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A former Prudential Life Insurance employee was arrested in June last year on suspicion of fraud.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2025

Prudential Life ordered to report preventative measures after three arrests

Between June last year and February this year, three former employees were arrested over acts of misconduct that included defrauding customers.
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on Wednesday in New York.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 12, 2025

Asset flight challenges U.S. safe haven status

The U.S. has long been considered a financial safe haven —but Trump's trade war is starting to raise questions about if that's still true.
Machineries seen at a factory in Binh Duong, Vietnam
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 12, 2025

What Samsung and Vietnam stand to lose in Trump's tariff war

Trump's punishing potential 46% tariff has exposed the vulnerability of the Southeast Asian country's export model.
Toyota and Lexus cars and sport utility vehicles unloaded from car carrier ships to the Toyota Logistics Services automotive processing terminal at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, on Thursday
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2025

Trump floats temporary reprieve for autos as parts tariffs loom

The president said he is exploring exemptions to his tariffs on imported vehicles and parts to give auto companies more time to set up manufacturing in the U.S.
The U.S. Commerce Department has begun investigating how semiconductors and pharmaceuticals impact national security.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2025

Trump initiates chips and drug probes, ahead of more tariffs

The moves, announced Monday in the Federal Register, are a precursor to imposing tariffs and threaten to broaden the president’s sweeping U.S. trade war.
A Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) logo is displayed on a wall in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Tuesday. A recent rout saw TSMC’s forward price-to-earnings ratio hit a two-year low at one point.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 16, 2025

TSMC and ASML outlooks to reveal depth of tariff pain and AI angst

Both have borne the brunt of a broader market selloff, weighed down by both U.S. tariff threats and doubts over future AI demand.
The Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China, on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2025

Ground zero of China trade boom reckons with decoupling from U.S.

"The China-U.S. relation is beyond salvation — this change of gears is irreversible,” said the China director at a political risk consultancy.
Bottles of Hakkaisan-brand sake for export
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2025

U.S. tariffs overshadow Japan's agriculture and food exports

Japanese goods need to be sold by "emphasizing that there are no alternatives" to them, said Kazuhito Yamashita, senior researcher at the Canon Institute for Global Strategies.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta, departs federal court in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 17, 2025

Meta saw TikTok as ‘highly urgent’ threat, Zuckerberg says at trial

Zuckerberg was composed, but occasionally evasive, when challenged to explain past messages indicating a concerted effort to muscle out competitors.
A green wireframe model covers an actor's lower face during the creation of a deepfake video in in London in 2019.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 17, 2025

They sold their likeness to AI companies — and regretted it

Scores have ended up with the unpleasant surprise of seeing themselves feature in deepfakes, dubious adverts or even political propaganda.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.2% from a year ago in March, accelerating from a 3% increase in the previous month, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2025

Japan’s inflation quickens as rice prices gain the most in over 50 years

The price of the nation’s staple grain rose 92.1% in March from a year earlier, the fastest pace in data going back to 1971.
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, speaks at the IMF headquarters in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2025

World economy likely to avoid recession despite tariffs, IMF chief says

Donald Trump's stop-start tariff have fueled levels of market volatility unseen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Thursday
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2025

Trump’s tariff policies are hurting the businesses he’s trying to help

Some firms are putting hiring and expansion plans on hold while they come up with short-term plans to cope with the tariffs.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's Economic Revitalization Minister and top tariff negotiator with the U.S., speaks to the press upon his arrival at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 20, 2025

Japan mulls reviewing car safety rules to strike deal with Trump

The report comes after Japan’s chief negotiator Ryosei Akazawa kicked off tariff discussions with U.S. counterparts in Washington last week.
Orbis Investment Management bought shares of Mitsubishi Estate over the past months on the view that inflation will lift revenue as the domestic real estate sector remains attractive.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025

Top Japan fund adds Mitsubishi Estate shares on cheap valuations

The return of inflation in Japan has lured overseas investors to the nation’s real estate market and property developer shares.
Takeshi Niinami, chairman and CEO of Suntory, says U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are "really killing the appetite from the world” for investment in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025

