The Financial Supervisory Com-mission chief yesterday said that the government's proposed stock-market delisting policies were appropriate, as he fielded questions from industry veterans about the issue.
"We don't have an ideal system for managing listed companies at the moment ... [the proposed delisting mechanism] is the right direction to move in," the commission's chairman Kong Jaw-sheng (
The Cabinet-level commission is working on measures to oust so-called `penny stocks,' or shares that trade at low prices with low transaction volumes, in an effort to enhance the management of the nation's publicly listed companies.
The commission is scheduled to disclose details of the mechanism by the end of November, Jerry Huang (
But several members of the Chinese National Federation of Industries yesterday expressed concern over the proposed mechanism, saying that it would not be fair to oust the penny stocks based simply on the conditions of low trading volume and share prices under the par share price of NT$10.
"The decisive factors should include a company's record of violations and the certified public accountants' reserved opinions about the firm's financial statements, which are the things that really matter," said Yeh Yi-hsiung (葉義雄), chairman of Taiwan Cotton Spinner's Association (棉紡公會).
Yeh, also chairman of Premier Microelectronics Development Corp (
While many companies in the traditional sector are working hard to improve their profitability, they are not as favored by investors as "red-hot" electronics stocks, Yeh said. Therefore, the government's proposed mechanism, if implemented, would simply overlook these companies' efforts, he added.
Premier Microelectronics was founded as a textile manufacturer in 1978 and transformed itself into a chip distributor in 2000. Premier shares grew by 0.91 percent to close at NT$5.55 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
In response, Kong said that the proposed system is not aimed at penny stocks, but rather at those companies angling to generate undue interest in the stock market via misleading information, behavior which in turn encumbers law-abiding listed companies.
"Unlike the US' mandatory delisting regulations, we would provide a secondary platform for those stocks removed from the main bourse," he added.
Kong said the commission would hold public hearings to communicate with all concerned parties before the policy is formally made.
Another industry veteran, Douglas Hsu (
In response, Kong said he recognized the situation that local banks have lagged behind their clients in internationalization, and he is happy to encourage domestic banks to expand overseas.
However, when it comes to operations across the Taiwan Strait, it remains difficult to establish a platform for financial communication and supervision once the regulations regarding Taiwanese banks' operations China are liberalized, unless China's regulatory agencies demonstrate their goodwill, Kong said.
The commission has had several discussions about the issue with the Mainland Affairs Council, and things would become clear once the opportune time emerges, he said.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
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Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day