TSMC CoWoS Capacity Forecast Raised as Mizuho Sees AI Server CPU Demand Surging Through 2027 
South Korea Alleges Google Abused Android App Store Dominance, Eyes Major Fine 
Switch Seeks $2 Billion Funding at Nearly $50 Billion Valuation Ahead of Potential IPO 
Australia Trade Balance Swings to Surprise Deficit as Imports Outpace Exports in May 
SK Holdings, KKR Launch $1.3B Renewable Energy Venture in South Korea 
Chip Stocks Rally as Samsung and SK Hynix’s $1.3 Trillion Investment Plan Boosts AI Optimism 
Apple Expands iPhone Lineup, Boosts Foldable iPhone Production Plans Through 2027 
Asian Stocks Mixed as South Korea Slides on Profit-Taking, Japan and China Gain on Strong Factory Data 
Oil Prices Slip as Iran Talks and Strong Supply Outlook Ease Market Concerns 
Gold Price Hits Annual Low as Fed Rate Hike Bets and Sticky Inflation Weigh on Bullion 
U.S. Stocks End Q2 Higher as Strong Jobs Data and AI Rally Lift Wall Street 
Trump Administration Declines USMCA Renewal, Opens Talks on New Trade Changes 
ShareChat Eyes 2027 IPO After Reaching Operational Profitability, Report Says 
Meta Stock Jumps as AI Cloud Expansion Challenges AWS, Microsoft, and Google 
Anthropic Brings Claude AI Models to Microsoft Azure Foundry With NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs 
Trump Administration to Launch Voluntary AI Standards for Frontier Models 
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Korea (MBFSK), is being criticized for predatory lending practices, offering high-interest-rate loans to new customers after borrowing at low-interest rates from its German headquarters.
According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, MBFSK, the South Korean unit of Mercedes-Benz Group AG’s financial and mobility services division, achieved an operating income of 85.4 billion won and an operating profit of 28.9 billion won in the third quarter.
Its operating profit-to-sales ratio is estimated at 33.84 percent.
MBFSK’s numbers are far higher than that of Hyundai Capital Services Inc., an auto finance subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group.
While Hyundai Capital’s third-quarter operating income was 45 times more than that of MBFSK, its operating profit-to-sales ratio stood at a mere 10.11 percent.
According to industry watchers, BFSK’s overwhelmingly high operating profit-to-sales ratio is because of its high-interest-rate loans to new customers in return for offering discounted car prices.
MBFSK uses funds borrowed from headquarters to finance the loans.
Customers using MBFSK’s loan products have to pay an annual interest rate of up to 9.68 percent, far higher than those offered by other domestic credit finance companies.
In the third quarter, MBFSK raised 1.15 trillion won of funds, or 76.87 percent of its total for the year, from its German headquarters at a very low-interest rate of 1.02 percent.
