Former deputy minister of finance Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) yesterday took over as chairman of state-run Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控), saying he would underscore risk control and legal compliance so the conglomerate can become a top-five player in Taiwan.
Wu, who was appointed as state-owned Land Bank of Taiwan’s (土地銀行) chairman one week after the change in governments on May 20, filled the vacancy left by Shiu Kuang-si (徐光曦).
Shiu was appointed to the helm of Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) on Aug. 16, but stepped down two weeks later to take responsibility for a failure of compliance by Mega International Commercial Bank’s (兆豐銀行) New York branch that led the New York State Department of Financial Services to impose a fine of US$180 million.
“Corporate governance is my focus and strength after more than three decades of government service in related fields,” Wu said at a handover ceremony.
Wu held several positions at the Ministry of Finance and Financial Supervisory Commission after passing civil servant examinations. He has a bachelor’s degree in taxation and a master’s degree in finance.
The cost of compliance negligence is heavy — as seen in the Mega Bank incident — and Hua Nan Financial will make sure its overseas operations meet the requirements of all local governments, Wu said, adding that retaining foreign legal counsel is expensive.
Wu said he would stand by his predecessor’s ambition to raise Hua Nan’s profit ranking from sixth.
The goal is achievable now that Mega Financial, the most profitable state-run financial service provider, is caught up in judicial and regulatory probes into breaches of money-laundering rules, as well as a management reshuffle.
Under his stewardship, Hua Nan will also support government policies, such as an attempt to help companies upgrade, innovate and reach out to export markets other than China, Wu said.
Main subsidiary Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) is recruiting 290 management associates for the rest of this year to bolster its wealth-management business and groom young talent for managerial positions, Hua Nan board director Tommy Lin (林知延) said.
The lender recently issued a joint credit card with Dream Mall (夢時代購物中心), a multifunction shopping complex in Kaohsiung, in the hope of increasing customers in the city, Lin said.
In addition, Hua Nan Bank is to open a branch in Manila by the end of this year to serve Taiwanese firms and their suppliers in the emerging market, Lin said.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
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