Financial Supervisory Commission Vice Chairperson Susan Chang (張秀蓮) yesterday flatly denied the accusations of jobbery concerning its oversight of the Rebar Group, saying that all decisions had been made by the book.
"Our supervision was undertaken in full compliance with related regulations and we did not rule in favor of Great Chinese Bills Finance Corp (力華票券) or parent Rebar Group," Chang told a press conference yesterday.
Chang also dismissed local newspaper reports that she and fellow commission officials had been probed as part of the Rebar investigation.
"We were there [the Taipei District Court] as witnesses to offer testimony regarding our monitoring of Great Chinese Bills ... not as defendants," she said.
She added that in future the commission may tighten its approval of applications to set up new financial institutions by people or groups that have poor reputations or tracking records.
A total of 13 officials -- many of them commission officials -- were summoned by the court yesterday.
Taipei District Court Presiding Judge Lee Ying-hao (
"At present, we are trying to figure out who [among government officials] should take responsibility for the case. It is still too early for us to decide who will be investigated or charged," Lee said.
The decision of granting Great Chinese Bills a grace period of several years to phase out the amount of its improper lending to affiliated firms within the Rebar and Eastern Multimedia Group (EMG, 東森媒體集團) was made in such a manner as to avoid sparking a crisis in the then-weaker business environment, she said.
Chang and Lee made their remarks after Chinese-language newspapers reported that during a hearing on Monday, Lee had asked prosecutors to launch an investigation against Chang and the commission's former banking bureau director-general, Gary Tseng (曾國烈), over their potential involvement in the Rebar case.
Reports said the commission and the bureau had readily approved financial applications by Rebar while its former chairman, Wang You-theng (王又曾), was using these financial activities to steal company money.
The commission said yesterday that improper lending made by the bill finance company, established in August 1998, was NT$2.52 billion (US$7.8 million) as of last November, down from NT$3.25 billion -- or the equivalent of its total worth -- at the end of 1999.
That level, however, was well beyond the regulatory limit of 35 percent of a firm's net worth.
Maintaining his innocence, Chang said the regulator had imposed several punitive and restrictive measures on Great Chinese Bill, including bans against an increase in improper lending and new businesses, as well as a fine of NT$6 million last December.
The financial inspection of the bill financing firm was undertaken by several authorities, including the central bank, the finance ministry and the commission, under the helm of numerous ministers, including Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南), Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝) and Lin Chuan (林全).
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