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Coworkers express surprise as Jerome Chen quits his post

Jerome Chen (陳建隆), chairman of First Financial Holding Co (第一金控), yesterday submitted his resignation to the Ministry of Finance, putting an end to his three-year leadership of the owner of the nation's fourth-largest bank by assets.

"My resignation takes effect today [yesterday]," Chen said in a statement yesterday afternoon.

"It's time for me to pass on the helm [to others] since our work in revamping First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) has set a good example for [the privatization of] state-run banks," he added.

Giving his approval, Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) told a press conference later yesterday that he respects Chen's decision and will soon find successors for Chen and First Financial president Ray Dawn (董瑞彬), who also submitted his resignation.

"Within the next one or two days, the ministry hopes to either finalize replacements who are highly recognized in the banking circles, or designate temporary substitutes to head the financial institution," Lin said.

First Financial is two-fifths owned by the government and Chen is one of the company's board directors on behalf of the ministry.

Lin said he has informed President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) about Jerome Chen's resignation. But he dismissed media speculation that Jerome Chen was forced to leave his post after the government expressed displeasure with his management of a recent share sales.

First Financial late last month raised US$515 million through the sale of 1 billion new shares in the form of global depositary receipts to overseas investors. But the authorities found out later that part of the shares were instead sold to offshore units of Taiwanese financial institutions such as Yuanta Securities Corp (元大證券), which drew criticism of Chen.

"There may have some flaws in the deal, which was originally aimed to attract foreign investors," Lin said, "but it has nothing to do with [Jerome] Chen's resignation."

Chen's resignation caught most of the bank's staff by surprise.

"We are surprised to hear of the chairman's resignation," First Financial's executive vice president Huang Hsien-chuan (黃獻全) said yesterday.
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