The chairman of one of Taiwan’s largest banks, Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), was released early yesterday after being questioned by the Supreme Prosecutors Office for suspected involvement in the alleged corruption scandal of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Thomas Wu (吳東亮), chairman of Taishin, was suspected of paying a substantial sum of money as bribery to former president Chen’s wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), as the private bank was planning to invest in the state-owned Chang Hwa Bank (彰化銀行) when the government was implementing a second phase of financial reforms and encouraging mergers of monetary institutions.
Wu was called in for questioning by the Special Investigative Division of the prosecutors’ office after dozens of investigators made surprise raids at Taishin bank’s headquarters and Wu’s residence in Taipei on Friday afternoon upon the closing of the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Four others suspected of involvement in the case were taken to the prosecutor’ office for questioning.
Shares of Taishin Financial slid 6.99 percent to NT$10.65 (US$0.33) yesterday, the lowest since May 19.
Local media have reported that in the former first lady’s statement to the Special Investigative Division last February, Wu Shu-jen claimed that the hundreds of millions she had deposited at the safe of Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) since 2006 were contributed by 20 executives of Taiwanese banks, high-tech firms and media organizations, among which NT$100 million was paid by Thomas Wu.
Taishin holds a 22.5 percent stake in Chang Hwa Bank and is its largest shareholder.
Taishin has been targeted by investigators since the bank was mentioned in the Cabinet’s “second-phase monetary reform review report” released last February.
The report indicated that when Taishin was in the process of acquiring special shares of Chang Hwa Bank, its debt ratio was relatively high.
Some financial specialists also said it did not make sense for Chang Hwa to be merged with Taishin because Chang Hwa was in good financial health at the time of the proposed merger, whereas Taishin was not, meaning that Taishin was in no position to buy the state-owned financial institution.
Before Friday’s questioning, the Taishin chairman had twice been summoned by the investigators as a witness in the money laundering and bribery cases involving the former first family.
He has claimed that Taishin was helping the government settle problems when it acquired shares of Chang Hwa, and had abided by legal procedures.
Thomas Wu had also denied involvement in the money laundering or bribery case.
In a similar case, the Special Investigative Division in December indicted executives of Cathay United Bank and Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), which were accused of bribing the former first lady in order to “smooth” government requirements to merge with Fuhwa Financial Holding Co (復華金控).
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) is weighing whether to add a life insurance business to its portfolio, but would tread cautiously after completing three acquisitions in quick succession, president Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said yesterday. “We are carefully considering whether life insurance should play a role in SinoPac’s business map,” Chu told reporters ahead of an earnings conference. “Our priority is to ensure the success of the deals we have already made, even though we are tracking some possible targets.” Local media have reported that Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽), which is seeking buyers amid financial strains, has invited three financial
HEADWINDS: Upfront investment is unavoidable in the merger, but cost savings would materialize over time, TS Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin said TS Financial Holding Co (台新新光金控) said it would take about two years before the benefits of its merger with Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) become evident, as the group prioritizes the consolidation of its major subsidiaries. “The group’s priority is to complete the consolidation of different subsidiaries,” Welch Lin (林維俊), president of the nation’s fourth-largest financial conglomerate by assets, told reporters during its first earnings briefing since the merger took effect on July 24. The asset management units are scheduled to merge in November, followed by life insurance in January next year and securities operations in April, Lin said. Banking integration,
Artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Cambricon Technologies Corp (寒武紀科技) plunged almost 9 percent after warning investors about a doubling in its share price over just a month, a record gain that helped fuel a US$1 trillion Chinese market rally. Cambricon triggered the selloff with a Thursday filing in which it dispelled talk about nonexistent products in the pipeline, reminded investors it labors under US sanctions, and stressed the difficulties of ascending the technology ladder. The Shanghai-listed company’s stock dived by the most since April in early yesterday trading, while the market stood largely unchanged. The litany of warnings underscores growing scrutiny of