Shares close lower
Taiwanese shares closed 2.66 percent lower yesterday amid worries about the US economy and a global credit crunch, dealers said.
The weighted index closed down 224.31 points at 8,210.99, off a high of 8,447.98 and a low of 8,198.77, on turnover of NT$111.75 billion (US$3.6 billion).
Decliners led risers 1,933 to 204, with 203 stocks unchanged. A total of 40 stocks closed limit-down and seven were limit-up.
On the foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$0.004 to close at NT$30.686 against the US dollar.
A total of US$1.312 billion changed hands during the day's trading.
FSC says yes to Credit Suisse
Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) officials yesterday gave their approval to Credit Suisse Group's application for setting up a branch in Taipei.
"We're very happy to announce the approved establishment of a new branch in Taipei by Credit Suisse, which was ranked the world's 19th-largest bank by assets in 2007 by The Banker magazine," FSC banking bureau deputy director-general Jong Huey-jen (鍾慧貞) told a media briefing yesterday.
Credit Suisse, founded in 1856 and headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, set up a representative office in Taipei in 1998 and recently decided to further tap into the local financial market, Jong added.
With yesterday's announcement, Credit Suisse becomes the 33rd foreign bank that has been allowed to set up into Taiwan, Jong said.
He extended the regulator's welcome to foreign banks interested in entering the market.
FSC fines EnTie
Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) officials yesterday also imposed a NT$2 million fine on EnTie Commercial Bank (安泰銀行) for poor internal risk management after a company clerk, Lee Zi-hui (李姿慧), was found to have embezzled bank funds.
Within a week, Lee illegally pocketed a total of NT$3.6 million -- about NT$3.1 million of which was retrieved -- from eight bank depositors, the deputy director-general of the FSC's banking bureau, Jong Huey-jen (鍾慧貞), told reporters at a press briefing yesterday.
The commission also ordered EnTie to fire Lee, who will be brought to court, Jong said.
To better protect the banking sector, the commission has asked the Bankers' Association (銀行公會) to inform other banks about the case and how to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
Demand for Taipower debt
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), the nation's largest corporate bond issuer, sold NT$12 billion (US$391 million) in debt to help fund expansion of capacity and an upgrade of its transmission grid.
Bids totaled NT$23.6 billion, underlining the demand for debt issued by the company.
The government owns 97 percent of the utility, which has an Aaa.tw rating from Moody's Investors Service, the highest for any Taiwanese company from the US credit rating firm.
The amount that was sold was at the top end of the range of NT$8 billion to NT$12 billion that had been planned for, company spokesman Clint Chou (周義岳) said by telephone from Taipei yesterday.
Taipower sold NT$4.8 billion in five-year notes and NT$3.6 billion each in seven-year securities and 10-year debt, the company said. The five-year bonds priced yesterday will pay annual interest of 2.6 percent, the seven-year notes 2.75 percent and the 10-year debt 2.84 percent, Chou said.
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