Despite demands to the contrary by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, the Cabinet-level Financial Supervisory Commission appears to have no immediate plans to suspend its Examination Bureau director-general, Lee Chin-chen (李進誠), on the strength of allegations of illegal insider trading on the stock market.
"There exists only one truth," the commission's vice-chairman Lu Daung-yen (呂東英) told the Taipei Times yesterday.
"We will disclose the facts about the case that the commission has acquired tomorrow [today] and issue a response to the legislators' demands," he said.
However, he declined to confirm if the "facts" to be revealed relate to the prosecutors' possible involvement in the illegal-trading case, which the commission alleged last week. He also remained tight-lipped about whether the commission would suspend Lee.
Lu's remarks came after DPP legislators Charles Chiang (江昭儀) and Hsieh Ming-yuan (謝明源) yesterday asked the commission's chairman, Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝), to remove Lee from his position as director general for his suspected illegal trading in Power Quotient International Co (勁永國際) shares.
Chiang said Kong should remove Lee from his position to avoid him abusing his power and hindering the investigation process, the Central News Agency reported yesterday. Kong last week said he believed Lee was innocent.
Lee's office has the power to investigate irregularities in the financial markets. But the Black Gold Investigation Center of the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office claimed last week that they had found concrete evidence that strongly suggested Lee's likely involvement in the illegal trading of Power Quotient stocks. This was a huge blow to the financial watchdog, on the eve of its first anniversary celebrations.
The evidence included a note -- in Lee's handwriting, according to the center -- to the prime suspect, Lin Ming-da (
The prosecutors' claims infuriated the commission and led to intensifying in-fighting between the two government agencies. The commission on Friday decided to form its own investigating task force, while accusing some of the prosecutors of possible involvement in the scandal.
The commission's task force will investigate employees of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp, the Securities and Futures Bureau, the Financial Examination Bureau, prosecutors and investigators, as well as their close relatives, to determine whether they were engaged in illegally trading in Power Quotient shares, the commission said.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
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