SFC chairman resigns
Chu Jaw-chyuan (朱兆銓), chairman of Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), resigned yesterday, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. The commission is responsible for the development, regulation and supervision of Taiwan's capital market.
The statement gave no reason for Chu's resignation and no comments were available from Chu's office yesterday.
Ding Ke-hwa (丁克華), vice chairman of the commission, will take over Chu's position on Monday, the ministry said.
Ding, 50, had held the post since 1995. He said yesterday that he would continue working to foster the sound development of the domestic capital market in line with international standards.
"I'm not surprised at the news because Chu had said he wanted to resign several times last year," said Rebecca Chen (陳月姿), vice president of investment management department at the Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust Enterprise.
Chen also said she didn't think Chu's resignation would have any impact on the domestic capital market, as Ding is viewed a well-seasoned securities regulator.
Chu, 61, joined the Ministry of Finance in 1973. He served as vice president of Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp between 1989 and 1999, and vice chairman of SFC between 1999 and 2000.
Ford hopes to boost sales
Ford Motor Co plans to boost new auto sales in Taiwan by 5 percent to 67,000 this year, Jeffrey Shen (沈英銓), president of Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和), said yesterday at a press gathering.
Ford Lio Ho, the nation's fourth-largest automaker, is the local joint venture in which the US automaker has a 70 percent stake. It sold 63,931 new vehicles last year.
Shen said total vehicle sales this year in Taiwan are expected to, at best, be the same as last year's figures, because no big change is expected in the nation's economic fundamental.
But Shen said that recreational vehicles (RV) will play a bigger role in auto sales this year, with the Ford Escape continuing to lead in this segment.
Ford sold around 17,300 Escape RVs over the past 13 months and is expected to deliver another 2,900 units to customers this month, said York Chen (陳遠清), vice president of marketing and sales.
To remain competitive in the domestic market, Ford will introduce two new models -- Explorer RV and Focus ST170 wagon -- in the second quarter, as well as enhance its after-sales service to customers, Shen said.
Far EasTone sells bonds
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), the country's third-largest publicly traded mobile-phone company, sold US$15 million of bonds convertible to its shares, increasing an earlier sale by 15 percent to meet demand.
Like the US$100 million of convertible bonds sold by Far EasTone in January, the zero-coupon securities can be converted into the company's shares at between NT$35.19 and NT$36.72 each, yielding 0.5 percent to 1 percent, said Morgan Stanley, the sale's manager in a statement.
Chunghwa sales rise
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan's largest phone service provider, said January sales rose 0.6 percent from a year earlier.
Sales rose to NT$14.8 billion (US$424 million) from NT$14.7 billion. Sales declined NT$14.97 billion in the previous month.
NT dollar weakens
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, dropping NT$0.002 to close at NT$34.819 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$389 million, compared with the previous day's US$283 million.
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