Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Ding Kung-wha (丁克華) and Vice Chairman Kuei Hsien-nung (桂先農) yesterday resigned over issues involving Mega International Commercial Bank’s (兆豐銀行) New York branch and XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技).
FSC Vice Chairman Huang Tien-mu (黃天牧) will be the commission’s acting chairman, the Executive Yuan said.
Ding on Saturday last week offered a verbal resignation to Premier Lin Chuan (林全), who rejected it, but Ding lodged another resignation on Sunday, which Lin approved, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
“To claim responsibility [for the Mega International and the XPEC case], Ding tendered his formal resignation yesterday, which was ... reported to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文),” Hsu said.
Mega Bank’s New York branch was fined for breaches of US money laundering regulations, while XPEC was involved in a proposed takeover that failed, causing major losses for investors.
The president said she “respected” Lin’s decision, Hsu said.
Kuei, who was appointed alongside Ding, had to resign in accordance with the political appointments system, Hsu said.
Hsu said he did not know whether Ding resigned due to pressure from lawmakers and critics.
Ding said in the letter that he had to resign to “protect his integrity,” while Hsu supported the media’s right to question government officials.
“To prevent further effects on and misgivings about the commission, I have no other choice but to resign,” Ding said in a separate statement.
The FSC has achieved its intermediate goals that would pave the way toward bolstering regulatory standards for the nation’s financial sector, as well as placing responsibilities on companies involved in Bai Chi Gan Tou Digital Entertainment Co’s (百尺竿頭) botched bid to acquire XPEC, he said.
Hsu said there was no information on whether the resignations, along with the change of former Executive Yuan spokesman Tung Chen-yuan (童振源), was a preface to a minor Cabinet reshuffle.
When asked whether Lin lost his authority over Cabinet appointments, Hsu said, “the premier’s authority is intact and he saw to the appointments of myself and others.”
The Executive Yuan will seek suitable candidates to replace Ding and Kuei, Hsu said, adding that there are plenty of candidates in the financial sector.
The FSC would propose measures to reinforce oversight of financial institutions at a meeting called by an Executive Yuan task force to address the Mega Bank case, he said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) chairman Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) denied reports that he has been tapped as a candidate for the FSC chairmanship.
“I have no knowledge of a decision over the appointment,” Shih told the Taipei Times by telephone, adding that market rumors should be ignored.
“Three months into my appointment as TWSE chairman, there are still many tasks that must be completed,” Shih said.
Additional reporting by Ted Chen
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS