The government supports mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among state-owned financial institutions to enhance their competitiveness, as long as they do not undermine national interests, Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) said yesterday.
The Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) and Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀) are the only three state-owned banks that have not been involved in mergers and acquisitions, the minister said, raising the possibility of the three being consolidated.
“We will maintain an optimistic and supportive view if the mergers do not hurt national interests and enlarge [the participants’] business scale and competitiveness,” Chang said during a question-and-answer session at the legislature’s Finance Committee.
Compared with a merger between public and private banks, consolidating state-owned banks will have limited impact on the ministry’s shareholding, Chang said.
Nonetheless, such a move needs further evaluation, he said, adding that timing and willingness on both sides are vital to a merger.
Taking Chang Hwa Bank as an example, Chang said it was in talks with Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) last year for a potential merger.
However, the two sides failed to reach a consensus after Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) — a major shareholder of Chang Hwa Bank — set a high price of NT$26 per share to sell its 22.5 percent stake in the bank, he added.
In related news, the ministry and the Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday reached a consensus on a proposal to cut the futures transaction tax, at a meeting presided by Minister Without Portfolio Schive Chi (薛琦).
Representatives from both agencies agreed to cut the tax by 50 percent — to 0.00002 percent from 0.00004 percent — the commission said in a statement.
The commission had proposed cutting it to 0.001 percent, but the ministry only agreed to cut it to 0.002 percent.
Citing a report by the commission, Chang said the rate cut could create 400 to 500 job opportunities, with potential tax losses from the cut expected to be recovered after two years.
Data show that cutting the futures transaction tax has helped boost the financial market’s momentum in the past, he said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks