Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Sean Chen (陳冲) yesterday said the commission has no plan to suspend the implementation of a revised inventory accounting rule, despite a suggestion by the Presidential Office’s economic advisers on Thursday to delay it.
“There’s no plan to renounce our previous ‘no delay’ decision,” Chen told a press briefing yesterday.
He said that the inventory accounting rule, International Accounting Standards Statement No. 10, will have less impact than expected on public companies based on two past surveys conducted by the commission’s Securities and Futures Bureau.
Chen’s remark came after the Presidential Office’s economic advisory committee, headed by Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), suggested on Thursday that the FSC temporarily suspend the implementation.
“Although the government’s decision to implement International Accounting Standards No. 10 and No. 34 was on the right path, the timing is not suitable, as it may have a catastrophic impact on the nation’s businesses amid the global economic slump,” the economic advisory committee said in a presidential office statement on Thursday night.
Chen said the commission’s latest survey found that only 33 percent of 1,172 respondent companies — out of the nation’s total of 1,255 publicly traded firms — said they would suffer under the new standards, that require companies to mark-to-market their inventories in financial reports.
The remaining 67 percent did not see the changes as a threat, Chen said.
He likened the new accounting standards to a messenger delivering a message about a company’s finances, saying: “Nobody should blame the messenger because of an unfavorable message.”
Chen said that the commission hadn’t received any recommendations from the Presidential Office’s economic advisory committee.
The market is worried the revised rule will hit the nation’s high-tech industry particularly hard, notably dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and component makers.
Earlier this week, Ta Chen Stainless Pipe Co (大成不鏽鋼) said it would report a net loss of NT$2.8 billion (US$84.6 million) for last year, which was thought to be because of the implementation of the new accounting rules. The company said later yesterday that it had used the old rules.
Following the FSC’s announcement, the nation’s six major business groups, including the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA, 電電公會), said they would submit a joint petition that would urge the government to delay the implementation.
“We sincerely hope the government will reconsider and reschedule the implementation,” TEEMA industry policy center executive director Luo Huai-jia (羅懷家) told the Taipei Times by phone yesterday.
Luo said the new accounting standards would force companies to report more losses on their balance sheets, which would likely “make banks shy away from granting loans and may trigger waves of closures.”
Luo said the petition had been endorsed by firms across the board.
Business tycoons, including Frank Huang (黃崇仁), chairman of loss-making Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), also voiced concerns over the new standards personally to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during a meeting at Hsinchu Science Park yesterday afternoon, local media reported.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS