00403A Sees Premium Over 5% on First Day of Listing; FSC Demands Enhanced Market-Making to Reduce Arbitrage
Taiwan's new active ETF, 00403A, recorded a significant premium of 5.46% on its first day of listing. The Financial Supervisory Commission analyzed that liquidity provision could not keep up with strong market demand and has urged the stock exchange to improve countermeasures.
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- 📰 Published: May 14, 2026 at 20:21
- 🔍 Collected: May 14, 2026 at 20:32 (10 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 15, 2026 at 03:37 (7h 5m after Collected)
(CNA, Taipei, 14th, by reporter Su Su-yun) The active Taiwanese stock ETF, Uni-President Upgrade 50 (00403A), saw its premium reach 5.46% on its debut listing on May 12, drawing attention. The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) stated that six market makers actively provided liquidity after subscribing to the fund, accounting for 60% of the day's trading volume, but were still unable to meet the buying demand, leading to the premium. The FSC will urge the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) to study whether to further refine the mechanism to make market makers more efficient in closing the premium.
The new active Taiwanese stock ETF, Uni-President Upgrade 50 (00403A), was listed on May 12, exploding with a massive volume of 4,194,700 shares on its first day. The stock price rose by NT$0.6, or 5.88%, to close at NT$10.8. Compared to the latest net asset value (NAV) of NT$10.24 for 00403A at the close on the 12th, as compiled by Uni-President Investment Trust, the premium reached 5.46%. The media expressed concern about the FSC's management of premiums and discounts for ETF issuers and market makers, and whether it would require improvement measures.
Huang Hou-ming, Deputy Director-General of the FSC's Securities and Futures Bureau, stated that premiums in ETF trading are usually caused by liquidity adjustments. Regarding this fund's premium, the TWSE will be asked to strengthen its supervision of the investment trust and liquidity providers to enhance market-making functions and reduce the premium. Additionally, the investment trust firm will be asked to remind investors of the premium situation through public information.
Huang further explained that data shows the six market makers for this ETF actively provided liquidity in the market after subscribing to the fund, accounting for 60% of the fund's trading volume on that day. However, due to the large scale of buying, it was still unable to meet market demand, thus creating a premium. The FSC will urge the TWSE to see if the mechanism can be improved to make market makers more efficient in reducing the premium.
Furthermore, as the insurance industry adopts IFRS 17 starting in 2026, after the reclassification of financial assets this year, most of the insurance industry's past stock positions were in FVTPL (Fair Value Through Profit or Loss). This year, many operators have re-designated part of their stock positions to FVOCI (Fair Value Through Other Comprehensive Income). The capital gains from stocks in this category will not enter the income statement but will go into retained earnings. However, when many financial holding companies made their announcements, they also wrote about the very impressive "adjusted profit" after adding the disposal gains of FVOCI stocks. The media is concerned that this statement may mislead investors.
Chou Jeng-shan, Chief Secretary of the FSC's Banking Bureau, pointed out that according to regulations, when stock positions are designated to FVOCI, the capital gains from the disposal of these stocks are indeed not included in the current period's profit or loss but are transferred to the retained earnings account, which can actually become the basis for distributing earnings next year.
Officials explained that several financial holding companies have made relevant disclosures since January this year, mainly considering that a simple comparison of this year's figures with the same period last year might produce greater volatility due to different systems. The approach of the financial holding companies is not to mislead investors, but the FSC has indeed noticed this situation and will subsequently study and discuss relevant practices to avoid any doubts from the public about the disclosure methods of the financial holding companies. (Editor: Pan Yi-ching) 1150514
The new active Taiwanese stock ETF, Uni-President Upgrade 50 (00403A), was listed on May 12, exploding with a massive volume of 4,194,700 shares on its first day. The stock price rose by NT$0.6, or 5.88%, to close at NT$10.8. Compared to the latest net asset value (NAV) of NT$10.24 for 00403A at the close on the 12th, as compiled by Uni-President Investment Trust, the premium reached 5.46%. The media expressed concern about the FSC's management of premiums and discounts for ETF issuers and market makers, and whether it would require improvement measures.
Huang Hou-ming, Deputy Director-General of the FSC's Securities and Futures Bureau, stated that premiums in ETF trading are usually caused by liquidity adjustments. Regarding this fund's premium, the TWSE will be asked to strengthen its supervision of the investment trust and liquidity providers to enhance market-making functions and reduce the premium. Additionally, the investment trust firm will be asked to remind investors of the premium situation through public information.
Huang further explained that data shows the six market makers for this ETF actively provided liquidity in the market after subscribing to the fund, accounting for 60% of the fund's trading volume on that day. However, due to the large scale of buying, it was still unable to meet market demand, thus creating a premium. The FSC will urge the TWSE to see if the mechanism can be improved to make market makers more efficient in reducing the premium.
Furthermore, as the insurance industry adopts IFRS 17 starting in 2026, after the reclassification of financial assets this year, most of the insurance industry's past stock positions were in FVTPL (Fair Value Through Profit or Loss). This year, many operators have re-designated part of their stock positions to FVOCI (Fair Value Through Other Comprehensive Income). The capital gains from stocks in this category will not enter the income statement but will go into retained earnings. However, when many financial holding companies made their announcements, they also wrote about the very impressive "adjusted profit" after adding the disposal gains of FVOCI stocks. The media is concerned that this statement may mislead investors.
Chou Jeng-shan, Chief Secretary of the FSC's Banking Bureau, pointed out that according to regulations, when stock positions are designated to FVOCI, the capital gains from the disposal of these stocks are indeed not included in the current period's profit or loss but are transferred to the retained earnings account, which can actually become the basis for distributing earnings next year.
Officials explained that several financial holding companies have made relevant disclosures since January this year, mainly considering that a simple comparison of this year's figures with the same period last year might produce greater volatility due to different systems. The approach of the financial holding companies is not to mislead investors, but the FSC has indeed noticed this situation and will subsequently study and discuss relevant practices to avoid any doubts from the public about the disclosure methods of the financial holding companies. (Editor: Pan Yi-ching) 1150514