Ministry insists heads of state firms chosen for skills By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter The Ministry of Finance yesterday said that professional credentials are what determine its top choices for chief executives of state-run financial institutions, in an attempt to rebut media reports about political intervention. The clarification came after local Chinese-language media said that political influence was behind leadership reshuffles at First Securities Inc (第一金證券), Mega Securities Co (兆豐證券) and other companies where the ministry controls a majority stake and names senior executives, with approval from the Executive Yuan. The ministry said that former First Securities chairman Yeh Kuang-chang (葉光章) tendered his resignation after it launched a probe into allegations of mismanagement and misconduct.