Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) will complete its merger with Taiwan Securities Corp (台証證券) and Taishin Bills Finance Corp (台新票券) on Jan. 1, 2003, with one Taishin Financial share exchanging for 1.2 Taiwan Securities shares and 1.3 Taishin Bills Finance shares, said Taishin Financial Chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮) yesterday.
After the merger, Taishin Financial would have increased its assets to NT$42 billion from the current NT$30 billion. It will also have access to a network of 133 outlets nationwide, up from the current 88, Wu said.
Wu said the holding company might revise its 2002 financial forecast after the merger. Its earnings are expected to increase 30 percent year-on-year in 2003, he predicts.
Meanwhile, Wu stressed his determination to improve the Taishin International Bank's (台新銀行) asset quality. Taishin bank, a unit of Taishin Financial that wrote off about NT$10 billion in non-performing loans during the first four months this year, is expected to get rid of an additional NT$10 billion in bad loans by the end of the year, Wu said. Its overdue loan ratio would reach 2.5 percent at the end of this year versus 4.56 percent in April, he estimated.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
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