SeaPRwire

Mastercard, MatchMove, Idemia to pilot fingerprint biometric card in Asia

elean
2 minutes

Keying in a personal identification number (PIN) or signing a credit card bill may be a thing of the past if consumers take to a biometric card that uses fingerprint authorisation instead. Mastercard has partnered augmented identity firm Idemia and Singapore-based fintech MatchMove to pilot this card in Asia. The F.Code Easy card will make transactions more convenient and secure, and reduce touch points in public places, said the companies on Wednesday. Biometric credentials are stored on a chip on the card, and not a central database, for improved privacy and security. The battery-free card harvests energy from payment terminals to power its fingerprint sensor and is ISO-certified by Mastercard for security and compliance. It was developed by Idemia in line with Mastercard's specifications. Digital payments start-up MatchMove will issue 200 to 500 biometric cards to employees of Mastercard, Idemia and MatchMove in the fourth quarter of this year. They will use the cards for transactions and live demonstrations during the pilot run. MatchMove told The Straits Times that it is targeting a take-up of 2,000 to 3,000 F.Code Easy cards in Singapore next year. The firm is part of a conso...

SeaPRwire

Nanofilm IPO shares priced at $2.59; Temasek to take substantial stake

elean
2 minutes

Nanofilm Technologies, a spin-off company of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), lodged its final prospectus yesterday, offering 77.2 million shares at $2.59 each for placement in its initial public offering (IPO) for a total of $470.1 million. However, only $190.9 million raised from the issuance of new cornerstone shares will go to the company. The shares, to be listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange, comprise around 73.4 million shares under the international offering and 3.9 million shares under the Singapore public offer, representing approximately 11.7 per cent of Nanofilm's enlarged post-IPO share capital of 658.4 million shares. Based on its placement price, Nanofilm's market capitalisation will be about $1.7 billion post-placement. The public offer opened at 6pm yesterday and will close at noon next Wednesday. Net proceeds due to the company will be used for the development and building of new machinery, and for research and development and engineering in order to enter new end-industries and look into new areas in existing markets. It will also be used for construction, refurbishment and renovation of new and existing production facilities, and general corp...

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STI ends week higher, in line with Wall Street

elean
2 minutes

Local shares ended the week on a high, in tandem with Wall Street stocks that rose on hopes of a stimulus package. Market watchers noted that the final US presidential debate on Thursday was less chaotic than the first, but offered little in terms of new information on which way the vote counts were turning. The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) ended yesterday up 0.4 per cent or 8.98 points at 2,537.39. Decliners outnumbered advancers 213 to 177, with some 1.25 billion securities worth $928.7 million having changed hands. The positive investor sentiment was evident on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indices each gained 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.2 per cent. AxiCorp's chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said: "Markets are trading higher, but cautiously in line with the current stimulus, 'before-election' theme as stocks ebb and flow on the unwind and rotations swivel." He said Mr Joe Biden's comments on a US$2 trillion (S$2.7 trillion) "clean-energy plan" should support the narrative that "the greatest amount of fiscal stimulus would materialise under a Democratic presidency and sweep of Congress". Three out of four of th...

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Goldman Sachs to pay S’pore Govt $165m for role in 1MDB scandal

elean
4 minutes

Goldman Sachs Singapore will pay US$122 million (S$165 million) to the Singapore Government for its role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) bond offerings corruption scandal. The penalty is believed to be the largest imposed on a financial institution here, and will be paid by Goldman's local unit to the Singapore Government's Consolidated Fund. The Singapore payment is part of the nearly US$3 billion that parent Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay to the United States authorities after its Malaysia unit said it would plead guilty to violating foreign bribery laws. Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) has also served Goldman Sachs Singapore with a 36-month conditional warning, in lieu of prosecution, for three counts of corruption offences punishable under Section 5(b)(i) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241. Meanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has directed the Singapore unit of Goldman Sachs to appoint an independent external party to conduct a review of its remedial measures, it said in a joint statement with the Attorney-General's Chambers and CAD yesterday. The MAS, in a separate statement, said that it has issued a lifetime ban on Mr...

