Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday listed six flaws in EasyCard Corp’s Emerging Stock Market listing process, which was carried out in December last year before a change in municipal administration.
EasyCard Corp on Dec. 9 last year announced that its board had approved its plan to apply for listing on the Taipei Exchange’s Emerging Stock Market, only two weeks before then-mayor and Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) stepped down from his post on Dec. 25, with the corporation debuting on the stock market in January.
Saying that the Ko administration’s decision to list EasyCard appeared rushed and that it might dilute the government’s shares in the company, Chiang in June instructed city government officials to look into the case.
Photo: CNA
Reporting at the Taipei City Council yesterday, Chiang said the council found six flaws in the listing process:
‧ First, the company, which was operating normally and had abundant funding, did not follow the commercial practice of stating where the funds from the listing would be used or provide an operational or financial plan.
‧ Second, the company’s proposal stated that the city government would have a shareholding percentage of up to 74 percent; in reality, the government’s direct and indirect holdings combined totaled only 38.43 percent.
‧ Third, the company knew it would not be able to debut on the stock market during Ko’s term, but insisted on carrying out the listing, which is disrespectful of the new public opinion represented by the new mayor.
‧ Fourth, the Taipei Department of Budget had reminded the company about issues regarding the listing, but the listing was still approved, which disrespects professionalism.
‧ Fifth, the decision was reported to the city council through written documentation during a council recess, likely to avoid supervision.
‧ Sixth, it goes against political ethics and convention for a lame-duck government to continue pushing decisions when a new mayor has been elected.
While the investigation report states that the listing decision was made hastily and imprudently, and has several flaws, it did not find any illegally conduct, Chiang said.
To follow up on the issue, Chiang said he has asked the company to clarify its prospects and explain them to the public.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said that a company lists on the Emerging Stock Market either to raise funds, increase brand awareness or prepare for listing on the mainboard, but EasyCard Corp does not meet any of these three purposes.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Liu Tsai-wei (柳采葳) said that the EasyCard is widely used, associated with public interest and provides data for statistical analysis, but that the Ko administration casually made such a big decision only several days before the mayoral election, which appears ill-planned.
Social Democratic Party Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) said that if the city government’s control over EasyCard Corp has dropped to less than 40 percent, Chiang’s administration should come up with a list of who was responsible for the decision.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS