KuoTai Financial's Executive Compensation Exceeds 20 Million, Drawing Attention! First Bank Takes the Lead, Urging Board to Review Compensation

Regarding the recent high-profile issue of executive compensation at KuoTai Financial (2889-TW), one of its major shareholders, First Bank, issued a statement today (10th) and took action. As an investing shareholder, First Bank has urged the directors it recommended at KuoTai Financial to review the rationality of the compensation structure for KuoTai Financial and its subsidiaries through the board of directors. The bank also hopes that KuoTai Financial will continue to improve its corporate governance to protect shareholder rights.

KuoTai Financial completed its board of directors election in late May this year, transitioning its management from private financial holding to public capital-led. However, executive compensation was not adjusted to the level of public capital-led financial institutions, creating a discrepancy. According to KuoTai Financial's 2025 year-end report, Chairman Wei Qi-lin's annual salary is 26.22 million NT dollars, Vice Chairman Ho Chi-chiang's is 20.30 million, and General Manager Chen Kuan-chou's is 19.18 million. The presidents of its subsidiaries, KuoTai Securities and International Securities, also earn between 10 million and 30 million NT dollars annually.

First Bank is one of the major shareholders of KuoTai Financial, currently appointing three directors: Chang Chao-shun, Chou Ching-hui, and Tsai Shu-hui. Among them, Chang Chao-shun is the current chairman of KuoTai Financial. First Bank's move to initiate a review of compensation, seeking rationality, will make future adjustments to the compensation structure a focal point in the financial industry.

The Ministry of Finance established the "Standards for the Compensation of Chairpersons and General Managers Appointed or Recommended by the Ministry of Finance to Publicly-Owned Enterprises and Their Invested Enterprises" on March 23, 2010, and revised them on March 23, 2022. These standards are used to manage the compensation levels of all publicly-owned chairpersons and general managers.