Taipei Times
Date: Dec 20, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter in HUALIEN

SinoPac Financial Holding Co (永豐金控) is reviewing its lending operations to improve internal oversight after a spate of questionable loans led to heavy fines and a management reshuffle, senior executives said yesterday.

“We are re-examining credit applications to make sure they all meet regulatory requirements… The probe by the Financial Supervisory Commission will show if the company is guilty of compliance failure,” SinoPac Financial chief investment officer Eric Chuang (莊銘福) said on the sidelines of the inauguration of a new Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行) branch in Hualien.

The probe came after a tip-off from the group’s employees that affiliated SinoPac Leasing Corp (永豐金租賃) granted a US$1.35 million (NT$4.22 billion) loan to J&R Trading Co, a foreign shell company owned by Sun Power Development and Construction Co (三寶建設) and with investment from papermaking conglomerate YFY Inc (永豐餘控股) and E Ink Holdings Co (元太科技).    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2016-12-18

Taiwan’s economics ministry is likely to report a year-on-year increase in the nation’s export orders for a fourth consecutive month in November. The November figures are due out on Tuesday.

The economics ministry said Sunday that the expected year-on-year rise in export orders in November is likely due to rising global demand in the run-up to the year-end holiday shopping season.

In October, overseas orders totaled US$42.68 billion, up 0.3 percent from the previous year after a 3.9 percent year-on-year increase in September. That figure was 8.3 percent for August.

The economics ministry attributed the minimal gains in October to the product transitions that many international high-tech brands were undergoing. But the ministry said the situation changed in November, and export orders should rise 2.6-5 percent year-on-year to between NT$41.8 billion and NT$42.8 billion.  [FULL  STORY]

SHATTERED HOPES:Former TransAsia employees who sought jobs with FAT after the TransAsia collapse said the salary and benefits were only about half of those at TransAsia

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 19, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Former employees of TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空), which abruptly ended its operations last month, are hoping that Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (FAT, 遠東航空) has a clear plan if it is serious about restructuring TransAsia.

FAT has taken steps to get approval to restructure TransAsia, and if it goes ahead, the airline expects to rehire about 1,000 former TransAsia employees.
TransAsia’s union on Saturday said in a statement that it would be good to have another airline take over TransAsia, but hopes that FAT has a concrete plan in place, otherwise employees’ hopes are likely to be shattered for a second time.
The union said that after the disbanding of the carrier on Nov. 22, some employees sought jobs at FAT, but the salary and fringe benefits are only half what they earned at TransAsia.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 19, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — Taiwan is likely to report a year-on-year increase in export orders for a fourth consecutive month in November amid rising global demand in the run-up to the year-end holiday buying spree, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Sunday.

The MOEA said higher demand for electronics gadgets and other products fueled by an improving global economy likely led to an increase in orders to Taiwan in November compared with a year earlier.

The ministry is scheduled to release the November export order figures on Dec. 20.

In October, orders received from abroad by companies in Taiwan totaled US$42.68 billion, up 0.3 percent from the previous year after a 3.9 percent year-on-year increase in September, according to MOEA statistics. That figure was 8.3 percent for August.

The MOEA attributed the minimal gains in October to the product transitions many international high-tech brands were undergoing, but it said the situation changed in November, and export orders should rise 2.6 percent to 5 percent year-on-year to between NT$41.8 billion and NT$42.8 billion.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/16
By: Jeffrey Wu and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan edged lower on Friday in consolidation mode,

dealers said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 33.57 points, or 0.36 percent, at 9,326.78, after moving between 9,379.75 and 9,326.78. Turnover totaled NT$77.37 billion (US$2.42 billion) during the session.

The bellwether electronics sector closed down 0.59 percent, while the financial sector fell 0.03 percent.

Most large-cap stocks in the electronics sector were lackluster except for Largan Precision Co. (大立光), which rose 1.49 percent to end the day at NT$3,750.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 17, 2016
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

Feng Tay Enterprises Co (豐泰企業), a key supplier of Nike Inc, yesterday said it does not expect back tax issues at its two subsidiaries in China’s Fujian Province to affect its operations.

“Feng Tay will plead not guilty” to tax avoidance, company spokeswoman Amy Chen (陳麗琴) said by telephone, adding that the four shoemaking plants in Fujian only account for about 13 percent of the company’s total capacity.

Fujian tax authorities have claimed that the company should pay corporate income taxes because of transfer pricing problems, Feng Tay said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange earlier this week.

Transfer pricing is often used as a tool for corporate tax avoidance, indicating the allocation of the price for products and services sold among legal entities within a multinational corporation.    [FULL  STORY]