FSC to ease online loan regulationsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisor Commission (FSC) is planning to relax regulations on Web-based consumer lending at banks, as the government seeks to create a comprehensive digital banking environment, the commission said yesterday. Current regulations allow online loan applications, but require banks to adopt stricter identity authentication standards for Web-based applications than for those who apply at a physical branch, the commission said. The requirements include identification via videoconference or the use of encrypted digital tokens, the commission said. Authentication would also include questions about regular account activity, including transfers or transactions, Lin said. The accounts have a limit on individual transfers of NT$10,000, while the daily transfer amount is capped at NT$30,000, the commission said.

It has been four years since the government started asking publicly funded sports associations to submit financial statements, but few of them have made their financial situations transparent, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said. From left, New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih, legislator Claire Wang and chairwoman and deputy caucus whip Chen Jiau-hua attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The financial reporting of some associations was substandard, as, for example, the tennis association’s statement does not explain some obscure items, Chiu said. NPP Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) called for a comprehensive review of a compensation program for athletes on national teams. The firm was run by Tsai Yi-fan (蔡逸凡), a son of Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee vice chairman Tsai Szu-chuen (蔡賜爵).

End profit focus, China’s gaming firms instructedBloombergChinese regulators summoned gaming companies including Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) and Netease Inc (網易) to discuss further oversight of the industry and the need to de-emphasize profits, prompting a steep share selloff. The agencies told the companies they must enforce the new regulations and break from “the solitary focus of pursuing profit” to prevent minors from becoming addicted to games. They should also remove “obscene and violent content” and avoid “unhealthy tendencies, such as money-worship and effeminacy.”“The authorities ordered the enterprises and platforms to tighten examination of the contents of their games,” Xinhua said. However, Xinhua made no mention of suspending gaming approvals in its reports. China in 2018 froze approvals on game monetization licenses for months, in part to combat addiction and myopia among children.

Mega Financial seeks to hike earningsIMPROVING MARKET: Overseas banking has gained momentum as vaccination rates improve, with operations in Australia soaring 175 percent since January, the bank saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterState-run Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) aims to reach profitability for the rest of year by boosting corporate lending, retail banking and overseas operations, company officials told an online investors’ conference yesterday. Photo courtesy of Mega Bank“The macro-environment has improved as the world becomes better equipped in dealing with the [COVID-19] pandemic,” Mega Financial president David Hu (胡光華) said, referring to vaccine rollouts worldwide. Mega Financial said it saw an opportunity to deepen lending with local semiconductor and petrochemical firms that have announced plans to invest in the US and elsewhere. The government’s promotion of renewable energy sources and a global embrace of 5G technologies would also generate loan demand, Mega Financial said. Shares in Mega Financial ended down 0.62 percent to NT$32.3 yesterday, bucking the TAIEX’s 0.2 percent rise, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.

China’s factory gate inflation jumped to a 13-year high last month. China’s coal prices soared to a record high on Tuesday over supply concerns as major coal regions began fresh rounds of safety checks. “We doubt producer price inflation will rise much further,” he said. Declines in airfares, travel and hotel room prices due to the pandemic slowed consumer inflation on a monthly basis, Dong said. China’s consumer price inflation, which is likely to stay muted, would not constrain a slight loosening stance, she added.

Fed’s Williams says taper could happen this yearBloomberg“It could be appropriate” for the US central bank to begin tapering its bond-buying program before the end of the year, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said on Wednesday. “Assuming the economy continues to improve as I anticipate, it could be appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year,” Williams said in remarks prepared for a virtual event. “I think it’s clear that we have made substantial further progress on achieving our inflation goal,” Williams said. “Probably some of that is the Delta variant having some effects, but it’s hard to really know,” Williams said after the speech. He added that judging “substantial further progress” was ultimately about assessing cumulative job creation since December last year, when that marker was laid out.

Laptop makers post muted sales amid supply woesBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterContract laptop makers Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) last month reported noticeably muted sales, attributing the trend to unresolved component shortages and logistics woes. The company shipped 5.5 million notebook computers, down 6.8 percent month-on-month and 12.7 percent year-on-year, a new monthly low for this year. Meanwhile, Compal yesterday said that consolidated revenue fell 5.2 percent month-on-month to NT$102.39 billion last month, up 22 percent from August last year. Compal last month shipped 4.7 million laptops, down 4.08 percent month-on-month, but up 34.28 percent year-on-year. For the first eight months, the company shipped 28.42 percent more laptops, or 35.7 million units.

The high polling numbers suggest that the majority supports the government’s cross-strait policy, MAC Deputy Minister Lee Li-jane (李麗珍) told an online news briefing. The poll showed that 83.9 percent of respondents support President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) stance that Taiwan’s only option is to build up its strength, solidarity and defensive capabilities. Furthermore, 64 percent support stricter examinations of Chinese citizens attempting to enter Taiwan, it said. More than 85 percent said that only the Taiwanese public can determine Taiwan’s future and the development of cross-strait relations, it showed. Any political negotiations, without a public mandate, would run counter to the majority opinion, Lee added.

