■ FSC gives green light
The Financial Supervisory Comm-ission said yesterday that it conditionally approved Taihsin Financial Holding Co's (台新金控) application to acquire an extra 7.5 percent stake in Chang Hwa Bank within the coming 12 months.
Taishin Financial has to comply with all the financial requirements at "any time" during the granted period of its share buying spree, the commission's spokesperson Susan Chang (張秀蓮) said.
The financial holding firm is required to maintain the group's capital adequacy ratio beyond 105 percent, capital adequacy ratio of its flagship unit Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) above 10 percent, a core capital adequacy ratio of over 6 percent, and coverage ratio of over 40 percent, according to the financial regulator.
Taishin Financial shall report the above financial strength data to the commission monthly, Chang said.
Despite the capital strength required for financial holding firms to make investment, Taishin Financial has been dogged by the consumer bad debts issue. It should, however, be financially stable unless the repayment ratio of its card debtors drops below 40 percent from currently over 80 percent, she added.
Taishin Financial has held a 22.5 percent stake in the state-controlled Chang Hwa.
■ Nicaragua, Taiwan to sign FTA
Nicaragua will become Taiwan's third free trade partner after Panama and Guatemala, following a free trade agreement (FTA) due to be signed today in Taipei.
Minister Morgan Hwang (黃營杉) is expected to sign the trade pact with his Nicaraguan counterpart Alejandro Arguello at the Ministry of Economic Affairs building at noon time, after an investment forum on the Latin American country is held in the morning, the ministry said on its Web site.
Taiwan inks FTAs with ally countries to strengthen bilateral relationship, as well as helping Taiwanese companies to tap the Central American common market, or sell their products through the countries to the larger North American market.
El Salvador and Honduras are next in line to sign FTA's with Taiwan. The three parties concluded a first round of FTA negotiations last week and are expected to sign the deals by the end of the year.
Paraguay is the next FTA candidate for Taiwan, as Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte Frutos said it intended to sign an FTA with Taiwan after President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) visit last month.
■ Meeting held on bonus stock
The Ministry of Economic Affairs held an inter-ministerial meeting yesterday on local companies' offering of bonus stock to employees.
The meeting attended by representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Financial Supervisory Commission and some major trade organizations, concluded that bonus stock should be implied as the cost of expense.
It also concluded that the new regulation could be implemented as early as January, if related laws are amended.
■ Family Mart names president
Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店), the nation's second-largest convenience store chain operator, yesterday promoted company vice president Chang Jen-dung (張仁敦) to president during a board meeting, it said in a statement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The company's chief executive officer Pan Jin-tin (潘進丁) formerly concurrently served as president.
■ NT dollar rises again
The New Taiwan dollar continued gaining ground against its US counterpart yesterday, rising NT$0.079 to close at NT$32.541 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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