Bank of Taiwan files suit against filmmaking firm

The Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) yesterday filed a lawsuit against the Central Motion Picture Co (CMPC, 中央電影公司), arguing that the board's resolutions last week to dispose of company assets are invalid.

"The board's resolutions violate the Company Law (公司法) and the firm's relevant regulations, which have damaged government shareholders' rights and interests," the bank said in a press release issued late last night.

The state-owned Bank of Taiwan, Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行) and Farmer's Bank (農民銀行) hold a combined 16.43 percent of CMPC shares. But these government shareholders lost all their representation on the CMPC board in a re-election held last week, following a change of the board's structure orchestrated by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元), who was elected chairman in May.

In addition, the new CMPC board authorized its chairman to dispose of the company's assets.

The Bank of Taiwan said that the filmmaking firm had violated Article 185 of the Company Law by deciding to buy 3 million special shares held by the Bank of Taiwan. The bank said that any such decision could only be made in a special shareholder meeting.

The bank also accused CMPC of amending the firm's regulations to allow it to acquire or dispose of real estate without having to seek shareholder approval.