Company forgoes discipline
In response to the financial regulator's demand that China Dev-elopment Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) take self-punitive measures tomorrow, the company said yesterday that it had done nothing wrong in decision-making involving overseas investments and hence had no need to discipline staffers involved.
In a statement issued last night, the company said its banking unit China Development Industrial Bank (中華開發工銀) had exerted sufficient discretion in making a package sale of its overseas investment portfolio as well as in spinning off its asset management unit.
The company said the deals were proven to be helpful in its earnings last year, which grew 45 percent from 2005 to NT$1.38 per share. The policy-making and execution violated neither the law nor the firm's internal code of conduct, it added.
However, to demonstrate self-discipline and a sense of "moral responsibility," 11 of the company's high-level managers, including chairman Lin Cheng-i (林誠一) and president Angelo Koo (辜仲瑩), are willing to cut their monthly salaries by 30 percent for the next three months, the company said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission declined to comment on China Development Financial's decision, saying it hadn't received official notification.
On Dec. 14, the commission fined the bank NT$10 million and demanded punishment within one month of people responsible for serious internal control flaws in its decision-making process.
Executive's China trip confirmed
Taishin Financial Holdings Co (台新金控), owner of the nation's second-largest credit-card issuer, said yesterday that its chairman had visited Xiamen in China, prompting speculation it was looking for an investment opportunity in a bank in China.
The Central News Agency said earlier yesterday that Taishin Financial chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮) went to Xiamen to visit clients who need financial services resulting from to the busy trade between Taiwan and China.
The company said in a statement later yesterday that Wu and his wife took a "private" trip to Xiamen, but didn't give any further details.
Costa Rica trade pact mulled
Costa Rica and Taiwan are considering negotiating a free trade pact, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) made the proposal at a brief meeting in Managua on the sidelines of Nicaragua's presidential inauguration this week, La Nacion daily reported, quoting Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno.
Arias was said to be optimistic about the possibility, the report said, though no time frame was mentioned.
Chen also urged Costa Rica to join the APEC forum, it said.
Cosmos Bank rating affirmed
Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) yesterday affirmed its "twA-" long-term and "twA-2" short-term counterparty credit ratings on Cosmos Bank (萬泰銀行), with a stable outlook, it said in a statement.
The ratings reflect the bank's good niche position in Taiwan's cash card market, Taiwan Ratings said. The bank's high-profile "George & Mary" cash cards commanded a 27 percent share of the domestic cash card market, in terms of total loan balance, at the end of November last year.
But the ratings agency warned of the lender's mediocre capitalization, saying it provides only a limited buffer against potential credit costs, the statement said.
NT dollar edges up
The New Taiwan dollar gained against its US counterpart yesterday, rising NT$0.014 to close at NT$32.760 on the Taipei Forex Inc.
Turnover was US$1.129 billion.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
RSS