Taishin Financial Holding Co Ltd (台新金控) has briefed the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on a tentative plan to sell new shares to raise funds for the acquisition of Prudential Life Insurance Co of Taiwan (保德信人壽).
While the company has yet to formally apply for FSC approval of the share sale plan, the share sale seems to have a few advantages over previous plans, Banking Bureau Chief Secretary Phil Tong (童政彰) told a videoconference on Tuesday.
Since last year, the commission has rejected several fundraising plans proposed by Taishin Financial due to fuzzy feasibility and unclear financial arrangements.
Under the new plan, Taishin Financial
E-payment across systems might start next quarter
By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter
Users of different electronic payment services, such as those by Jkopay Co (街口支付) and Line Pay Money, would from next quarter be able to transfer money across systems via a new platform, the Financial Supervisory Commission said on Thursday.
The commission announced that amendments to the Act Governing Electronic Payment Institutions (電子支付機構管理條例) are to take effect from July 1, allowing money transfers across different e-payment providers.
The commission has assigned the Financial Information Service Co (財金公司) to set up a virtual platform to enable the transfer, with state-run Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行) assigned to address the flow of funds between different e-payment companies, it said.
More than 200 finance firms allow working from home
By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter
A total of 236 financial companies have adopted work-from-home programs, nearly double the 124 firms that had done so as of Monday, amid a surge in COVID-19 infections, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed yesterday.
The number of securities investment trust and consulting companies that allow telecommuting grew threefold from Monday, as most of their staff do not need to interact with customers in-person, the commission said.
The commission has talked with local insurers about the issue and would allow them to use software such as mobile apps to enable sales agents to talk with customers through videoconference, it said.
Trim building loans, FSC tells banks
By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Tuesday said that eight local banks should reduce the number of construction loans issued and enhance risk management, or they would be ordered to set aside higher loan-loss provisions.
The commission’s warning came after it last week announced that it would conduct a special examination of the top 10 mortgage lenders from this month to March, as part of the government’s efforts to rein in the overheated property market.
All local banks’ combined construction loans, indicative of the confidence of the construction sector, hit a record at NT$2.69 trillion (US$94.47 billion) as of the end of October, which accounted for 8.62 percent of their total lending, the highest ratio compared with a range of 7.13 to 9.12 percent from 2015 to last year, the commission said.