Despite some confrontations between demonstrators and police, the government has completed the takeover of 35 problem financial institutions, said Cabinet Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) over the weekend.
While lamenting that the government had to arrest a number of rumormongers who have interfered with the process, Chiou stressed that no change in the government's determination to take over these financial institutions with negative net assets.
Under the government's direction, late last week 10 major banks acted to take over the management of the 35 grassroots financial institutions, including 26 credit departments set up by farmers' associations, two credit departments of fishermen's associations and seven credit cooperatives.
Chiou said it's regrettable that some farmers were erroneously led to believe that the government was going to liquidate their assets. On the contrary, the action was to ensure farmers' savings through the use of taxpayer dollars, Chiou said.
The Legislative Yuan passed a law in late June for the establishment and management of a NT$140 billion (US$4 billion) financial reconstruction fund to clean up the troubled financial institutions.
As of yesterday evening, one of the 35 financial institutions -- the credit department of Changchih Township Farmers' Association (
According to Minister of Finance Yen Ching-chang (
The 10 banks were Taiwan Cooperative Bank (
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