Premier Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday instructed the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to form an investigative committee from members of the central bank, and the ministries of justice and finance after the New York branch of Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) was ordered to pay a massive fine for violating US money-laundering rules.
Lin said he hopes that the details of the case are clarified as soon as possible, and that any Mega International employees responsible for the situation are identified.
Lin added that people at all levels of society are concerned about the case and said the committee must make an immediate announcement following its meeting.
The New York State Department of Financial Services on Friday announced that the New York branch of Mega International agreed to pay a US$180 million penalty for violating the US Bank Secrecy Act and money-laundering regulations.
The department said Mega International must take immediate steps to correct the violations, including engaging an independent monitor to address serious deficiencies within the bank’s compliance program and implementing effective money laundering controls.
New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) criticized the commission for what he said was its failure to force Mega International to take responsibility for its actions.
Those found responsible at the bank should be forced to bear indemnities, so that the Treasury would not have to pay fines with money that came from the “blood and sweat” of taxpayers, Huang said.
The incident has not only exposed the inadequacies of Mega International’s New York branch, but also the shortcomings of the nation’s regulatory agencies, which lack laws that can deliver meaningful punitive consequences, Huang said on Facebook.
In light of the unprecedented severity of the issue, the Ministry of Finance said that it is to meet with the nation’s eight state-controlled banks this week to assess and improve their internal controls and regulatory compliance.
Beginning today, major state-controlled banks with operations in the US are to undergo audits dating back three years to verify if they meet US regulatory requirements, the Chinese-language China Times reported yesterday.
The banking sector has voiced concerns about the nation’s standing in an Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering review scheduled to take place in 2018.
“Banking is a highly regulated industry, particularly in the US due to more stringent counterterrorism and money-laundering requirements,” National Treasury Administration Director-General Juan Ching-hwa (阮清華) said on Saturday. “Regulatory compliance must be an integral part of banks’ operating strategy.”
Local media outlets have reported that Taiwanese banks generally lack the scale and legal resources to ensure regulatory compliance in foreign markets.
Additional reporting by Luo Tien-pin
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft. The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft. The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,
Some foreign companies are considering moving Taiwanese employees out of China after Beijing said it could impose the death penalty on “die-hard” Taiwanese independence advocates, four people familiar with the matter said. The new guidelines have caused some Taiwanese expatriates and foreign multinationals operating in China to scramble to assess their legal risks and exposure, said the people, who include a lawyer and two executives with direct knowledge of the discussions. “Several companies have come to us to assess the risks to their personnel,” said the lawyer, James Zimmerman, a Beijing-based partner at the Perkins Coie law firm. He declined to identify