SeaPRwire

Adidas ‘plans to sell’ struggling Reebok business

elean
2 minutes

FRANKFURT • German sportswear company Adidas plans to sell its Reebok division, Germany's Manager Magazin has reported, as the group seeks to put an end to its ill-fated investment in the US-focused brand. Adidas chief executive Kasper Rorsted plans to complete the sale by March next year, the magazine said, without citing where it obtained the information. Manager Magazin on Thursday said US apparel maker VF Corp and China's Anta Sports were among the interested parties, without citing sources. Adidas declined to comment. VF Corp did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Anta Sports could not be reached for comment outside office hours in China. Shares in Adidas jumped as much as 3.5 per cent on the report, reflecting hopes for a sale following repeated calls to dispose of Reebok from investors who criticised a lack of progress in turning around the business. The German company bought Boston-based Reebok for US$3.8 billion (S$5.2 billion) in 2005 under Mr Rorsted's predecessor Herbert Hainer, with the aim of taking on United States arch rival Nike on its home turf. Last year, however, Adidas wrote down Reebok's book value by nearly half compared with 2018, to €84...

JCN Newswire
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NEC and Analog Devices Collaborate to provide a 5G O-RAN Massive MIMO Radio for Rakuten Mobile

ruth
3 minutes

TOKYO, Oct 23, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701) and Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) announced today that they have teamed up to design a 5G Network Massive MIMO Antenna Radio Unit for Rakuten Mobile. The radio unit adopts ADI's fourth-generation wideband RF transceiver solution to achieve high precision Massive MIMO and possesses a 5G open vRAN (virtual RAN) interface corresponding to Rakuten Mobile's end-to-end fully virtualized cloud-native mobile network. It delivers large capacity transmission with high efficiency by using 3.7GHz frequency Massive MIMO(1) and digital beamforming technology.(2) The cloud-native virtual network heralds a major shift in how communications providers can offer high-speed internet access worldwide, at significantly lower costs, made possible without the maintenance, upkeep, repair and labor costs associated with the physical infrastructure that hinders conventional networks. NEC has already started shipping the 5G Network Massive MIMO Antenna Radio Unit to Rakuten Mobile.ADI's fourth-generation wideband RF transceiver integrates quad channel transmitters, receivers and Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) in a single chip. The radio is fully so...

ACN Newswire
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NetDragon Collaborates with Pearson Expands Education Library with Agreement to License Digital Content

indie
4 minutes

HONG KONG, Oct 23, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon", Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that NetDragon has signed a licensing agreement for K-12 education content with Pearson Global Schools, part of Pearson, the world's leading learning company. The high-quality interactive math and science content will be distributed through NetDragon's global learning community, led by subsidiaries Edmodo, Promethean, and JumpStart among others.Pearson's classroom resources and multimedia learning tools focus on the individual needs of all learners. Primary/Elementary resources (ages 4-11) include the highly acclaimed Reading Street, Abacus Evolve, and enVisionMATH. For the digital natives (ages 11-18), interactive programs from Digits and Interactive Science are highly visual to make learning more engaging for today's students.According to the World Economic Forum, around 1.2 billion children were out of school classrooms this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With blended learning now center stage, educators are realizing the potential for online interaction. Bringing together market-leadi...

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Singaporeans least worried about getting Covid-19 in South-east Asia, but less confident of job security: Survey

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - While residents of Singapore are the least worried about contracting Covid-19 compared to people from five other South-east Asian countries, they are also the most pessimistic about an economic recovery, according to a research survey. The findings released on Friday (Oct 23) showed that more than half of 500 Singapore residents indicated they are less confident about their job security compared to three months earlier - the highest observed when compared to respondents from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Only 27 per cent of Singapore residents are expecting the economy to improve in the next six months, market research firm Ipsos said. Ipsos conducted the online survey from Sept 18 to 22, asking respondents questions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. They included how residents of the six South-east Asian countries have adapted to Covid-19 restrictions, as well as their household income and spending patterns. Five hundred people aged 18 and above - which Ipsos said was nationally representative in terms of age, gender and ethnicity - were surveyed from each of the countries. On contracting the coronavirus, 73 per cent of Singapore responde...

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Catholic stance on marriage remains unchanged, says S’pore Catholic Church in response to Pope Francis’ remarks

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Responding to reports that Pope Francis had endorsed same-sex civil unions in the new documentary Francesco, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore on Thursday (Oct 22) said the Catholic Church's stance on marriage remains unchanged. Any comment made by Pope Francis that has been recorded in a documentary "is not considered or admissible as an official papal teaching", the Catholic Church of Singapore said in a statement. It said the "Catholic understanding of marriage is defined as the sacrament by which a baptised man and a baptised woman bind themselves for life in lawful marriage". This constant teaching on marriage "remains unchanged regardless of a civil union between two persons of the same sex approved by the state", the Church added. "We do not know at the moment what the Holy Father actually said in the interview and the context of what he said," the Church said, adding that it has not had an official statement or communication from the Vatican. "What is legal in society is not necessarily moral or licit for Catholics in the teaching of the Church." Civil unions are legally recognised relationships that are granted similar legal rights to conventional mar...

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Court of Appeal allows Singaporean death row inmate to argue his case on scheduling of executions

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - The Court of Appeal on Friday (Oct 23) gave the green light for Singaporean drug trafficker Syed Suhail Syed Zin, 44, to argue his case that death row inmates are not being treated equally in the scheduling of executions. Suhail is seeking judicial review of the Singapore Prison Service's decision to carry out the death sentence on him before those who were convicted before him, which he contends is a violation of his right to equality under the Constitution. The decision by the apex court to grant permission for judicial review came after Suhail's lawyer, Mr M. Ravi, cited the case of Malaysian drug trafficker Datchinamurthy Kataiah, who was given the death sentence before Suhail in 2015. Mr Ravi also pointed out that Datchinamurthy's inmate number is 944, while Suhail's is 949, to support his case about the sequence in which they were put on death row. Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, giving the decision of the three-judge apex court, said that on the face of it, there is an inconsistency between the known facts and an affidavit submitted to the court by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Based on this apparent inconsistency, the threshold to grant permission for judic...

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Chief Justice grants leave to probe DPPs for misconduct in former maid Parti Liyani case

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - The Chief Justice has given the green light for an investigation to be conducted into former domestic worker Parti Liyani's complaint of misconduct against the two Deputy Public Prosecutors involved in her theft trial. Ms Parti had earlier sought leave to start disciplinary proceedings against DPP Tan Yanying and DPP Tan Wee Hao who handled the theft charges against her. Ms Parti was later acquitted by the High Court on appeal. She was accused of stealing from her former employer, Mr Liew Mun Leong, who is the former chairman of Changi Airport Group. The charge alleged that Ms Parti had stolen, among other things, a Pioneer DVD player and, on appeal to the High Court, she was acquitted of all charges. In his judgment on Friday (Oct 23), Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon wrote: "In particular, the applicant contends that the DPPs had, in their conduct of the trial, concealed material facts and thereby created the false impression that the device was fully functional. "She contends that but for the false impression that had been conveyed, she would not have agreed, under cross-examination, that the device was operational. On this basis, the DPPs suggested that she had lied ab...

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Singapore and Germany agree to establish Reciprocal Green Lane for business and official travel

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Singapore and Germany have agreed on a Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL), said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the German Federal Foreign Office in a joint statement on Friday (Oct 23). Dates for the opening of the lane are yet unclear, as the ministries say operational details of the RGL, including the procedural requirements, health protocols, and application process, will be announced in due course. Singapore currently has no green lane arrangements with any country in Europe, a region which is in the midst of a second wave of coronavirus infection. "The RGL will enable essential travel for business or official purposes via direct flights between both countries," said the ministries in a statement. Eligible applicants, who are resident in Germany or Singapore, will have to abide by the Covid-19 prevention and public health measures mutually agreed by both countries. Both countries agreed that the RGL could serve as a model for future similar arrangements between Singapore and other European countries. Hong Kong was the last most recent territory that Singapore made special travel arrangements with. Apart from Germany, Singapore currently has travel arrangements w...

ACN Newswire

IDC Industry Will Benefit from the Growth of Cloud Computing GDS to be Listed on the HKEx

indie
4 minutes

HONG KONG, Oct 23, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - According to South China Morning Post, Internet Data Center (IDC) industry is a crucial component of the strategic emerging industry, which plays an important role in promoting and driving economic transformation and upgrading and social development, and is also a key industry leading the innovation and development of the information industry in the future. Recently, GDS, the leader of the IDC industry, officially launched its public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.Unique platform attracts renowned customers in different industriesGDS is the largest carrier-neutral data center service provider in China, focusing on developing and operating high-performance data centers, with a 21.9% revenue market share of the carrier-neutral market in 2019. As of June 30, 2020, GDS operated 42 self-developed data centers also with 17 data centers under construction. As of the same date, GDS had an aggregate net floor area of 266,260 sqm in service, 94.1% of which was committed by customers.At the same time, GDS has established good relationship with large, fast-growing, and diversified customers, allowing its customers to expand rapidly. As at Ju...

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Understanding Goldman Sachs’ role in the 1MDB mega scandal

elean
4 minutes

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) - Goldman Sachs on Thursday (Oct 22) reached a deal to settle a probe into the bank's role in Malaysia's 1MDB corruption scandal, which included total penalties of nearly US$3 billion (S$4 billion). The bank was investigated for its role in raising US$6.5 billion in three bond sales between 2012 and 2013 for the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund. What is 1MDB? 1MDB is a state fund launched in 2009 by former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak to promote economic development. How did billions go missing? 1MDB raised billions of dollars in bonds, ostensibly for investment projects and joint ventures between 2009 and 2013. Malaysian and US authorities say US$4.5 billion, including some of the money Goldman helped raise, was stolen from 1MDB in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated high-level officials of the fund, Najib and others. The siphoned funds were used to buy luxury assets and real estate, including hotels, a private jet, art by Picasso and Monet, and to finance Hollywood films, US lawsuits said. The US Department of Justice has sought to recover about US$2.1 billion in assets linked to diverted 1MDB funds - the largest ...

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Singapore fines Goldman Sachs $165 million over 1MDB corruption scandal

elean
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - Goldman Sachs Singapore will pay US$122 million (S$165 million) to the Singapore Government for its role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) bond offerings corruption scandal. The penalty is believed to be the largest-ever imposed here, far exceeding the $13.3 million slapped on BSI Bank, whose Singapore unit was shut down in 2016 for its role in the scandal. The fine is on top of the nearly US$3 billion that parent Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay after its Malaysia unit said it will plead guilty to violating foreign bribery laws, drawing a line under a saga that has dogged the investment banking giant for years. Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) has also served Goldman Sachs Singapore with a 36-month conditional warning, in lieu of prosecution, for three counts of corruption offences punishable under Section 5(b)(i) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241. Meanwhile the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has directed the Singapore unit of Goldman Sachs to appoint an independent external party to conduct a review of its remedial measures, it said in a joint statement with the Attorney-General's Chambers and CAD early on Friday morning (O...

SeaPRwire

Big-name Asian hedge funds draw billions in new money

elean
1 minute

HONG KONG • Established Asian hedge funds have attracted the lion's share of new money this year, while start-ups have been hamstrung by global travel curbs that have made face-to-face meetings with European and United States asset allocators impossible. Well-known firms, including Tribeca Investment Partners, Pleiad Investment Advisors, Dymon Asia Capital (Singapore) and Sylebra Capital, have drawn more than US$3 billion (S$4.07 billion) of new money among them this year. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

