Most institutional investors remain confident in Taiwan’s stock market, despite looming concerns including China’s slowing economic growth momentum, a potential interest rate hike in the US and rising volatility in global markets, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday.
The remarks came after the commission gathered representatives from 43 foreign and domestic brokerages and securities investment trust companies to hear its briefing on the current market situation.
The companies told the commission that given the lack of runaway systemic risk and largely sound fundamentals, recent tumbles on the TAIEX were overdone.
In addition, the representatives said they had seen signs of optimism, as most investors did not rush to redeem their mutual funds linked to Taiwanese shares and fund managers also did not sell off positions in droves. Rather, some fund managers had been weighing in on blue-chips when appropriate, they said.
The commission told reporters after the meeting that it had received a list of suggestions from the industry representatives.
The commission has pledged to work toward resolving issues surrounding the capital gains tax on securities investment and other related tax issues, it said.
In addition, the commission has agreed to relax stop-loss requirements for securities investment trust companies and brokerages, while stock positions purchased by dealers at brokerages might be booked under the financial assets available for sale category, the commission said.
Separately, the commission yesterday approved CTBC Financial Holding Co’s (中信金控) plans to acquire a 100 percent stake in Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽保險) through a share-swap.
However, the commission fined CTBC Bank Co (中國信託銀行) NT$3 million (US$91,547) as it was discovered that one of its employees had committed bank fraud by transferring funds from a client’s accounts after gaining their Web banking password.
The employee had also terminated clients insurance policies and had received cash from clients in a personal capacity, racking up several infractions of the Banking Act (銀行法).
The commission has ordered the bank to sack the employee.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in