Three executives of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) were charged with breach of trust, insider trading and illegal trading after an investigation into the company's purchase of a stake in larger rival Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), prosecutors said yesterday.
The charges against the executives, including former chief financial officer Perry Chang (
Chang faces as long as 20 years in jail for violating securities and banking laws, Lin Chin-chun (
He could also be fined as much as NT$250 million (US$7.6 million), the prosecutors' office said.
Deng Yan-dun (
Prosecutors will seek a 20-year jail term and NT$190 million fine for Lin and an 18-year sentence and NT$130 million fine for Deng, the statement said.
All three executives have been detained since October and could not be reached for comment. The prosecutors ruled in the evening to release Chang, Deng, and Lin on bails of NT$12 million, NT$10 million and NT$10 million respectively.
"We will keep in close contact with their attorneys and families and provide assistance if necessary," said Chinatrust Financial spokesman Jason Wang (王正新) in a phone interview yesterday, declining to comment further.
The company would discuss its response, including finding replacements for Deng and Lin, after the Lunar New Year holiday, Wang said.
The company has not planned to convene an emergency provisional board meeting today, he added.
The financial group said it would not pay the fines on behalf of the three executives as this would damage shareholders' rights and interests.
In July, Chinatrust Financial, the nation's seventh biggest financial group by assets, was ordered by the financial regulator to cut its stake in Mega Financial within 12 months after misusing funds to buy the shares.
Chinatrust and its subsidiaries own 15.6 percent of Mega, Taiwan's third largest financial holding firm by assets.
Six executives have been accused so far of using NT$27.5 billion to buy 9.9 percent of Mega Financial without the Chinatrust board's approval. That includes the illegal purchase of US$390 million worth of loan notes, convertible into Mega shares, using money earmarked for deposits, and then locking in profits from the transaction by insider trading.
The highest ranking, Jeffrey Koo Jr (
The involvement of Steven Cheng (
Prosecutors will investigate Koo, Cheng and Lin Shiaw-pin in a separate case once they have been arrested and brought back to Taiwan, the statement said.
Wang said the company had no knowledge of if and when Koo Jr and Cheng planned to return to Taiwan.
An arrest warrant was issued Nov. 23 for Koo Jr, who was placed on the police's most-wanted list on Dec. 4.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective