The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) fined financial institutions and publicly listed firms a total of NT$107.07 million (US$3.29 million) in the first half of the year, about 2 percent lower than the NT$108.78 million imposed during the same period last year, data from the financial regulator showed yesterday.
The fines have reached about 38.98 percent of this year’s NT$274.68 million penalty target, the commission said.
The fines were given to correct the firms’ deficiencies, rather than as a means of generating income, it said.
Photo: Kelson Wang, Taipei Times
In addition to fines, the regulator’s penalties — issued by the Banking Bureau, the Insurance Bureau and the Securities and Futures Bureau — include corrections, improvements, warnings and restrictions, and a company can be required to dismiss or suspend directors, supervisors and managers.
In the first two quarters, the Banking Bureau imposed NT$39.66 million in fines, up 2.22 percent from a year earlier as it punished several banks for financial services misconduct and breaches related to internal controls and corporate governance, the data showed.
Among the severest penalties was a NT$12 million fine imposed on Taichung Commercial Bank Co (台中商銀) in February for oversight failures after chairman Wang Kuei-fong (王貴鋒) was found to have misspent more than NT$1 billion in corporate funds on personal luxuries.
The bureau imposed the second-highest fines of NT$8 million each on Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行) and Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行).
It punished Shin Kong in January, as the bank poorly exercised measures to prevent staff from misappropriating clients’ funds through online banking services and through improper financial dealings with clients, while Cathay United was penalized in March after a branch clerk misappropriated clients’ funds.
The Insurance Bureau issued NT$33 million in fines in the first six months, down 4.35 percent from a year earlier, with the largest fine of NT$9 million levied on the Taiwan branch of Cardif Assurance Vie’s (法國巴黎人壽).
The second-largest fine it gave was NT$6 million to the Taiwan branch of Cardif Assurance Risques Divers (法國巴黎產物保險).
Both fines were related to poor corporate governance and internal controls.
The Securities and Futures Bureau handed out fines of NT$34.41 million in the first half, down 4.31 percent year-on-year, with the largest being fines imposed on Time Securities Investment Consulting Co (時間投顧) and Cathay Securities Investment Trust Co (國泰投信) — NT$1.2 million each — for a lack of internal controls.
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
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
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS