The nation's financial regulator is investigating China Development Financial Holding Co's (
"We are investigating [all involved transactions] and will ask for the prosecutors' cooperation in this case," commission chairman Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝) told lawmakers at the Legislative Yuan's Financial Committee meeting yesterday.
But he didn't elaborate on the current progress and when the financial regulator would reveal the results of their probe.
Kong made the remarks in response to lawmakers' questions about whether China Development, the nation's 13th biggest financial group, may have been involved in illegitimate transactions as it worked to acquire Taiwan International in the nation's first hostile takeover attempt.
During its 11-day tender offer between Feb. 19 and March 1 to buy Taiwan International's shares at NT$14 per share, China Development acquired a 2.62 percent stake in the smaller brokerage from its affiliate China Development Industrial Bank & Partners Investment Holding Corp (CDIB & Partners,
Questions raised
Lawmakers questioned whether, since China Development had included its affiliate's shareholding when reporting its shareholding of Taiwan International to authorities, there was a need for the financial holding firm to spend money purchasing shares from CDIB & Partners.
China Development's management may have been involved in hollowing out the company and benefiting certain parties, since its affiliate could reap profits exceeding NT$100 million (US$3 million), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Lin Chung-mo (
Legitimate move
In response, China Development said yesterday that they conducted the tender offer through a legal process and with a legitimate purpose, and that any Taiwan International shareholders are eligible to respond to the financial holding firm's offer and sell their shares.
Also, the company's board decided on Feb 17 that they will give related party sellers transaction terms "no better" than others in compliance with Article 45 of the Financial Holding Company Act (
DPP legislator Julian Kuo (
Lawmakers together blasted the government-appointed board directors for failing in their duty to guard shareholders' rights and interests when the company decided pursue these controversial transactions.
The government reportedly controlled about a 6-percent stake in China
Development and occupied one-third of the company's 21 board seats.
In response, the company's chairman Chen Mu-tsai (陳木在), also a
government-appointed board director, said that all government
representatives agreed with the tender offer bid and the proposed offer
price of NT$14 in consideration of the company's long-term development.
But Chen admitted that they did not have advance notice that the affiliate
CDIB & Partners would respond to the tender offer.
Echoing the public concerns over the dominance of the nation's financial
resources by a few rich families, lawmakers yesterday said they will bring
up motions today to ban China Development from making any mergers and
acquisitions before Koo boosts his shareholding to the required 15 percent.
In addition, lawmakers said they will work to restrict government-appointed
board directors from supporting any hostile takeover bids by the financial
holding firm.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San