Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission opened hearings Monday on deepfake voice clips that appeared in two initial public offering roadshow filings, the first time the regulator has treated synthetic audio as a potential disclosure violation.
Commission staff said one clip purported to be a chief executive answering investor questions on gross margin trends, while another mimicked a lead underwriter discussing lock-up periods. Both were embedded in password-protected investor decks that Taiwan Stock Exchange staff flagged during pre-listing reviews last month.
How the clips were caught
Exchange reviewers ran the audio through a voice-biometrics checklist supplied by the Securities and Futures Bureau. Spectral analysis showed mismatches between the synthetic clips and verified earnings-call recordings already on file. Neither company has been publicly identified because hearings remain ongoing, but officials said both issuers are in the electronics supply chain.
FSC Chairman Wellington Koo told lawmakers the incidents did not alter approved listing timelines yet, but underwriters must submit affidavits confirming that any executive quotes in marketing materials match living voices verified by the issuer’s board secretary.
Proposed enforcement path
The commission is weighing fines under the Securities and Exchange Act’s misleading disclosure provisions, with a draft guidance note that would treat knowingly distributed synthetic executive audio as equivalent to falsified signature samples. Underwriters could face suspension from book-building roles if they fail to run voice checks before roadshows.
Bankers Association representatives urged the FSC to publish a whitelist of detection vendors because smaller brokerages cannot build forensic labs in-house.
Investor protection questions
Retail advocates asked whether hotline staff should disclose when they use text-to-speech for standard account alerts. The FSC said consumer banking voice alerts are outside Monday’s scope but that a cross-agency task force with the National Communications Commission will issue AI labeling rules for outbound calls by March.
Hearings continue Thursday with testimony from the two issuers’ legal counsels and the exchange’s listing division.