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Business Briefs: CapitaLand Mall Trust

elean
3 minutes

CapitaLand Mall Trust CapitaLand Mall Trust's (CMT) distribution per unit rose 1.3 per cent to 3.1 cents for its third quarter ended Sept 30, from 3.06 cents a year ago. For the third quarter this year, CMT's gross revenue tumbled 25.3 per cent to $150.3 million, from $201.1 million a year earlier. This was mainly due to rental waivers of $29.5 million granted to tenants affected by Covid-19, as well as lower gross turnover and other income, the manager said yesterday. Net property income fell 27.6 per cent on the year to $104.4 million for the quarter, from $144.2 million. Distributable income was up 1.1 per cent year on year to $114.3 million, from $113 million. Unit holders can expect to receive the distribution on Nov 19. THE BUSINESS TIMES Suntec Reit Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust's (Suntec Reit) distribution per unit fell 21.9 per cent to 1.848 cents for its third quarter ended Sept 30, from 2.365 cents a year ago. This came as distributable income from operations dropped 12.6 per cent year on year to $52.2 million, from $59.7 million. This was due to the absence of contribution from Suntec Singapore and one-off compensation received at Marina Bay Financial Centre prope...

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Global integration will help S’pore firms grow, create jobs: Iswaran

elean
3 minutes

Singapore should guard itself against nativist tendencies that can harm economic growth, warned Communications and Information Minister S. Iswaran yesterday. Mr Iswaran told virtual participants at a Singapore Business Federation (SBF) event that the country should persevere with its strategy of global integration despite the coronavirus-induced recession. Part of the plan is to have more free trade agreements (FTAs), digital economy agreements and regional trading blocs such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Asean Trade In Goods Agreement, he added. These pacts help local firms grow and aid multinational companies in basing their regional and global operations here, in turn, creating jobs for Singaporeans, said Mr Iswaran, who is also Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations. "Obviously, we are in a challenging economic environment, and how we emerge from this is going to depend critically on the manner of our response," he added. Mr Iswaran, who made his remarks at SBF's FTA Day 2020, said that using the pandemic crisis as an excuse to retreat from free trade and openness might bring some short-term sense of righteousness, but "in the long term, it is going ...

ACN Newswire
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Bixin Ventures Announces $100M Proprietary Capital Fund to Support Global Blockchain Ecosystem

indie
2 minutes

HONG KONG, Oct 22, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - Bixin Ventures has launched a $100 million proprietary capital fund to support the global blockchain ecosystem and infrastructure necessary for the future of open finance through a permissionless and decentralized network.Bixin Ventures participated as co-lead investor in a strategic round for O(1) Labs, the team incubating Mina Protocol, contributing US$ 2M to the raise, and has invested in projects including Microbit, xDai, Algorand, Nervos, Arweave, Conflux, Certik, and Marlin.Earlier in 2020, Bixin Ventures announced a $66 million proprietary fund of funds enabling hedge funds and liquidity providers to strengthen the global liquidity framework in Bitcoin markets, with qualifying fund recipients satisfying fully denominated BTC criteria."One of our primary priorities is to help make the ecosystem truly global. Our investment team is working alongside the founders to provide guidance and expertise for growth in Asia," said Wang Xi, partner at Bixin Ventures.Bixin mining operations are currently operating at 300 megawatt-hour capacity, boasting ~3,000 peta hash per second (PH/s) of computing power, which accounts for roughly 2% of the gl...

JCN Newswire
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Mitsubishi Power Receives Follow-up Order from Serbia for Two Sets of World’s Largest Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems

ruth
3 minutes

The newly ordered FGD systems each have a flue gas desulfurization capacity of 670 megawatts (MW), with operation scheduled to commence in 2024. Together with the two sets ordered for the Nikola Tesla A plant of which the construction is on-going, the new installations will further reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulates emissions, thereby helping to meet European Union (EU) environmental standards and support Serbia's quest to join the EU.The Nikola Tesla B power plant is operated by Public Enterprise Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS). It is located some 60 kilometers southwest of Belgrade, the capital, and roughly 20 kilometers west of the Nikola Tesla A plant, the country's largest. The newly ordered two sets of FGD systems will be installed in units 1 and 2, which have a total output of 1,340 MW.In accepting the new order, Mitsubishi Power has formed a consortium with three local companies: Energotehnika Juzna Backa, Gosa Montaza AD, and EX ING B&P Construction. Mitsubishi Power will take charge of project management and all facets from basic design to delivery and installation of core equipment, and the consortium partners will perform local supply, civil engine...