The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it would review Taiwan Broadband Communications’ (TBC) initial public offering (IPO) in Singapore in May to determine if the company violated the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法).
TBC is the nation’s fifth-largest multiple cable system operator.
Media reports have said that the cable operator may be exploiting a loophole through the IPO to help attract funds from Chinese investors, which could undermine Taiwan’s national security.
NCC chief secretary Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said the IPO should have been reviewed and approved by the commission before it was held, adding that it would ask TBC’s management to come answer questions from NCC commissioners.
The NCC said it became aware of the case after reading a story published in the Chinese-language Business Weekly at the end of April. It then lodged an inquiry with the Investment Commission asking for more information about the case.
“We discovered that TBC did not seek approval from the Investment Commission before launching its IPO, so we asked the Investment Commission to look into the matter,” NCC specialist Chan Yi-lien (詹懿廉) said.
Chan said the IPO was launched in Singapore under the name Asian Pay Television Trust using funding from Singapore-listed Macquarie International Infrastructure Fund and Macquarie Korea Opportunities Fund, which are run by the Macquarie Group. The trust owns 100 percent of TBC’s shares.
On May 22, the Investment Commission asked TBC about changes in the company’s investment structure and investors’ rights after the IPO was held. The Investment Commission did not receive a full answer from the operator until Aug. 1, according to the NCC. On Aug. 5, the Investment Commission turned over the company’s response to the communications agency.
Andy Hsieh (謝煥乾), director of the NCC’s communication management department, said the case would be reviewed for compliance with the Statute for Investment by Foreign Nationals (外國人投資條例) and the Cable Radio and Television Act.
“The statute requires investors to secure the approval of administrative authorities if they invest in businesses that allow restrictive investment from foreign investors,” Hsieh said.
He added that Article 23 of the act states that the central regulatory agency may reject applications from foreign investors planning to establish or operate cable radio or television services without the resolution of the review committee if it deems that the foreign investment would have an adverse effect on national security, public order, or society.
Hsieh said that his department is gathering information on the changes made to TBC shareholders’ rights and investment plans since 2006, adding that a final ruling would be issued by NCC commissioners.
TBC issued a statement that the trust had made it clear when it launched the offering that Chinese investors are banned from purchasing shares. The fund can ask Chinese investors to sell their stakes in the fund and can suspend the rights of these investors if they refuse to comply.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS