Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation

As the spreading COVID outbreak showed no sign of letting up, the alert level has gone up to three nationwide. The hospitals in Taipei City and New Taipei City have been placed under considerable pressure. The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX), Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation (TDCC), and Taipei Exchange (TPEx) will jointly make a NT$30 million donation to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). The four institutional donors, with the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) as their competent authority, will use the funds to purchase deployable negative pressure isolation shelters that help better protect medical professionals. Plus, the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH), Taipei City Hospital, New Taipei City Hospital, and Tri-Service General Hospital (TSGH) will each receive NT$5 million in donations. That is, a total of NT$55 million will go to the medical institutions and healthcare providers on the frontline against COVID. We choose to take joint action to support frontline healthcare workers and tackle the pandemic in Taiwan.

Taiwan sees a growing escalation of the COVID-19 outbreak. To help promote the preventative measures of the government and the CECC and to improve protective equipment, the FSC-ruled securities and futures organizations, i.e. the TWSE, TAIFEX, TDCC, and TPEx, joined hands and contributed NT$30 million to several sets of deployable negative pressure isolation shelters. These shelters are rapidly deployed and can meet the needs for emergency cases involving government enforced quarantine and locally monitored home quarantine. The entries on both sides of the shelter will separate medical professionals and patients. The air in the shelter will be cleaned into harmless gas through germicidal filtration. The design helps effectively create a safe medical site for healthcare providers by reducing the risk of infection.

In light of the ongoing coronavirus developments, the hospitals in Taipei and New Taipei are hamstrung by supply shortages regarding materials and manpower as demand surges. The healthcare system is stretched by the overwhelming impact of the disease. Considering that the situation is dire, the FSC-related securities and futures entities decided to offer financial aid to the top five hospitals in these cities with NT$5 million for each, or NT$25 million in total. All the money will be distributed to fulfill the immediate needs for fighting the upward trend, including contingency planning for purchasing medical materials, devices, and equipment, medical expenses of treating patients, as well as benefits and compensation for healthcare workers on the frontline battling the virus. We hope that the funds will enhance healthcare resource allocation so that medical staff can combat the outbreak, knowing that we have got their back.

It has been an important task for the securities and futures units under the FSC to sustain Taiwan’s capital market development. To support the authorities and the CECC’s virus containment policies and realize Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), we have taken action to help curb the pandemic. We want to express our gratitude to all the healthcare providers and frontline workers, and we will stand by them. Together, we want to make an impact by helping our people and communities get through the crisis as early as possible.