The Ministry of Finance announced yesterday the appointment of Financial Supervisory Commission Vice Chairwoman Susan Chang (張秀蓮) as chairwoman of the state-run Taiwan Financial Holding Co (臺灣金控) and Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行).
With a master’s degree in economics, Chang, 60, will replace Tsai Jer-shyong (蔡哲雄) as head of the two 100 percent government-owned financial institutions, starting on Monday, the ministry said.
The government launched Taiwan Financial Holding on Jan. 2 after combining the Bank of Taiwan, the Land Bank of Taiwan (士地銀行), the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (中國輸出入銀行), the BankTaiwan Life Insurance Co (臺銀人壽保險) and a Bank of Taiwan brokerage unit to create the nation’s largest financial service provider by assets.
Last month, the government said it would maintain the independence of the Export-Import Bank and prevent it joining the holding company. Taiwan Financial is Asia’s 18th largest bank and the 91st biggest in the world, ministry figures showed.
The ministry said yesterday that Peter Lo (羅澤成), the Bank of Taiwan’s incumbent president, would retain his post and double as acting president of Taiwan Financial. Lo, 61, has a master’s degree in economics from Chinese Culture University. His appointment will also take effect on Monday, the ministry said.
Land Bank of Taiwan (士地銀行) chairman Wu Fan-chi (吳繁治) will leave his post as acting president at Taiwan Financial, the ministry said.
The ministry has approved the appointment of a central bank official to head the government-owned Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC, 中央存保).
Fred Chen (陳上程), director general of the central bank’s department of financial inspection, has been appointed CDIC chairman, the ministry said.
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)