CUB founder assaults bank chairman over 'misunderstanding'

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) Following reports of a physical altercation between Cathay United Bank (CUB) founder Tsai Chen-yu (蔡鎮宇) and bank Chairman Kuo Ming-jian (郭明鑑), the bank on Wednesday attributed the incident to a "misunderstanding" about Kuo's multiple positions outside the bank.

In a statement, the bank said Kuo, in his mid-60s, disclosed his work outside the bank as he is legally obliged to do and these positions have never affected his duties at the bank, adding that the chairman has not made illegal profits from such positions.

The bank said the incident on Tuesday came about because Tsai, in his early 70s, misunderstood Kuo's jobs outside the bank. It urged the two men to enter into rational communications to narrow their differences.

Local media said the men first hurled insults at each other during a meeting in Kuo's office in Taipei before the situation became physical and police officers arrived at the scene.

Kuo has been an independent director at ASIC designer AIchip Technologies Inc. since May 29, 2025, when he was also a board member of Cathay Securities Investment Trust, an affiliate of the bank.

Both Cathay United Bank and Cathay Securities Investment Trust are wholly owned by Cathay Financial Holding Co., the largest financial holding firm in Taiwan by total assets.

According to Cathay Securities Investment Trust, due to internal negligence, the company's discretionary accounts, involving eight mutual funds, bought AIchip shares when Kuo was an independent director at the tech firm.

The investment trust firm reported Kuo's outside involvement with AIchip and the investments in AIchip shares to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in January. The company also decided to recalculate the net worth of the eight mutual funds involved from June 30, 2025 to Jan. 20 2026.

The investment trust firm announced last week that the company would compensate investors in the eight mutual funds after the net worth recalculation and would ensure investors do not bear any losses resulting from the error.

As a result, the net worth recalculation resulted in a loss of NT$454 million (US$14.32 million) from the company's discretionary accounts. Media reports estimated that including compensation to investors, the firm could face losses of up to NT$600 million.

Local news media reports said Tsai and Kuo's altercation was triggered by the losses, with Tsai angered over the chairman's outside engagements.

Cathay Securities Investment Trust said in an announcement issued Tuesday that Kuo has stepped down as a board member of the company.

As Kuo assumed a directorship at Longchen Paper & Packaging Co. on May 27, the FSC has requested Cathay Securities Investment Trust probe whether its mutual funds have invested in the paper maker.