Mega Financial Holding Co (
The delay resulted from the lengthy review process of the registration of the new bank entity after merger by foreign regulators in the overseas markets, Mega Financial's spokesman Joseph Shieh (
This was the second postponement after Mega Financial first put off the merger date from March 27 to June 26.
Although it would be the surviving entity, ICBC's union has been resisting the merger as it opposes renaming the bank.
Mega Financial's management plans to change the merged banking unit to Mega Commercial Bank Co (
Name change
"We are proud of our brand name with a history that dates back more than 100 years," ICBC union chairman Tsai Chiu-far (
The bank was first established under the name Hupu Bank (戶部銀行) in 1904 during the Qing Dynasty. It is the oldest government owned and operated bank in Chinese history.
News of Mega Financial's plan to postpone the merger of its two banking units came on the eve of the financial service provider's annual shareholders' meeting today.
The union plans to mobilize up to 500 employees to hold a demonstration during the annual meeting to protest against the controversial takeover bid by Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (
So far, Chinatrust Financial has acquired a 15.63 percent stake in Mega Financial, while the government controls 22.78 percent.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators said yesterday that Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Board contest
"If the government secures less seats than those who represent private shareholders do, it means that Su and Lyu failed to fulfill their duty of guarding a national asset," KMT legislative caucus whip Pan Wei-kang (
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (
KMT legislators said they would stage a demonstration outside Mega Financial's annual shareholders' meeting today.
Meanwhile, People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) said yesterday that the party would come up with a motion to topple the Cabinet if the government loses control of the company.
But Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chung-mo (林重謨) said that if the government was disadvantaged, it is the KMT that should be blamed rather than the government.
"Mega is actually controlled by Chinatrust Financial, whose chairman Jeffrey Koo (
He said that the government had been working hard to persuade Chinatrust Financial from cooperating with other private shareholders.
"It all depends on Chinatrust Financial. If it continues to refuse to back the government, choosing instead to cooperate with private shareholders, and the government fails to obtain the support of all shareholders representing foreign interests, the government will likely lose control of Mega Financial," he said.
Equal treatment
The Financial Supervisory Com-mission said yesterday that the commission treated all shareholders equally -- whether they represented private or public interests.
The commission would not intervene unless there was any impropriety involved in the management shakeup, it 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