Taiwanese companies reported fewer economic crimes than their global or regional peers, but more cases of bribery and procurement fraud, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan showed on Wednesday last week.
A quarter of Taiwanese respondents said they were the target of economic crimes, far fewer than their global peers’ 50 percent and the Asia-Pacific region’s 46 percent, PwC’s annual crime and fraud survey showed.
This might be because Taiwanese firms are generally cautious when responding to fraud, but it might also indicate that they are less aware of the risks associated with fraud and economic crimes, the firm said, adding that it might also indicate that control measures are relatively ineffective.
Misappropriation of assets is still the most common type of fraud in Taiwan, accounting for 39 percent of all fraud, followed by bribery and corruption at 35 percent, the survey showed.
Bribery and corruption is higher than the global 25 percent rate and the Asia-Pacific region’s 30 percent, it found.
Of economic crime victims, 17 percent said they have suffered from procurement fraud, it showed.
Bribery, corruption and procurement fraud in Taiwan could be higher, PwC said, adding that about 31 percent of Taiwanese respondents believe they have lost business opportunities due to competitors’ bribery practices, higher than the global 22 percent and 26 percent in the region.
In addition, 26 percent of Taiwanese economic crime victims reported being the target of intellectual property theft, much higher than the world’s 7 percent and the region’s 6 percent, the survey showed.
This might be because 40 percent of the Taiwanese respondents are in the technology and manufacturing industries, compared with 17 percent in the world and 20 percent in the region, PwC said.
“Taiwanese companies, regulators and law enforcement agencies should pay attention to the issue, because the science and technology industry makes great contributions to the nation’s economy,” PwC Taiwan head Joseph Chou (周建宏) said.
Sixty-eight percent of local respondents that reported being victims of economic crimes said that the most devastating type come from within, as 79 percent were committed by middle and high-level managers.
The high ratio of ranking perpetrators poses a challenge to fraud control, because they are privy to a company’s confidential information, the company said.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
SUBSIDIES: The nominee for commerce secretary indicated the Trump administration wants to put its stamp on the plan, but not unravel it entirely US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency in charge of a US$52 billion semiconductor subsidy program declined to give it unqualified support, raising questions about the disbursement of funds to companies like Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). “I can’t say that I can honor something I haven’t read,” Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said of the binding CHIPS and Science Act awards in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “To the extent monies have been disbursed, I would commit to rigorously enforcing documents that have been signed by those companies to make sure we get
RSS