Investors' claims for compensation from delisted Procomp Informatics Co (博達科技) may exceed NT$5 billion, with over 10,000 claims in total, the Securities and Futures Investors Protection Center estimated yesterday.
One day after prosecutors indicted Procomp's top management and suggested up to a 20-year sentence for chairwoman Sophie Yeh (葉素菲), the center said it expected to receive more complaints from another batch of stock investors who bought the chipmaker's shares in 2000. Prosecutors have now concluded that the company faked financial reports one year earlier than previously thought.
"Since the law allows a five-year retroactive period to seek compensation from defaulted companies, investors, who bought Procomp's shares in 2000, better hurry to file lawsuits [against it] before Nov. 15," said Michael Chao (
The center will receive investors' complaints for the next 10 days ahead of the Nov. 15 deadline, Chao said.
The center had previously received over 8,000 compensation applications for convertible bonds worth NT$1.6 billion and securities worth NT$2.36 billion from the chipmaker, which was ejected from the main bourse in late June after defaulting on a NT$2.98 billion bond payment.
The center estimates that the total compensation from the first batch of 8,000 investors may be between NT$3 billion to NT$4 billion while the second batch may increase the total amount to over NT$5 billion.
Separately, the Financial Supervisory Commission also urged Bank SinoPac (建華銀行) to reshuffle top management in its overseas re-investment subsidiaries after the commission found the subsidiaries had failed to use due diligence in dealing with Procomp.
Top management at SinoPac's parent holding company double as the top management of overseas subsidiaries, but the jurisdiction of the parent company's top management may not cover overseas subsidiaries, said Jong Huey-jen (鍾慧貞), director-general of the commission's Bureau of Monetary Affairs.
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