Korea's fair trade watchdog said Wednesday it has decided to impose 1.62 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in fines on 15 financial companies for colluding in government bond auctions for more than three years. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said the firms, all primary dealers comprising 10 brokerage houses and five banks, exchanged information on bidding yields and volumes through phone calls and messaging apps regarding 150 auctions between January 2020 and June 2023. It marked the largest fine ever imposed by the FTC in a single case, surpassing the previous record of 1.03 trillion won levied on Qualcomm for unfair practices in 2016. In 145 of those auctions, the companies went beyond exchanging information to reach agreements on specific bidding yields or volumes, constituting bid rigging, the watchdog said. "Dealers in charge of bidding at the 15 companies exchanged information on bidding volumes or yields on auction days, routinely engaging in collusion, with agreements sometimes reached within seconds," the FTC said. The watchdog noted such collusion constitutes a serious violation as g

Alibaba Group Holding’s planned Hong Kong listing of its semiconductor design arm, T-Head, is poised to reshape China’s artificial intelligence hardware arena while unlocking billions of dollars in trapped valuation for the tech titan, according to analysts. The proposed spin-off serves as a test of whether the sum of Alibaba’s parts is worth significantly more than its current market valuation. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares slipped about 1 per cent to HK$100.60 on Wednesday, the day...

Alibaba has applied to list chip-design unit T-Head in Hong Kong, as the Chinese tech giant braves a cooling initial public offering (IPO) market to raise funds for artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions. The Hong Kong stock exchange has approved the proposed separation and a confidential listing application was filed in September, Alibaba said in a statement on Tuesday. T-Head, which provides full-stack data centre chips, will remain a unit of the company. Alibaba also owns the South China...

We have put together stories from our coverage of Jensen Huang’s affair and its potential repercussions. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Could Jensen Huang’s affair become another ‘spy balloon’ saga for US-China ties? China hawks in Washington could weaponise allegations that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by Chinese intelligence, despite denials from Beijing, Chinese experts warn. 2. ‘Adding fuel to fire’: how Nvidia CEO’s troubles could...

Leica’s latest 4K laser projector promises brighter pictures, improved contrast and screen sizes of up to 300 inches, without requiring a dedicated home cinema room.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) move to take equity stakes in both OpenAI and Anthropic will give the world’s largest contract chipmaker direct financial ties to the frontier AI labs driving demand for its business. Its board on Tuesday authorised up to US$500 million to buy Anthropic common shares at its initial public offering (IPO) price, and up to US$500 million to buy preferred shares in OpenAI. Directors separately approved up to US$500 million to establish a dedicated...

Who’s affected, what’s exposed and is HardwareZone’s member data affected? We sum up the incident and steps taken.

Changi Airport and Jewel are celebrating Pokemon’s 30th anniversary with themed displays, shows and exclusive merchandise.

The MDR-3R revives the design of Sony’s 1979 headphones, with a Stranger Things edition joining it in Singapore this December.