US growth lower amid shortages of labor, supplyAFP, WASHINGTONUS economic growth “downshifted slightly” in July and last month amid shortages of workers and materials, as well as concerns about the rise of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. The US surge in COVID-19 infections has led to the return of some restrictions and delayed the return of workers to some offices. A sustained rise in inflation is a concern for the White House, which on Wednesday announced an initiative to slow rising meat prices. Linking consolidation in the meat industry to food price increases, the White House said it would invest US$1.4 billion aimed at small businesses in the food supply chain. The Fed report said that sales of vehicles and homes in the US were depressed by low inventory, but construction rose modestly.

Throughout yesterday and today, participants from Taiwan, Slovakia, the US and Japan are meeting to share their experiences as a reference for policy development, Chen said. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou speaks at a news briefing in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei TimesIt is the first time a GCTF meeting has focused on labor issues, and as such, includes participants from the Ministry of Labor and US Department of Labor, she said. The GCTF was established in 2015 between Taiwan and the US to create a platform for Taiwan to share its expertise on issues of global concern. The final itinerary to Slovakia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic is still being decided, which will be announced by MOFA next week, Up Media reported.

China is Taiwan’s sworn enemyBy Lai Yen-cheng 賴彥丞During a speech at the Ketagalan Forum’s 2021 Asia-Pacific Security Dialogue on Tuesday last week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) referred to “neighboring countries,” which some interpreted to include China. Taiwan’s pan-blue camp was incandescent with rage and claimed that Tsai’s choice of words would lead to “cross-strait conflict.”The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was predictably hopping mad. The party’s pro-Beijing credentials were on full display as it demanded the president take into account Beijing’s reaction before opening her mouth. Is it any wonder that a recent opinion poll showed that Taiwanese voters display more antipathy toward the KMT than any other political party? It is maddening that the treacherous KMT continues to exist, for China is not just a neighbor: It is Taiwan’s sworn enemy.

COVID-19: Government should raise vaccine coverage: expertBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe government should increase first-dose COVID-19 vaccination coverage in people aged 12 and older, as well as the second-dose coverage in people aged 60 and older, amid an outbreak of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, National Taiwan University College of Public Health professor Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said yesterday. Chen said that he suspects that one of the pilots was the first to contract COVID-19, possibly when he was in Chicago between Aug. 23 and 26. While the one-dose vaccination coverage of adults is nearly 50 percent, and the coverage in people aged 60 and older is more than 70 percent, the second-dose vaccination coverage is still very low in all age groups, he said. With Taiwan facing possible community spread of the Delta variant, Chen said his research team has suggested a vaccination policy. He said the goal is to increase the first-dose vaccination coverage to 90 percent, while at the same time increasing the second-dose vaccination coverage in people aged 60 and older to 90 percent.

Bitcoin battered after debut as tender in El SalvadorReuters, TOKYOBitcoin licked its wounds yesterday, a day after its heaviest losses in two-and-a-half months, as El Salvador’s historic adoption of the crypto asset as legal tender caused chaos online and on the streets. ANTICIPATIONA woman protests the use of bitcoin as legal tender in San Salvador on Tuesday. It was a historical day for bitcoin as El Salvador’s experiment of making it legal tender got off to a bumpy start. As bitcoin wobbled, Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele said his government purchased an additional 150 bitcoins on Tuesday, worth about US$7 million. “That has underscored the difficulty in trying to protect the value of bitcoin as its own currency,” Monex Securities chief economist Nana Otsuki said.

DPP lawmakers call for foreign mission renamingBy Lu Yi-hsuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe government should use “Taiwan” for its 91 de facto embassies in foreign countries, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) and Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said yesterday. The lawmakers made the remark at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei calling on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish a task force for this purpose. The Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland, inaugurated last year, is the only representative office using the name, and a planned office in Lithuania is expected to become the second. All Taiwan’s representative offices — including those in the US and Japan — should be renamed, Chiu said. Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that the ministry appreciates the lawmakers’ suggestion, but a representative office can only be renamed with the host nation’s consent.

Intel to invest billions to boost EU chip capacityReutersIntel Corp on Tuesday said it could invest as much as 80 billion euros (US$94.53 billion) in Europe over the next decade to boost the region’s chip capacity and would open up its semiconductor plant in Ireland for automakers. The Intel Corp logo is pictured at the entrance to the company’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 2, 2010. The aim is to create a center of innovation in Europe, for Europe,” Gelsinger said. The “Intel Foundry Services Accelerator” is aimed at helping automakers learn to make chips using what Intel calls its “Intel 16” chip manufacturing technology and later move to its “Intel 3” and “Intel 18A” technologies. Intel said nearly 100 automakers and key suppliers — including BMW AG, Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG and Robert Bosch GmbH — had expressed support for its programs.