Trump tariffs are killing investment appetite, Suntory CEO says

President Trump’s efforts to reshape international trade have led to wild swings in global markets and raised concerns the U.S. economy could enter a recession.
Sumitomo and SBI Holdings will invest in FPT Smart Cloud Japan, which oversees FPT’s Japan AI data center.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025

Sumitomo and SBI Holdings to take stakes in Vietnam’s FPT AI unit

FPT is setting up a Japan AI data center, with an initial investment of $200 million.
Executives from U.K. self-driving startup Wayve and SoftBank attend an event in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025

U.K. AI startup Wayve makes Japan debut after Nissan partnership

Earlier this month, Wayve said it was joining forces with Nissan Motor to help build the next generation of its ProPilot driver-assist system.
Stephen Ma, the head of Nissan’s operations in China, speaks during a news conference at the Shanghai auto show on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025

Nissan commits another $1.4 billion to China with EVs in focus

"With China moving so fast, we want to stay and we want to compete,” said Stephen Ma, the head of Nissan’s operations in China.
While Nissan slightly raised its sales forecast late Thursday, its statement warned that its net loss could be ¥700 billion to ¥750 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025

Nissan sees $5.3 billion red hole as restructuring losses mount

While Nissan slightly raised its sales forecast late Thursday, its statement warned that its net loss could be ¥700 billion to ¥750 billion.
U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, stops to speak to reporters as he leaves the White House on Friday morning.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 26, 2025

Conflicting U.S.-China talks statements add to global trade confusion

U.S. President Donald Trump has asserted that tariff negotiations were underway with China, but Beijing has denied this is the case.
As Japan gears up for the trade talks, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is also seeking to cushion the blow that the U.S. tariffs may have on the domestic economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 26, 2025

Japan to resist Trump efforts to form trade bloc against China

Any demands from Washington on Tokyo to downgrade its economic relationship with China would potentially deal Japan a major economic blow.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda proposed a buyout of Toyota Industries, seeking to consolidate his grip on Japan’s biggest business empire.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2025

Akio Toyoda's $42 billion buyout plan raises governance question

Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda’s bid to buy out Toyota Industries could pit him against Japan’s efforts to reform its corporate landscape.
A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 29, 2025

After 100 days under Trump, investors reassess the allure of 'brand USA'

The market has seen significant rallies fueled in part by trade negotiation optimism, but investors remain concerned about the longevity and strength of any bounce-back.
Farmer Moises Schmidt shows a cocoa bean at the Schmidt Agricola plantation in Riachao das Neves, Bahia state, Brazil, on Nov. 19, 2024.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2025

Brazil's would-be cocoa king aims to revolutionize industry with giant farm

The farmer's $300 million plan is the largest and the most innovative in the Brazilian state of Bahia, but not the only one.
Sunset at Dudley Page Reserve, in Dover Heights, Sydney, on April 21
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 29, 2025

Australia’s economic ‘miracle’ is ending no matter who wins vote

Polls suggest the May 3 election will be tight, with many pundits predicting the winner will lead a minority government.
Fuji Media Holdings President Osamu Kanemitsu is set to step down from his post at a general shareholders meeting in June.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 1, 2025

After scandal, Fuji Media Holdings marks major net loss for first time

The company has also announced that President Osamu Kanemitsu, who was set to become chairman, will be stepping down.
Stephen Dacus, incoming chief executive officer of Seven & I Holdings, speaks to reporters in Tokyo on April 24.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 1, 2025

Seven & I and Couche-Tard sign nondisclosure agreement

The move might signal that discussion on Couche-Tard's takeover proposal is moving forward.
While the results were better than analysts had expected, investors are focused on how tariff concerns will play out in the coming quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2025

Tim Cook says unchanged U.S. tariffs could dent Apple’s next-quarter margins

Apple Q2 beats expectations but warns that unchanged tariffs could cost the company $900 million and requires drastic supply-chain realignment.
The Otemachi Financial City Grand Cube, which houses the Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities head office, in Tokyo. MUMSS has stopped selling so-called structured loans after purchases of the products by regional banks prompted a regulatory backlash.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2025

MUFG joint venture stops selling structured loans after scrutiny

It’s the first known instance of a major brokerage ending this business in what was a booming market.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years