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MOF minister optimistic about overseas listings

There should be no problem in principle for overseas corporations invested in by Taiwanese business-people to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, a business leader quoted Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) as saying yesterday.

Theodore Huang (黃茂雄), chairman of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC, 工商協進會) quoted Lin as saying such companies, including those in China, should in principle be able to be listed on the TAIEX or on the over-the-counter market for capital raising purposes.

Lin reportedly made the comments at a breakfast business meeting held at the CNAIC headquarters, with the participation of several government officials, including Lin Chuan, Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (林信義), Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Ruey-long (陳瑞隆) and Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Liu Teh-hsun (劉德勳), as well as business and industrial leaders.

Relaying Lin's remarks, Huang said the issue concerning how the TAIEX-listed companies will be allowed to remit capital to China is still mired in questions.

Business leaders have appealed to the government over the past several years to allow overseas Taiwanese companies to be listed and their stocks traded in a "fourth market, " in addition to the TAIEX, Gre Tai Securities Market (櫃台買賣中心) -- the nation's over-the-counter (OTC) market -- and the market for emerging high-tech stocks.

Between 1991 and last year, the government approved 27,276 applications for investment in China totalling US$26.61 billion, which represented 45.7 percent of overseas investment by Taiwanese business and industry.

With the establishment of a "fourth market" for the trading of stocks of overseas Taiwanese companies, such companies which have had difficulty being listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and China will have a new channel to raise capital.

Many Taiwanese businesspeople have set up holding companies overseas to manage their investments in China. As these companies use accounting and auditing systems different from companies in Taiwan, they may have problems meeting the listing requirements here, Huang noted.

He also said that regulations bar Taiwanese companies from investing in public engineering projects in China. But it is unclear whether Tai-wanese companies are allowed to invest in construction and related businesses related to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Huang urged the government to clarify whether investing in the Olympics-related businesses falls under the category of "public engineering projects."
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