SWF Radar Taiwan

CENS.com reports that, “The [Taiwanese] government should transform the existing NT$100 billion national development fund into a national investment holding company and inject more funds into the company by issuing government bonds or corporate bonds for domestic and overseas investments, Perng Fai-nan, governor of the Central Bank of China (CBC), suggested yesterday (Oct. 6).”

The China Post writes that, “[Taiwan] needs to enact a separate act with independent regulations governing capital sources and investment activities if it decides to set up a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), according to Governor Perng Fai-nan of the Central Bank of the Republic of China (CBC).”

Radio Taiwan International reports that, “A government proposal to set up a sovereign wealth fund has sparked controversy in Taiwan’s legislature.”

Taiwan News reports that, “A meeting of top [Taiwan] government finance officials failed yesterday to reach an agreement on a proposal to set up a sovereign wealth fund to boost the economy.”

This contradicts an earlier report from the same news source.

XFN-ASIA reports that, “Central bank governor Perng Fai-nan did not discuss any proposal to establish a state wealth fund using [Taiwan’s] forex reserves when Perng met with a government economic task-force yesterday, the bank said.”

Taiwan News reports (I’ve rewritten parts of this passage to try to add clarity, so be sure to check against the original version before making use of this information) that, “Vice President Vincent Siew held a financial consultation meeting on Sep 30 and decided to set up a sovereign wealth fund. Under the preliminary planning of the Economic Planning and Development Council, the sovereign wealth fund will draw funds from the national development fund to invest in good-quality enterprises whose stock prices are lower than net worth, invest in the merger of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and TFTLCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display), and conduct overseas investment.”

The article adds that the fund will be over US$100bn.

Asian Investor reports that, “In the run up to Taiwan's presidential election, the Central Bank of China - the island's central bank - says it is contemplating setting up a sovereign wealth fund. The fund could initially be financed using part of the central bank's $277 billion in foreign exchange reserves and could possibly be modelled after Singapore's Temasek or Government Investment Corporation.”

The Taipei Times reports that, “[Taiwanese] Central Bank deputy governor George Chou yesterday said the bank was in no position to say whether it wanted to set up a sovereign wealth fund. ‘It is a question for the government to consider’ and decide, not the bank, said Chou, after he was asked if he agreed with a view expressed by a former deputy governor of the bank.”

XFN-ASIA writes that, “Four major [Taiwanese] government funds bought a net 5-6 bln twd worth of shares yesterday as the local bourse tumbled on worries over the health of the US economy, local newspapers reported. The Public Service Pension Fund, Labor Pension Fund, Labor Insurance Fund, and the postal savings system sought bargains as the market ended the day 6.51 pct lower, the Economic Daily News and Commercial Times reported.”

Thomson Investment Management News writes (free registration required) that, “The [Taiwanese] government is setting up a 2 bln twd international investment company which is expected to function as a sovereign wealth fund, the Economic Daily News reported, citing a senior official.”