Wu Rong-i vows to boost TAIFEX trading and scale

Newly sworn-in Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) Chairman Wu Rong-i (吳榮義) said yesterday that he will do his utmost to increase the scale and trading volume of the futures market during his tenure of office.

The former vice premier made the remarks after receiving the official seal from his predecessor Sam Wang (王得山) at a changeover ceremony.

Former chairman of the Chinese National Futures Association (期貨公會), Wang Chung-kai (王中愷), was also sworn in as TAIFEX general manager during yesterday's ceremony.

Noting that the TAIFEX has enjoyed increasingly brisk business over the past two years, Wu promised that he would do what he could to expand Taiwan's futures market scale based upon the existing business operation system.

Wu said he will also seek to boost TAIFEX's participation in various international futures exchange activities and heighten information system efficiency with a view to increasing futures dealers' profits.

Speaking at the ceremony, TAIFEX Supervisor Lin Tsang-sung said that under Wang's leadership, the exchange's average daily trading volume recorded a phenomenal growth from the 7,100 contracts in 2000 to 257,000 contracts in the first half of this year, while the profit per share rose from NT$0.38 to NT$6.80.

TAIFEX's total trading volume for this year is expected to hit a historic high of 120 million contracts, Lin added.

According to statistics from the US-based Futures Industry Association, TAIFEX's global ranking in trading volume rose from 57th in 1998 to 18th last year.