FSC Approves Major Insurance M&A Deal The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on May 31 provided its conditional approval of Taishin Financial Holdings’ acquisition of Prudential Life Insurance. The FSC’s first condition is that Taishin make a statement committing to protect employee rights, guarantee long-term operations, and stabilize the shareholder structure of the merged entity. Secondly,…
Taiwanese Outlook Positive Despite Pandemic The COVID-19 situation in Taiwan continues to be severe, with the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reporting between 250-400 new cases per day, as well as a continuing backlog of cases due to the use of PCR testing, and the specter of a Level 4 lockdown looms. Yet the island’s…
A weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS FSC suspends shareholders’ meetings Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced on May 20 that the shareholders’ meetings of 1,931 public companies – including the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) – will be suspended from May 24 to June…
By Austin Babb and Jason Wu Train Derailment in Hualien Kills 49 On April 2, passenger train Taroko Express No. 408 collided with a crane truck near the Qingshui Tunnel in Hua-lien County. The resulting derailment caused the death of 49 passengers, with more than 200 injured. Among those losing their lives were two American…
A weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS Taiwan’s COVID-19 situation has quickly become more serious in recent days. Following a cluster infection in late April connected to China Airlines flight crew, local cases began increasing significantly for several days in succession, mostly in the north…
By Austin Babb and Jason Wu TSMC Raises CAPEX to Meet Demand The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) announced plans on April 1 to raise capital expenditures, committing an unprecedented US$100 billion over the next three years to expand production capacity in response to ongoing global shortages of chips and the strong demand for new…
A weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS New measures seek to combat China’s talent poaching China has been targeting Taiwanese semiconductor talent in an effort to fuel its domestic chipmaking capabilities. In response, the Executive Yuan in April formed a task force to establish measures…
By Austin Babb and Jason Wu Guidelines, Visit Show Improving U.S. Ties U.S.-Taiwan relations are showing further signs of strengthening as Washington continues to make overt gestures of support for Taiwan. The U.S. Department of State recently released an update to guidelines regarding interactions between American diplomats and their Taiwan counterparts. In a short press…
By Austin Babb and Jason Wu Exports Climb as FOREX Reserves Fall The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April raised its forecast of Taiwan’s 2021 GDP growth to 4.7%, much higher than the 3.2% figure it provided last October. The organization’s biannual World Economic Outlook report cited a “stronger than anticipated rebound” of the global…
A weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taiwan’s TOPICS TSMC raises capital expenditures to increase capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s leading contract manufacturer, said at a investor conference on April 15 that it would again raise its capital expenditures for 2021 to NT$30 billion,…
