The Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC) will likely need to continue its stewardship of debt-ridden Chung Shing Bank (中興銀行), government officials said yesterday.
CDIC took control of the ailing bank two years ago. It was scheduled to relinquish management authority on March 25, but now government officials say CDIC may stay in charge for another three months.
A senior official at the Ministry of Finance said yesterday the government is attempting to find a buyer for Chung Shing, but additional time was needed.
"We're still cooking up a deal with other banks, each of which may need at least two months to conduct due diligence on Chung Shing's books before offering a price," Gary Tseng (曾國烈), deputy director general of the Bureau of Monetary Affairs under the finance ministry, told lawmakers yesterday.
Tseng said the ministry hopes to close a deal "within three months, but it would be the buyer's call."
There are several possible candidates interested in Chung Shing, the finance official said.
But he refused to confirm media reports that the ministry has instructed Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) and Chiao Tung Bank (交通銀行) to take over the ailing financial institution, saying "confidentiality agreements have been signed."
In addition, there have been reports that a multinational bank has recently expressed interest in buying Chung Shing.
Tseng in his comments yesterday also acknowledged that the bank may have to write down roughly NT$29.8 billion in bad loans.
Minister of Finance Lee Yung-san (
The government in January invited foreign and domestic banks to bid for Chung Shing, but none so far have shown interest in bailing out the sinking financial institution.
To shore up the bank's operations, finance officials plan to tap the Financial Restructuring Fund -- similar to the Resolution Trust Corp in the US -- which has about NT$60 billion on hand.
But the fund's assets are too few to deal with the nation's bad-loan problem.
"The fund, accounting for just 1.4 percent of the country's GNP, is too small to provide flexibility in dealing with [bad loans]," Tseng said. The finance official said the ministry plans to raise another NT$200 billion to add to the fund, although the government hasn't yet said how.
DPP legislators Chiang Chao-yi (江昭儀) and Chen Mao-nan (陳茂男) yesterday sought an explanation as to why Chung Shing's financial health seemed to worsen after the government took over two years ago.
Pan Lung-cheng (
"The property market has declined by 20 to 30 percent over the past two years, further diminishing the value of the bank's non-performing assets," Pan said.
To keep Chung Shing going, Pan said officials have taken steps to reduce the bank's credit risks when it comes to underwriting loans. Also, 223 staff members have been cut and salaries have been reduced between 3 percent and 30 percent.
"We've helped the bank save an average of NT$20 million monthly," Pan added.
Fred Chen (
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
HEADWINDS: Upfront investment is unavoidable in the merger, but cost savings would materialize over time, TS Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin said TS Financial Holding Co (台新新光金控) said it would take about two years before the benefits of its merger with Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) become evident, as the group prioritizes the consolidation of its major subsidiaries. “The group’s priority is to complete the consolidation of different subsidiaries,” Welch Lin (林維俊), president of the nation’s fourth-largest financial conglomerate by assets, told reporters during its first earnings briefing since the merger took effect on July 24. The asset management units are scheduled to merge in November, followed by life insurance in January next year and securities operations in April, Lin said. Banking integration,
LOOPHOLES: The move is to end a break that was aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers, the US Department of Commerce said US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time. The move would revise what is known
Artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Cambricon Technologies Corp (寒武紀科技) plunged almost 9 percent after warning investors about a doubling in its share price over just a month, a record gain that helped fuel a US$1 trillion Chinese market rally. Cambricon triggered the selloff with a Thursday filing in which it dispelled talk about nonexistent products in the pipeline, reminded investors it labors under US sanctions, and stressed the difficulties of ascending the technology ladder. The Shanghai-listed company’s stock dived by the most since April in early yesterday trading, while the market stood largely unchanged. The litany of warnings underscores growing scrutiny of
RSS