The Bankers Association of the Republic of China (銀行公會) yesterday suggested that the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) free it from the duty of drawing up clauses for the draft act governing third-party payment services to avoid criticism over a conflict of interests.
Association chairwoman Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠), who was vice chairwoman of the commission from 2008 to 2010, made the suggestion in a long statement after domestic e-commerce providers questioned the association’s neutrality and the propriety of the group dealing with the issue.
SUGGESTION
Photo: Wang Meng-lun, Taipei Times
“I sincerely suggest that the commission make Internet firms draw up the drafts to facilitate the legislative process,” Lee said in the statement.
Lee’s statement also came after PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) chairman Jan Hung-tze (詹宏志) criticized the government over slow development of the nation’s third-party payment services and its reluctance to receive feedback from Internet companies regarding the draft act.
‘BLACK-BOX’ TALKS
The banking industry, the hardest hit by the rise of third-party payment services over the Internet, should not be put in charge of the matter, Jan has said on other occasions.
“The association acted behind closed doors, excluding online enterprises. It acted unilaterally in a secretive manner,” Jan has said.
Lee dismissed Jan’s accusation, saying that there definitely were no “black box” negotiations.
“I believe that both sides, the commission and the Bankers Association, have good intentions,” Lee said earlier this week.
“They hope to implement the laws as soon as possible, so enterprises that need them can begin to use them,” she said.
In the statement, Lee said the association has carried out its duty as instructed by the financial regulator, but it would be appropriate to limit itself to an advisory role and provide help only when needed.
Jan welcomed the gesture, saying that the commission should take heed and allow Internet companies to dominate the drawing up of legislative drafts related to third-party payments.
The commission has overlooked potential legal conflicts and could make amends by passing the duty to Internet firms, Jan said in a statement yesterday.
APOLOGY
Jan also offered an apology to Lee.
The controversy led FSC Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) to say at the Finance Committee that the commission would be in full charge of drawing up the draft act’s clauses and would invite third-party payment operators to join further discussion.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
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