Finance official not shy about coordinating TTV vote

The deputy minister of finance yesterday didn't deny speculation that he had asked TTV shareholders to support Lai Kuo-chou (賴國洲), former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) son-in-law, as the station's next chairman.

As deputy minister of finance, Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) helps oversee six major commercial banks that together own 38 percent of TTV's shares -- enough to influence the outcome of any board election at the station.

After Tsai Cheng-yuan (蔡正元), a KMT cultural affairs official, visited Yen at the Ministry of Finance last week, it was rumored that Tsai had asked Yen to support Lai's nomination.

On Monday night, Yen and Wang Yaw-shing (王耀興), director general of the finance ministry's Bureau of Financial Affairs, invited the chairmen of banks holding TTV shares to dinner.

The banks included Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) and Chang Hua Commercial Bank (彰化銀行).

That meeting ignited speculation that Yen had asked the bank heads to back Lai -- and Yen didn't deny the rumor yesterday.

"It is normal for the finance ministry to select a candidate as chairman of TTV," Yen said yesterday morning.

"When the government is executing its voting rights, it cannot be without a mechanism of coordination. Because the banks that are the major shareholders in TTV are also owned by the government, there should be a consensus reached before TTV's board meeting."

Yen also said that the meeting of bank officials helped to prevent any one bank from straying from the program.

The six commercial banks are either wholly or majority-owned by the government.

Bank of Taiwan reportedly owns 14.5 percent of TTV's shares. The Land Bank of Taiwan, Hua Nan Commercial Bank, First Commercial Bank, Chang Hua Commercial Bank control roughly 4.88 percent each. Taiwan Cooperative Bank controls 4.05 percent of TTV's shares.