The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has this year imposed nearly NT$100 million (US$3.29 million) in fines on financial firms for irregularities in their operations.
Under the watch of FSC Chairman Lee Ruey-tsang (李瑞倉), the commission yesterday said it is determined to maintain an independent and disciplined supervisory mechanism that is expected to strengthen financial institutions’ corporate governance.
The commission quoted Lee as saying that the commission’s supervisory principles aim to catch any serious irregularities that could undermine corporate ethics.
Since Lee took over the agency in October last year, the commission has issued four fines of NT$10 million or more each, which shows its determination to maintain order in the market, it said.
Of those four fines, three were issued in the first half of this year, the commission said.
The first this year was an NT$11 million fine against Far Eastern International Bank (遠東商銀) for its failure to observe regulations on transactions of convertible bonds issued by game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技), the commission said.
The second was a NT$10 million fine against SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) for the role its now-ousted chairman Ho Shou-chuan (何壽川) played in illegal lending, reportedly to the sum of about NT$5 billion, it said.
The third was a NT$10 million fine against EnTie Commercial Bank (安泰銀行) for malpractice related to trades of target redemption forwards (TRFs), it added.
TRFs, a type of option with a better rate of return, but also increased risk, have become popular in the nation.
In terms of irregularities in certain financial products, the commission has this year issued a total of NT$28 million in fines on TRF trading, account for about 30 percent of overall fines, the commission said, adding that the insurance sector has been issued 26 fines in the first half of the year.
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