Business and Finance

Agricultural losses from typhoon estimated at NT$600 million (update)

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/15
By: Chen Cheng-wei, Frances Huang and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) Estimated losses caused by Strong Typhoon Meranti, which 201609150019t0001battered southern Taiwan a day earlier, reached NT$593.41 million (US$18.7 million), according to the Council of Agriculture (COA) late Thursday.

The impact of the typhoon on the island was at its worst on Wednesday, leaving 1 person dead and an additional 51 injured, and forcing schools and government offices in several cities and counties in southern Taiwan, such as Taitung, Pingtung and Kaohsiung, to close, as the storm moved through the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan.

As for the agricultural losses, the council said, Kaohsiung, the second-largest city in Taiwan, bore the brunt, with losses hitting NT$460.14 million, accounting for 78 percent of the total, the COA statistics show.     [FULL  STORY]

N Taiwan to see spike in new homes

AUTUMN SALES:Despite a forecast 60 percent jump in new housing launches in the north, ‘Housing Monthly’ attributed it to delays rather than a sign of recovery

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 16, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Developers are expected to promote a total of NT$147.83 billion (US$4.67 billion) in new residential and commercial projects in northern Taiwan during the autumn sales season, an increase of nearly 60 percent from the same period last year, a report by Housing Monthly showed yesterday.

The autumn sales season starts next week and lasts through the whole of next month, as property developers make a last push to promote sales of pre-sale developments and newly completed projects before the end of the year.

“The sharp increase has more to do with procedural delays rather than a sign of recovery,” the Chinese-language magazine’s research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) said.

Some builders obtained their building permits late, while others pushed back their launch dates, Ho said, adding that procedural delays accounted for about one-third of the volume.     [FULL  STORY]

Ban rapists from hiring migrant workers: lawmaker

The China Post
Date: September 16, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A lawmaker on Thursday proposed a lifelong ban from hiring migrant workers on persons convicted of sexual assault against their foreign employees.

The mooted amendment to the Employment Service Act comes after the arrest of a local man for alleged rape of an Indonesian caregiver.

Under current regulations, employers convicted of abusing workers are permitted to hire new foreign caregivers after two years.

News that an Indonesian caregiver in Taichung had been raped and found with her wrists cut in an apparent suicide attempt sparked outrage earlier this month.

The event shed light on a string of similar sexual assault cases involving foreign workers in Taiwan.

A total of 122 foreign workers — over 90 of whom were registered as caregivers — reported they had been assaulted by employers, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW, 衛服部).     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan lose to China 93-88 at FIBA Asia Challenge

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 15, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Taiwan yesterday fought all the way into the final quarter of a cross-strait basketball duel, but after captain Liu Ching left the game due to an injury, they could not hold on, losing 93-88 to China in the final FIBA Asia Challenge group-stage match in Tehran.

Taiwan were strong early on and battled to within one point to end the first half at 49-48.

Led by Liu and US-born naturalized citizen Quincy Davis, Taiwan took a four-point lead in the third quarter, but China recovered the lead in the final quarter.

Liu and Davis led Taiwan in a rally to level the game at 78-78, but faltered down the stretch for China to leverage their advantage in rebounds and turnovers to win.     [FULL  STORY]

Acer turns 40, founder seeks ‘executive owners’

NOT TOP GUN?Stan Shih said that his eldest son, Maverick, may not become a board member any time soon, as he offers limited added-value to operations

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 15, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Acer Inc (宏碁) celebrated its 40th anniversary yesterday, with founder and former chairman Stan Shih

Acer Inc founder Stan Shih, right, and chairman George Huang gesture at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

Acer Inc founder Stan Shih, right, and chairman George Huang gesture at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

(施振榮) urging high-ranking executives to purchase company shares.

“We want to create a corporate culture in which ranking officials would treat the company as their own, so they would care more about the company and not consider themselves as just a ‘salary earner,’” Shih said.

Shih said he had shared the idea with chief executive officer Jason Chen (陳俊聖) before Chen took the position in 2014.

Chen bought more than 2.55 million shares, or a 0.08 percent stake, in Acer from 2014 to last year, according to the company’s annual report published in June.

Shih said that he and Acer chairman George Huang (黃少華) both support Chen becoming Acer’s new chairman next year.

