The maximum reward for people who report financial crimes would be raised to NT$4 million (US$140,701) next week, a 10-fold increase to encourage whistle-blowers, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) told a news conference in New Taipei City yesterday.
The maximum reward would be given to people who provide information that helps the commission uncover financial crimes in which companies or individuals are fined at least NT$10 million or sentenced to a minimum of three years in prison, FSC officials said.
The cap of NT$400,000 was increased in line with the commission’s goal of providing greater incentives for reporting, Financial Examination Bureau Deputy Director-General Chang Tzy-hao (張子浩) said.
Photo: Kao Shih-ching, Taipei Times
If a whistle-blower exposes a less-serious crime — where individuals or companies are fined between NT$5 million and NT$10 million, or sentenced to one year to three years in prison, they would receive NT$2 million, also 10 times the current reward, Chang said.
Rewards of NT$250,000 would be given for information leading to fines of between NT$1 million and NT$5 million, or jail terms of less than one year, he said, adding that this level is five times higher.
For lower-level crimes drawing fine of between NT$200,000 and NT$1 million, whistle-blowers would receive NT$50,000, also five times higher than the current amount, he said.
The commission last year issued a total of NT$305,000 in rewards to seven whistle-blowers, up from NT$50,000 in 2018 and NT$155,000 in 2019, it said.
It has paid NT$2.32 million in rewards since the program began, the FSC said.
The biggest single-case reward was NT$200,000, it said.
“There is a lot of room for increases in reporting on financial criminal activities,” Chang said.
Whistle-blowers can be internal or external to a company or institution, he said.
The commission would investigate information provided by anonymous whistle-blowers, but would not issue rewards in such cases, he said.
“A few anonymous whistle-blowers claimed rewards after reporting companies that were fined or sentenced. We verified their identity and paid them, as the information was helpful.” Chang said. “However, after next week’s increase in rewards, we would no longer pay out on anonymous tips.”
Most of the reports it has received in the past few years have been connected to illegal activities in securities investment consulting, he said.
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