MOF targets insurance fraud
The Ministry of Finance will set up an insurance-crime prevention center to cope with the growing number of fraudulent insurance claims, a senior official said yesterday.
Vice Minister of Finance Susan Chang (張秀蓮) made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature's Budget and Final Accounts Committee.
Chang said the ministry has decided to earmark money from its NT$3.5 billion Insurance Industry Development Fund to form an insurance-crime-prevention center.
The center will collaborate with insurers and law enforcement authorities to intercept fraudulent claims, Chang said.
CAL, Alitalia ink pact
China Airlines Co (華航), and Italy's flagship airline, Alitalia, can sell seats on each other's flights on the Taipei-Bangkok-Rome route under a code-sharing agreement the began Monday, China Airlines said yesterday in a statement.
The service will be offered on three weekly flights and might increase to four flights per week beginning Nov. 17 pending government approval, the airline said.
Code-sharing agreements are part of a trend toward greater cooperation among airlines in the last decade. The alliances allow airlines to reach more places without flying more planes and to offer reciprocal benefits.
``Through the cooperation, Alitalia can expand its network and enter the Taiwanese market,'' the statement said. ``At the same time, China Airlines can increase its traffic of European passengers to Taiwan and Southeast Asia."
Failed bank's assets to be sold
The government will auction off the remaining operations, assets and liabilities of the failed Kaohsiung Business Bank (高雄企銀), after selling its bad loans for NT$8.23 (US$238 million).
Interested bidders should submit offers with a NT$100 million deposit on or before Dec. 19, the Ministry of Finance's Central Deposit Insurance Corp (中央存保) said in an announcement posted on its Web site.
The assets include 60 branches and subsidiaries.
The Texas-based Lone Star Funds bought the bank's bad loans in June, paying less than two-fifths of the face value of the loans.
MediaTek profits expected
MediaTek Inc (聯發科技), the world's largest maker of chips for DVD players, may say third-quarter profit rose by 54 percent after it gained market share from rivals.
The company will likely say net income rose to NT$4 billion (US$118 million) from NT$2.6 billion a year ago, based on the median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Sales rose 58 percent to NT$10.6 billion from NT$6.7 billion. MediaTek will post results on Thursday.
Law symposium opens
A two-day symposium on competition policy and law opens in Taipei today with 200 academics and experts from Taiwan, Japan, Russia, France, the US and nine other countries.
Taiwan became an observer of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) competition committee on Jan. 1, 2002.
Discussions at the meeting will center on the future development of competition framework, especially in the fields of globalization, technological innovation and financial reform.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded higher against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.028 to close at NT$33.992 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$273 million.
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