesFULL STORY
Taiwan Business Quick Take
MARKETS Stock market rating raised Morgan Stanley has raised its rating on the Taiwan stock market to “equal weight” from “underweight,” according to a Bloomberg report. The report cited a Morgan Stanley research note as saying that the upgrade was based on improving earnings and rosier prospectsFULL STORY
Japan defends PM’s economic policies
Japan’s top leaders are defending the economic strategies championed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, though the central bank chief acknowledged a need for better communication with financial markets, a day after Tokyo shares suffered their worst loss since the 2011 tsunami disaster. Bank of JapanFULL STORY
Germany ekes out growth in Q1
The German economy’s return to growth in the first quarter was hampered by declines in construction activity and investment as a severe winter and a recession in Europe dampened demand. Construction fell 2.1 percent from the fourth quarter and capital investment dropped 1.5 percent, the FederalFULL STORY
Amazon expands Kindle tablet sale to 170 countries
Online retail titan Amazon announced on Thursday it is expanding sales of its Kindle tablets to “over 170 countries and territories around the world,” and its Appstore in nearly 200 countries. The move steps up the offensive of Amazon against rivals like Apple and Google inFULL STORY
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