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.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS