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Former finance minister Yen indicted

Taipei prosecutors yesterday indicted former minister of finance Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) on charges of violating the Civil Servants Work Act (公務員服務法).

“Yen retired from his position as Taiwan’s representative to the WTO in March of 2005 and then took on the position of president of Fuhwa Financial Holding Co in June of the same year,” said Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村), spokesman for the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.

Fuhwa merged with Yuanta Core Pacific Securities Co in April last year. The new entity was renamed Yuanta Financial Holding Co in June.

Lin said Yen was indicted based on Article 14-1 of the act, which states that civil servants are not allowed to take top positions at any company they supervised during the five-year period before their retirement from service.

Violators of Article 14-1 face up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of NT$1 million.

If convicted, Yen would also have to return all income he received as president of Fuhwa. Yen served as minister of finance between Oct. 6, 2000, and Jan. 31, 2002, and as the nation’s representative to the WTO between Feb. 1, 2002, and March 23, 2005.

Fuhwa’s license application was approved on Dec. 31, 2001, by the Ministry of Finance, when Yen was finance chief.

However, the Financial Superviosry Commission disagreed with the court yesterday, saying that Yen had resigned as a financial regulator more than three years before he became president of Fuhwa Financial and his position at the WTO representative office had nothing to do with financial regulation.


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