The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday fined Allianz President Life Insurance (統ㄧ安聯人壽) a total of NT$13.2 million (US$401,118), the highest ever fine for a single insurer, for the company's failures in legal compliance and corporate governance.
Last September, President Allianz was also fined about NT$9 million for non-compliance, including for unilateral change of policy terms and insufficient reserves for compensation.
The commission imposed the penalty for several cases that were in breach of compliance found during a financial inspection, as well as breaches in the company's voluntary reporting, Huang Tien-mu (
Allianz announced last month it would acquire Uni-President's 47 percent stake in the company for around NT$1.7 billion, turning the joint venture into the German insurer's wholly owned subsidiary in Taiwan, named Allianz Life Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the commission also fined another foreign insurance firm, Tokio Marine Newa Insurance Ko, for NT$1.2 million for illegal sale of unapproved policies.
The financial watchdog also penalized Global Life Insurance (國寶人壽) NT$3.6 million for unlawful investment, and Taian Insurance Co (泰安產物保險) was fined NT$3.6 million for the illegitimate sale of unapproved policies.
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
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such