Banks, insurers and brokerages in Taipei and New Taipei City are to open as normal tomorrow, the Financial Supervisory Commission said on Saturday.
All financial service providers have been instructed to ensure uninterrupted customer services while following the cities’ tightened disease prevention measures, the commission said.
The announcement came after the Central Epidemic Command Center raised the COVID-19 alert for the two cities to level 3 through Friday next week, calling on the public to avoid unnecessary travel, activities and gatherings, banning indoor gatherings of more than five people and outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people, and implementing sector-specific rules for businesses.
Photo: Allen Wu, Taipei Times
To reduce person-to-person contacts, the Ministry of Finance said that National Taxation Bureau offices in northern Taiwan would stop accepting in-person income tax filings.
The offices in Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan and Yilan would not accept tax filings until Friday next week, but remain open for other purposes, it said, adding that disease prevention measures, such as checking visitors’ temperatures, would be in place.
The ministry on Wednesday last week announced that the deadline for filing individual and corporate income tax for last year has been extended by one month, to June 30.
It urged people to file their taxes online, which can also be done using a smartphone.
The Securities and Futures Bureau said that listed companies would still have to hold in-person annual shareholders’ meetings, but control the number of participants, guaranteeing that no more then five people attend a meeting in the same room.
The requirement for in-person shareholders’ meetings is stipulated in the Company Act (公司法) to safeguard the participation rights of minority shareholders, it said.
Despite a provision in the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) that shareholders’ meetings must be held before the end of June, the bureau said it would on a case-by-case basis decide whether companies that do not meet this deadline be exempted from penalties.
Commission data showed that 261 listed companies have scheduled shareholder meetings between tomorrow and Friday next week.
Of those companies, 28 had more than 50 shareholders attending their meetings in person last year, the commission said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would