The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) will not conduct financial examinations of the nation’s three Web-only banks next year, as they are only just launching, the commission said on Thursday.
“For the time being, it seems to me that there is no need to examine them given that they would just begin operating by the first half of next year,” Financial Examination Bureau Deputy Director-General Chang Tzy-hao (張子浩) told a news conference in New Taipei City.
The bureau would work closely with the Banking Bureau to monitor the operations of the three banks, Chang said.
Next year, the bureau would focus on whether the financial sector complies with rules on guarding against money laundering, corporate governance, information security, consumer protection and personal information protection, he said.
CONSULTING
Financial consulting would be a key issue in the next financial examination, as multiple consultants from separate banks have been accused of stealing money from clients this year, Chang said.
The bureau would examine whether local banks are treating clients fairly, he said.
For example, they should offer the same interest rate for deposits regardless of the customer’s income, or whether they use automatic teller machines or visit a branch to make transactions, he said.
ACCESSIBILITY
The bureau would examine whether banks have facilities that allow easy access for disabled people and assess their security management of information in the cloud and biometrics, Chang said.
For financial conglomerates that own banks, insurance companies and securities firms, a key issue in next year’s examination would be whether they control their financial exposure well, he said.
“We would urge companies to set up mechanisms to adjust their exposure based on changes in macroeconomics and microeconomics,” Chang said.
They are expected to explain why they increase lending in some markets where financial warnings have been issued, he said.
To improve corporate governance, the bureau would examine whether company shareholders who have a stake of at least 10 percent declare their holdings on time, Chang said.
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