The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) would review the qualifications of Nan Shan Life Insurance Co’s (南山人壽) former chairman Du Ying-tzyong (杜英宗) if he is to serve as a board director at other insurance companies, FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday.
Du, who became Nan Shan’s chairman in 2015, was suspended in September last year for two years for failing to properly supervise the installation of an information technology system that later caused problems for policies sold by the company.
Ruen Chen Investment Holding Co (潤成投資), Nan Shan’s major shareholder, on Thursday replaced him with Donald Chen (陳棠) as its legal representative on the company’s board.
Chen was later appointed by the board as chairman, the company said in a regulatory filing.
However, with Du reportedly planning to transfer to Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) to help it with its plan to acquire another insurer, lawmakers at a meeting in the Legislative Yuan asked Koo if this would be a breach of regulations.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked if it would be legal for Du to serve at another financial company, while DPP Legislator Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌) asked whether the commission could directly demand that Du not be involved in the operation of any life insurance company.
As Du was suspended from his job, but not dismissed, he can continue working in the financial industry, Koo said.
“I do not know where Du is headed, but if he is to serve as a board director at another insurance company, we will take into consideration the fact that he was suspended when he was working for Nan Shan when reviewing his qualifications,” Koo said.
The commission is not likely to lift the ban on Nan Shan’s sales of investment-linked policies any time soon, as the company has failed to improve its information system, Koo said.
The commission has continued to receive complaints from consumers and sales agents over the information system’s problems, even though it had fined the company NT$30 million (US$1 million) and ordered it to make improvements, he 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.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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