The Ministry of Finance is investigating mergers and acquisitions by financial firms including Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Ltd (彰銀) and Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) carried out under former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is the subject of a corruption probe.
The ministry is looking for possible irregularities in connection with Taishin Financial Holdings Co’s (台新金) acquisition of Chang Hwa and Chinatrust Financial Holding Co’s (中信金) purchase of a stake in Mega, Su Le-ming (蘇樂明), director-general at the National Treasury Agency, said yesterday.
The investigation comes amid reports of possible impropriety carried out under financial reforms engineered by Chen, whose second term ended on May 20. Prosecutors are examining those deals for possible links to Chen and his family.
Taishin, whose shareholders include Newbridge Capital LLC and George Soros, fell to a record low yesterday after reports in newspapers including the Chinese-language Commercial Times and Economic Daily News quoted former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) as saying that its bid for Chang Hwa may have been illegal and that it had donated NT$2.7 billion (US$86 million) to Chen.
Taishin ran half-page advertisements in local newspapers yesterday denying the allegations. Chang Hwa also denied wrongdoing.
Taishin won a bid in 2005 to buy a 22.5 percent stake in state-run Chang Hwa for NT$36.5 billion. The offer, at NT$26.12 per share, was higher than the share price of NT$17.98 and bids by competitors, including Temasek Holdings Pte.
“We held an open and fair auction and it was an international bid with more than one company participating,” Chang Hwa spokesman James Shih (施建安) said by telephone yesterday. “We welcome the government’s probe.”
Taishin shares fell 3.5 percent to close at NT$9.61, the lowest since the company listed on Feb. 18, 2002. Chang Hwa rose 3 percent.
The ministry, which oversees government stakes in financial services companies, will also probe a deal involving China Development Financial Holding Corp’s (開發金) acquisition of Taiwan International Securities Corp (金鼎證券), Su said.
“We did everything in accordance with the law,” Chinatrust chief financial officer Hsu Miao-ching (�?R) said by telephone.
Simon Dzeng (曾垂紀), a spokesman at Mega Financial, declined to comment, while Sherie Chiu (邱德馨), chief financial officer at China Development, could not be reached for comment.
The mergers were carried out during the so-called “Second Financial Reform,” launched by Chen in 2004 to halve the number of financial holding companies in Taiwan within two years.
Chen, who is being investigated on allegations of corruption and money laundering, has admitted to underdeclaring campaign funds and disclosed that his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), had wired election funds overseas earlier this year without his knowledge.
Mega Financial shares fell 0.5 percent, while Chinatrust shares rose 1.3 percent and China Development gained 1.5 percent.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS