The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Saturday increased punishments for Chinese investors who illegally purchase local shares.
The new regulations were implemented after the legislature amended the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) last week, raising the maximum fine for such unlawful investment from NT$600,000 to NT$25 million (US$19,046 to US$793,575), Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday.
“The amendment enabled the FSC to introduce higher punishments for those breaking the rules and they are expected to deter breaches of the regulations,” Tsai said.
Chinese investors who illegally buy shares of local companies would be classified into four groups based on the amount of their investment, with higher investment subject to heavier penalties, Tsai said.
The commission would assess the investment based on how much Chinese investors spent, rather than the value of the shares they own, given that share prices fluctuate, she said.
Those who spend less than NT$10 million buying local shares and have a less than 1 percent stake in a company would be asked to sell the shares first without incurring any fine, while those who hold more than a 1 percent stake in a company would be fined NT$120,000, Tsai said.
“This group will receive the smallest fine, as we think there will still be some companies accidentally making the wrong investments,” she said.
Those who spend more than NT$10 million, but less than NT$100 million would be subject to a fine of 2 percent of their investment, Tsai said.
Those who spend more than NT$100 million, but less than NT$300 million would be subject to a fine of 3 percent of their investment amount, while those spend more than NT$300 million would be subject to a find of 4 percent of the investment, she said.
If the investor serves as a board member or supervisor of the company, or tries to evade inspections, they would receive the highest fines, Tsai said.
The amendment was passed after Hong Kong Dragon Peak International Co Ltd (香港龍峰國際) illegally acquired Tatung Co (大同) shares and has repeatedly been fined by the commission since 2017, but has still retained its stake.
The commission would not apply the new regulations to breaches that occurred before Saturday, Tsai said, adding that if investors breach the new rules after Saturday and are found to have made illegal investment previously, they would receive much higher fines.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
RSS