The debt-ridden Chung Shing Commercial Bank (
But a Ministry of Finance official denied the report, telling the Taipei Times yesterday that, "The ministry has not made any decision on how to resolve the Chung Shing situation."
The Bank of Taiwan, which has a capital-adequacy ratio of 16.49 percent and a net worth of almost NT$150 billion, has the capacity to take over Chung Shing Commercial. The Bank of Taiwan's assets total NT$2.3 trillion, the report said.
"The Bank of Taiwan is best qualified to take over Chung Shing, because its strong balance sheet can easily absorb Chung Shing's bad assets," Chung Shing spokesman Pai Ching-chung said.
The financial reconstruction Fund (
One pundit said the move didn't make sense.
"It would be an unwise decision to chose the Bank of Taiwan to take over Chung Shing Commercial," said Lee Tong-how (李桐豪), a finance professor at National Chengchi University.
"The most efficient way to resolve the Chung Shing situation is to set up a bridge bank, which would run the problematic bank for three to five years, then sell it to anyone who is qualified and interested in it."
The ministry has promised to use state-run Resolution Trust Corp's funds to bridge Chung Shing's cash shortfall before a buyer can be found.
"The government has promised to polish Chung Shing to attract buyers," Pai said.
"For Chung Shing Bank to be taken over by another state-owned bank is the worst possible choice," Lee said.
"The government can either shut down the bank or sell the bank to anyone who is qualified. The worst choice is to leave the problem to a state-run bank. The move would simply errode the Bank of Taiwan's finances."
The finance ministry took over Chung Shing Commercial's management in August 2000.
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
The popular Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) arbitrage trade might soon see a change in dynamics that could affect the trading of the US listing versus the local one. And for anyone who wants to monetize the elevated premium, Goldman Sachs Group Inc highlights potential trades. A note from the bank’s sales desk published on Friday said that demand for TSMC’s Taipei-traded stock could rise as Taiwan’s regulator is considering an amendment to local exchange-traded funds’ (ETFs) ownership. The changes, which could come in the first half of this year, could push up the current 30 percent single-stock weight limit
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard