Former Bank Employee Embezzles NT$2.97 Million in Clearing Funds; FSC Fines Bank NT$4 Million

(CNA Taipei, July 2) The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced today that a former employee of CTBC Bank embezzled approximately NT$2.97 million in ATM clearing funds and financial clearing funds over a period of about 10 months. The FSC has fined the bank NT$4 million for failing to establish and effectively implement internal control systems.

CTBC Bank stated that the case was discovered during an internal audit of an employee's unusual behavior. The bank immediately self-reported the issue, strengthened measures to address the deficiencies, and disciplined the employee involved. The company respects and will humbly review the regulatory authority's penalty decision, and will continue to review and improve.

Chang Chia-kui, deputy director of the Banking Bureau at the FSC, explained that the incident began in mid-August last year when a former employee, identified as Mr. Liao, from CTBC Bank's retail banking centralized operations department, was covering for a colleague on leave. Upon the colleague's return, an account anomaly was discovered. A comprehensive investigation by the bank revealed that from November 2024 to August 2025, Mr. Liao embezzled NT$500,000 in ATM clearing funds and NT$2.46 million in financial clearing funds, totaling approximately NT$2.97 million over about 10 months. The incident was reported as a major unusual event.

Chang Chia-kui clarified that ATM and financial clearing funds typically arise from system anomalies or power outages during customer transactions, leading to discrepancies between the amounts recorded in customer accounts and the actual transaction amounts, or errors during ATM cash loading. Such differences are categorized as clearing funds and are returned to customers once the cause is identified.

This case primarily involves two deficiencies. First, the internal control system was not adequately established. Chang Chia-kui pointed out that Mr. Liao embezzled clearing funds that had been outstanding for over two years, were marked as "no anomaly and no customer complaint," and were below a certain amount. The process for returning these funds involved random sampling and did not require line-by-line verification. The bank failed to establish a robust control mechanism for the return of such clearing funds.

Chang Chia-kui stated that second, internal controls were not effectively implemented. The bank had a mechanism in place for supervisors to review a certain proportion of cases daily for the return of clearing funds below a specified amount to customers. Although supervisors signed off on the review reports, they did not retain records or evidence of the actual review process, making subsequent traceability and confirmation difficult. This indicates a failure to effectively implement the random review and verification mechanism.

Regarding other regulatory requirements, Chang Chia-kui said the bank has been instructed to report Mr. Liao, the employee involved in the violation, in accordance with the "Reporting Guidelines for Data on Personnel Involved in Violations and Misconduct by Members and Designated Institutions" of the Bankers Association. The bank has also been required to submit the details of this case, in an anonymized format, to a dedicated section on the Bankers Association website for reference by member institutions. (Editor: Lin Shu-yuan) 1150702

Stand with facts, your every donation is a force to protect press freedom

Download the CNA "One-Stop News" APP for real-time updates

Text, images, and video on this website may not be reproduced, broadcast, publicly transmitted, or used without authorization.