A total of 180 publicly listed local companies that lost money last year overcompensated their board members, according to data released by the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) Friday. The TWSE identified the offenders by adding a red background to their rows of data on its list of listed companies' board compensation for 2008 found on its Chinese-language Web site, as a warning to local stock investors. Among the companies identified was United Microelectronics Corp., one of the world's largest made-to-order semiconductor foundries. According to TWSE data, each UMC board member (both inside and outside directors) received an average of NT$11.84 million (US$358,787) in compensation last year. Many enterprises have posted weak earnings because of the global financial crisis that sent the world economy into a tailspin last year and dealt a severe blow to many export-reliant Taiwanese companies. Despite the sagging results, however, 180 listed companies still overcompensated their board members, the TWSE said. The phenomenon was most conspicuous in the financial services sector, with 13 financial holding companies, insurance companies and banks singled out by the TWSE. The TWSE data also showed that Far Eastern Textile, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC), Taiwan Cement Co., Inventec Corp. and Compal Electronics Inc., which were all profitable in 2008, paid the highest retainers and meeting fees to board directors of all listed companies. When salaries to inside directors are added to the overall compensation paid to board members, the top five spenders were Acer Inc., Compal Electronics Inc., TSMC, Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. and Far Eastern Textile. 