Taiwan to Probe Insider Trading Report: Samuel...

Taiwan to Probe Insider Trading Report: Samuel Shieh, chief of Taiwan’s central bank, asked for the government investigation into alleged insider trading among state officials who had advance knowledge of a move to lower interest rates. Hours before making public the bank’s plan, Shieh last Thursday discussed with five state bank executives his intention to lower interest rates through a reduction in the percentage of deposits that commercial banks are required to keep as reserves. Opposition legislators said bond market trading soared shortly after Shieh’s meeting with the bankers but before the formal announcement of the reserve ratio reduction. Because bonds increase in value when interest rates fall, individuals who purchased bonds ahead of the bank announcement raked in large profits.