A Hong Kong consortium’s application to acquire Nan Shan Life Insurance (南山人壽) has hit a snag because it failed to comply with government requests for additional information, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The Hong Kong group failed to submit documents requested by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) and other government agencies which should have accompanied its application in January for the government to approve the acquisition, the ministry said.
The agencies have asked the Hong Kong consortium, led by Primus Financial Holdings Ltd (博智金融) and China Strategic Holdings Ltd (中策集團), to provide, in particular, information related to any Chinese shareholding in China Strategic, the ministry said.
“The government needs all the required documents to complete its review of the application, as the shareholding structure of the consortium is very complicated,” the ministry said.
“Without a careful review, we cannot allow the deal to proceed,” the ministry said.
Under Taiwanese regulations, Chinese enterprises are not permitted to own Taiwanese insurance companies. Any overseas company in which Chinese investors have more than a 30 percent stake is classified as a Chinese company.
The ministry said it was also looking into whether China Strategic vice president and chief executive Raymond Or (柯清輝) is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
On Thursday last week, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) said Or and four other shareholders are CPPCC members and should therefore be banned from the planned acquisition of Nan Shan.
Earlier this week, the legislature’s Economics Committee passed a non-binding resolution initiated by the DPP requiring the government to forbid anyone who has been a CPPCC member within the last five years to join Nan Shan’s board or management team.
The Mainland Affairs Council will check whether Or’s status could have any impact on the deal, the ministry said yesterday.
In addition, the FSC will look at the consortium’s financial situation and its ability to deliver on its promise to run Nan Shan as a long-term investment, it said.
The consortium had hoped that the government would complete a review of its application by the middle of July, but the ministry said this would all depend on the information that the consortium provides.
In October the Hong Kong group announced plans to acquire Nan Shan from the debt-ridden American International Group Inc for US$2.15 billion (NT$69.6 billion).
However, government approval is required before the deal can go though, as it will involve the interests of 4 million local policyholders.
Also See: Kwok could control Chinatrust: report
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last