Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Gordon Chen (陳樹) yesterday said he would avoid conflicts of interest as prosecutors investigate alleged irregularities in the former Democratic Progressive Party government’s financial reforms.
“I myself will avoid attending any meetings that may be in relation to me, or the vice premier will prohibit me from attending such meetings,” Chen told a media briefing.
He failed to clarify if he would voluntarily step aside as the Cabinet’s task force looks into past mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector, in particular the acquisition of Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) by smaller rival Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) in 2005.
SPECULATION
Former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) earlier insinuated that a tycoon from an unnamed bank funneled NT$2.7 billion (US$85.8 million) in cash to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Local media have speculated the bank in question is Taishin Financial, but the bank has repeatedly rejected allegations of any wrongdoing in the deal.
Since Gordon Chen was then a deputy finance minister and finalized the acquisition on behalf of then finance minister Lin Chuan (林全), doubts were raised as to his role in the acquisition.
“Strictly speaking, I had little involvement in financial reform,” Chen said.
He said he would cooperate closely with prosecutors during their investigations.
INSURANCE
Meanwhile, the commission’s insurance bureau yesterday warned that many more domestic insurers may suffer deteriorating risk-based capital (RBC) because of foreign exchange losses and fluctuations after the NT dollar gained almost 7 percent from NT$32.435 against the US dollar in early January to NT$30.29 in late June.
Insurers are required to maintain an RBC ratio above 200 percent and report to the regulator by the end of this month. Currently, five insurers have been asked to improve their RBC ratio or raise working capital.
Huang Tien-mu (黃天牧), director of the insurance bureau, said that the regulator would allow insurers a grace period to improve their RBC ratio should their financial reports find losses from exchanges “no later than April” when they report their finances for this year.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained