Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday appointed Kong Jaw-sheng (
"Professionalism, personal integrity, a global vision and little [political] burden is what qualifies Kong for the new post," the premier told reporters at a press conference called to announce Kong's appointment.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMESN
The administration hopes to take advantage of Kong's more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry and foreign investment community in getting the new regulatory body up and running, Yu said.
The new supervisory board will merge the Ministry of Finance's Bureau of Monetary Affairs, the Department of Insurance, the Securities and Futures Commission and the central bank's Bank Examination Department.
The new Cabinet-level agency will have 900 employees and act as an umbrella organization to centralize and oversee the nation's banking sector.
Kong, a 49-year-old banker specializing in financial planning and consulting, began to develop close ties with and to stump for presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (
In early 2001, Kong helped the government organize investment forums in Europe and Hong Kong, in which then-minister of finance Yen Ching-chang (
Kong's close relationship with the Chen administration, however, upset Beijing, which barred the Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group AG from participating in deals in China in 2001 and cost Kong his coveted job in April 2002.
Before the announcement of Kong's appointment, it was reported that some potential candidates -- such as Huang Yung-jen (黃永仁), chairman of E. Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), and Ko Chen-en (柯承恩), dean of the management college at National Taiwan University -- had rejected the job.
At yesterday's press conference, Kong appeared to be very confident about his new post.
"My experience in the financial industry and global perspective is the main reason for my appointment,'' Kong said.
He added that "the new regulatory body is critical to the development of Taiwan's financial industry and corporate governance."
Pundits gave a thumbs-up to Kong's appointment.
"It takes more than political ties to do the job well," said Yang Tze-kiang (
"It takes courage, ambition and professionalism, in which Kong is over-qualified," Yang said.
The former minister praised Kong as an ideal and liberal-minded banker with market-oriented international vision and down-to-the-earth insight into the liberalization of the domestic capital market.
Yang added that when he had been vice finance minister, Kong had been one of his private advisers and had been behind many of his financial policies -- including the nurturing of domestic investment banking and venture-capitalist businesses as well as the adoption of a regulatory approach to open up the financial market.
As an old friend, Yang said that he benefited from Kong's insights when the two men used to sit next to each other during board meetings for the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp.
Bank of Taiwan (
"An enthusiastic banker who provides customers with the best financial services," Lo said.
He went on to say that Kong would be a "bold banker with guts, who exercises flexibility, which is exactly what the rigid local banking sector lacks."
Lo said he admired the marketing strategies Kong launched at conservative Taisugar and helped make many breakthroughs at the state-run enterprise.
He added that he hoped Kong would be able to utilize his creativity in his new post to create a new profit-making environment and help the financial sector.
Kong's expertise in managing foreign banks is expected to help the government attract foreign investors as well as aid local banks with their expansion plans, said Chen Po-chih (
Prior to going to work for CSFB, Kong in 1999 helped set up and then headed the Taiwan operations of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Inc, which CSFB acquired in 2000.
He also helped set up the Taiwan unit of Lehman Brothers Holding Inc and acted as president from 1995 to 1999. Before then, Kong served as a senior executive at the Development Bank of Singapore from 1983 to 1987.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Taiwanese prosecutors suspect that three people successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia Corp artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, people familiar with the matter said. The trio was detained last week by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer Inc servers containing advanced Nvidia chips, which the US has barred from sale to China without a license from Washington. The move marked Taiwan’s first public crackdown on AI chip diversion after years of pressure from the US to take a more active role in curtailing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) employee bonuses are likely to grow more than 30 percent this year, in line with the past few years as the company’s profits continue to set new records, an anonymous source cited TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) as saying yesterday. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is committed to taking care of its workers, the source said, citing Wei’s meeting with employees yesterday morning. Wei also expressed gratitude to employees for their contribution to the company’s improving bottom line, the source added. Since 2023, TSMC’s employee bonuses have grown at an annual rate of
RSS