Print

Mail

wiki links

Ex-minister named Chang Hwa chair

Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), the nation's second-largest financial group by assets, confirmed yesterday that former finance minister Lee Yung-san (李庸三) will chair its subsidiary Chang Hwa Bank (彰化銀行) and hopes to complete the merger by the end of this year.

Chang Hwa said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that institutional board member Taishin Financial appointed Lee as its new representative. The appointment took effect yesterday.

"It is a confirmed plan that Lee will be the next chairman of Chang Hwa," Taishin Financial spokesperson Carol Lai (賴昭吟) said.

The bank's former chairman, Chang Po-shin (張伯欣), offered to step down unexpectedly last week.

Lee is a perfect candidate with sufficient seniority and reputation and the merger plan "remains on schedule," Lai said.

Chang Hwa is scheduled to hold a board meeting to select a new standing board member and new chairman next Friday.

"It will not take long to start merger work on hiring a financial adviser to evaluate a share swap as the first step," bank spokesman James Shih (施建安) said yesterday.

It is unlikely, however, that Taishin Financial can swap shares with Chang Hwa at the 1-to-1 ratio that the company wants considering its share price and book value differences, Shih said, adding that certain lawmakers and members of the public would not agree to this either.
This story has been viewed 1249 times.