The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday fined a number of local lenders a total of NT$11.8 million (US$362,230) for their poor internal controls and lack of legal compliance.
Taiwan Business Bank (
The employee was fired and faces legal proceedings, while the bank's Lujou (
Chinatrust Commercial Bank (
The commission punished the two lenders because it said their debt collection agencies were threatening, insulting and harassing debtors.
The financial watchdog again reminded banks of their obligation to choose the companies they outsourced their collection services to very carefully and to oversee their operations. The banks bore the responsibility if their agents infringed on their clients' rights and interests, the commission said.
Land Bank of Taiwan (
The lender's grave error had in part led to the controversial resignation of Shih Che (史哲) from his position as president of the Bureau of Labor Insurance, as his bank account was discovered to have suddenly swollen by NT$391 million.
Shin Kong Insurance Co (
The insurer was also punished for failing to report its actions to the authority, thereby violating the Insurance Law (保險法) that aims to reduce investment risks and facilitate development and construction, according to the regulator.
Meanwhile, the regulator said it would scrap an earlier punishment meted out to China Development Financial Holding Corp (
Daniel Wu (
China Development's appointment of Tsao Wei-shih (
The regulator said last month that it would overrule all applications by China Development, including business expansion and investment plans, until the company followed the regulator's ruling and dismissed Wu from its board and the boards of its affiliates for his failure to avoid a conflict of interest in a hostile takeover attempt.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
STILL LOADED: Last year’s richest person, Quanta Computer Inc chairman Barry Lam, dropped to second place despite an 8 percent increase in his wealth to US$12.6 billion Staff writer, with CNA Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Richard Tsai (蔡明興), the brothers who run Fubon Group (富邦集團), topped the Forbes list of Taiwan’s 50 richest people this year, released on Wednesday in New York. The magazine said that a stronger New Taiwan dollar pushed the combined wealth of Taiwan’s 50 richest people up 13 percent, from US$174 billion to US$197 billion, with 36 of the people on the list seeing their wealth increase. That came as Taiwan’s economy grew 4.6 percent last year, its fastest pace in three years, driven by the strong performance of the semiconductor industry, the magazine said. The Tsai