“Chen has a very strong bond with and commitment to Acer,” Shih said.     [FULL  STORY]

Time for a new set of China rules

EDITORIAL
Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-14
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A move by the director of a museum in Taiwan to find a new job in China consulting and advising a local 6773543museum there does not sound like a major national security crisis. Unless the Taiwanese institution is the National Palace Museum, which resorts directly under the central government and is one of the world’s most prominent repositories of priceless Chinese art.

The problem is that the museum’s director during the last administration of President Ma Ying-jeou, Feng Ming-chu, seemed to be contravening or at least evading government rules which state that a departing government official should obtain the permission from his former employer before moving to China, and that for a period of three years following his retirement or resignation.

Feng’s quick move looked like a flagrant violation of that law, her appointment as consultant to The Palace Museum in Beijing coming a mere three months after the departure of the Ma Administration last May 20.     [FULL  STORY]

FSC fires Mega Bank’s Tsai, orders dismissal of 5 other executives

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/14
By: Chen Cheng-wei and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) imposed a NT$10-million 201609140027t0001(US$315,000) fine on Mega International Commercial Bank and removed a key figure from the bank’s board of directors, saying poor governance and management had led to a stiff fine against the bank by the New York State Department of Finance.

On Aug. 19, the state of New York’s Department of Financial Service (DFS) slapped a US$180 million fine on Mega Bank after identifying “a number of suspicious transactions” between the bank’s New York branch and its Panama and Colon Free Zone units.

Mega Bank has been accused by the U.S. of failing to report suspicious transactions by its clients and thus violating U.S. law.

The transactions in question at the Mega Bank New York branch took place in 2012 and were uncovered by the DFS during an investigation between January and March 2015.     [FULL  STORY]

Mega compensation claim requested

OFFICIALS TARGETED:The minister of finance said other agencies are responsible for ruling on wrongdoing, while the ministry had limited options to mitigate a fine

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 15, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The Ministry of Finance, the largest shareholder in Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), is to ask the conglomerate to seek compensation from former board directors for losses linked to a compliance failure by a New York banking branch.

The ministry yesterday submitted a report to the Financial Supervisory Commission to help determine where responsibility lies after speaking to former Mega Financial chairman Mckinney Tsai (蔡友才) and other parties a day earlier.

Despite its 20 percent stake in Mega Financial, the ministry cannot do anything except seek compensation to mitigate the fine now that Tsai no longer holds positions in state-run financial institutions, Minister of Finance Sheu Yu-jer (許虞哲) said.

It is up to the commission to decide whether Tsai is guilty of concealing the compliance failure, while law enforcement agencies are responsible for determining whether he should face criminal charges, Sheu said.     [FULL  STORY]

Solar business to be unprofitable in Q3: Inventec

DOWNTURN?A company executive said that a prior forecast that the segment could be profitable this year had turned into hope that it could break even

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 13, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Contract electronics maker Inventec Corp (英業達) expects its solar power business to become unprofitable this quarter, due to worse-than-expected demand and sharp declines in solar prices, a company executive said yesterday.

“Demand from China and Southeast Asia is much weaker than our previous estimate,” an Inventec’s investor relations official said by telephone.

The Chinese government and many Southeast Asian governments had been cutting demand and reducing subsidies for solar power products, the official said.

The declining demand dragged down the average selling price of solar power products, weighing on profitability of solar power manufacturers, she said.     [FULL  STORY]

Galaxy Note 7 swap, refund applications to start Sept. 13

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-12
By: Esme Jiang and Frances Huang, Central News Agency

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Buyers of Samsung Electronics Co.’s latest flagship smartphone model — the Galaxy Note 7 — in the local market will be able to file their applications for a replacement or a refund starting from Sept. 13, as reports of the device catching fire due to a battery problem have caused much concern.

Samsung confirmed 35 cases of the Galaxy Note 7 catching fire as of Sept. 1, most of them occurring while the battery was being charged, and the South Korean firm has announced a global recall of the new device.

In Taiwan, consumers will be able to replace their Galaxy Note 7 with a new one or other versions of Samsung’s flagship smartphone, while they will also have the option of applying for a refund, the South Korean electronics giant said.     [FULL  STORY]