Silicon Application Corporation (SAC) president Hugo Hu and two other SAC executives have been accused of insider trading involving stock transactions made prior to SAC’s merger with World Peace Industrial (WPI). The merged company, WPG Holdings, is Taiwan’s leading IC distributor and Hu has been serving as a director.
The defendants claim their stock transactions were legal and done without any insider information.
WPI and SAC announced the merger in March of this year and the merged company was officially listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) in November.
Hu, together with two other WPG executives, are accused of insider stock swapping prior to the merger announcement. All three defendants were called in by authorities for questioning on December 20, and had to pay a bond of NT$100,000 with the courts. They are now forbidden from leaving Taiwan.
WPG announced that Hu claimed all stock transaction were legal and did not involve any insider knowledge. However, WPG suspended all duties the three defendants had at the company, with SAC chairman Kuo-yuan Chen temporarily taking the position of president at the company.
Hu held a 0.47% stake at WPG Holdings as of November 9, according to WPG. The WPG share price was not affected by the news and closed at NT$11.3 on December 22.
Article translated by Esther Lam and edited by Michael McManus
