The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined Jkopay Co (街口電子支付) NT$1.8 million (US$63,420) over poor internal controls and suspended its chairman, Kevin Hu (胡亦嘉), for a year.
That is the second time the commission has punished Hu after it in September last year ordered his removal as a board member of Jko Asset Management Co (街口投信) for launching an illegal investment service, Tuofu Bao (託付寶).
The latest punishment came after the commission initiated an investigation in May 2019 and found that Jkopay had offered 12 loans totaling NT$483 million to its parent company, Jko Fintech Co (街口金融科技), from Feb. 9, 2018, to May. 9, 2019, on Hu’s instructions, Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Lin Chih-chi (林志吉) said.
Photo: Bill Chen, Taipei Times
Hu also chairs Jko Fintech.
The practice was a breach of Jkopay’s internal controls set in September 2016 requiring all loans to be discussed and approved by the board, Lin said.
The commission in July 2019 warned Jkopay that its loan practices were not appropriate and a breach of its internal controls, Lin said.
However, Jkopay continued to go its own way, providing another eight loans totaling NT$292 million to Jko Fintech from Oct. 24, 2019, to Jan. 31 last year without the board’s approval, he said.
“The loans were all short-term and Jko Fintech had repaid them,” Lin said. “Jkopay’s offering loans to others did not bother us, but the company’s and Hu’s neglect of the firm’s internal controls did.”
Overall, Jkopay had lent Jko Fintech NT$775 million via 20 loans, Lin said.
Hu last month told the commission that he had been authorized by the board to make loan decisions since late 2017, but the commission rejected his explanation as the company’s internal controls ban such authorization, Lin said.
The minutes of a board meeting in August last year showed that one board member raised questions about the loans, but Hu did not clear up the board member’s concerns, Lin said.
Hu said in a statement yesterday that the commission abused its power by levying a fine that was not proportional and he would take legal action to protect the company’s interests.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
RSS