Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) chairman Wei Ying-chiao (魏應交) yesterday bowed to public and government pressure and relinquished his posts at Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFCC, 台北金融大樓公司), the firm that operates Taipei 101.
Wei, the elder brother of Wei Ying-chun (魏應充), who has been detained over alleged involvement in an oil adulteration scandal, offered to resign as TFCC vice chairman and president, Vice Minister of Finance Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) told a media briefing yesterday afternoon.
The elder Wei’s move came after government-appointed board directors at TFCC suggested that he voluntary resign to protect the company’s image at a board meeting in the morning.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Wei Ying-chiao initially resisted the call, saying he acknowledged their opinions, but needed more time to think about the issue, TFCC spokesman Michael Liu (劉家豪) said, declining to speculate on Wei’s intentions.
However, the elder Wei tendered his resignation at 2pm to TFCC chairwoman Christina Sung (宋文琪), averting a showdown with the finance ministry.
A day earlier, the finance ministry had demanded that Ting Hsin should yield all its management posts at TFCC to the government.
The government owns a 44.35 percent stake and six seats on TFCC’s 13-member board, while Ting Hsin controls a 37.17 percent stake and has five seats, Wu said. CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) and Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) own 7 percent and 6 percent stakes respectively and have one seat each, the vice finance minister said.
All the government-appointed directors rallied behind Sung after she said that Wei Ying-chiao should step down to help TFCC operate more smoothly.
Sung is to take over Wei Ying-chiao’s responsibilities at TFCC until the company finds a successor at its next board meeting later this week, the vice minister said.
Wei Ying-chiao would retain his seat on TFCC’s board, but his younger brother had forfeited his amid the tainted oil investigation, Wu said.
At noon, Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) said the ministry would call a board re-election and oust Wei Ying-chiao if he refused to resign.
The tainted cooking oil scandal has sparked a public outcry and scores of protesters staged a demonstration outside Taipei 101, demanding that the Wei family quit control of the landmark building and leave the local market altogether.
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