Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom Co's (亞太固網) major shareholders, which include Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商), yesterday nominated vice chairman Wang Lin-tai (王令台) as temporary chairman.
The decision was made at an extraordinary board meeting yesterday after the government announced plans to send its own auditors and experts to supervise the telecoms operator.
"To safeguard the interests of subscribers and shareholders, the board members agreed to nominate Wang as temporary company chairman," Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA,
The TRA, which holds a 12.18 percent stake in the unlisted Asia-Pacific Broadband Telecom, is one of the fixed-line operator's major shareholders.
Chen was one of the 18 members of the 33-seat board who attended the meeting yesterday.
At a meeting which lasted two hours, the board also decided to recruit a team composed of the Small Business Integrated Assistance Foundation (中小企業聯合輔導基金會) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and privately-run KPMG International (安侯建業會計師事務所) to help audit the firm's financial statements, Chen said.
The board expects the auditors to need at least six weeks to complete their examination of the financial reports of Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom, Chen said.
This task force would also supervise the telecom operator's investments in non-core businesses, including the companies affiliated with the debt-ridden Rebar Asia Pacific Group (力霸亞太企業集團), he added.
During yesterday's meeting, Wang told board members that the company earned NT$300 million (US$9.14 million) from its core business last year, although the net value declined to around NT$5 per share from NT$9 per share in 2005, after booking NT$30 billion in asset impairment, company sources said.
The board yesterday neither approved the financial statement nor discussed a rumored board shake-up, Chen said.
Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom has NT$65.68 billion in capital and 150,000 subscribers, as well as 1,300 employees.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said last night that it expected to see the preliminary audit report within a week, the Central News Agency reported, without citing a source.
The ministry reiterated that the government's priority was to clarify the company's financial state, before tackling changes in its board and management, the report said.
The Ministry of Finance yesterday supported the economics ministry's stance in dealing with the telecom firm's financial woes first.
On Thursday, the finance ministry suggested that the Rebar Group relinquish 10 of its 22 board seats at the extraordinary board meeting, giving state shareholders a controlling stake in the board.
In related news, Vice Minister of Justice Chu Nan (朱楠) said yesterday that the ministry was communicating with the US to achieve greater flexibility in the two countries' mutual legal assistance agreement concerning the Rebar case.
Chu said the ministry hoped that the US would be able to declare Rebar Asia Pacific Group chairman Wang You-theng (
The official said that the ministry was eager for the US to approve prosecutors' requests to apprehend the couple and to freeze any assets the Wang family may have in the US.
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