Cabinet spokesperson Tung Chen-yuan said on Wednesday that a special Cabinet task force will thoroughly investigate the records of Mega International.
Tung was speaking after the former chief of the Financial Supervisory Committee, Tseng Ming-chung, filed a lawsuit over the mishandling of the Mega International case.
On August 19, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) fined the bank’s New York branch US$180 million for violating local anti-money laundering laws. The department found evidence of transactions involving Panama, which is recognized as a high-risk jurisdiction for money laundering. An independent monitor is investigating the branch’s records.
The Cabinet has set up a task force in charge of verifying the bank’s trade records. Tung said the task force needs to find out which officials failed to oversee the bank’s transactions.
"During the last meeting, the task force had brought up a few muddy points, including whether the Financial Supervisory Committee was aware of the bank’s transactions between May 18 and August 4. The committee could have the gotten the information through something other than a written record. The task force needs to cross-reference different records before they can know for sure. Only after we have the facts can we find out who was responsible," Tung said.