The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) fined financial institutions and publicly listed firms NT$254.05 million (US$8.27 million) last year, slightly lower than the NT$254.62 million recorded in 2022, data from the financial regulator showed on Sunday.
Last year’s figure was the lowest since 2019, when the commission handed out penalties totaling NT$300.38 million to firms for financial services misconduct, and breaches related to internal controls and corporate governance, the data showed.
Last year’s fines were 77.33 percent of its target of NT$328.53 million in penalties, the commission said.
Photo: Kelson Wang, Taipei Times
The commission said the low total was because fines were handed out to firms to correct their deficiencies, not as a means of generating income.
In addition to fines, the regulator’s penalties include corrections, improvements, warnings and restrictions, as well as requiring that a company dismiss or suspend directors, supervisors and managers.
In Taiwan, financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, securities brokerages, futures firms and investment trust enterprises obtain special licenses from the government to operate.
They also face penalties and disciplinary measures from authorities — namely the Banking Bureau, the Insurance Bureau and the Securities and Futures Bureau — if they contravene laws and regulations.
The Banking Bureau fined firms NT$130.9 million last year, up 19.96 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 51 percent of all fines, the commission’s data showed.
Among the severest penalties was a NT$30 million fine imposed on CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in August for corporate governance breaches after a major shareholder was found to have improperly interfered in company operations.
The Securities and Futures Bureau issued fines totaling NT$70.70 million last year, up 6.54 percent from 2022, with the top fine of NT$1.8 million levied on Fubon Asset Management Co (富邦投信) for poor internal controls.
The Insurance Bureau handed out fines of NT$52.45 million — a 32.5 percent decline from a year earlier.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI