Gordon Chen (陳樹), who has been named chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TSE), said yesterday that his priorities will be to help integrate the local capital market and push for greater internationalization of local securities markets.
The government plans to integrate the TSE, Taiwan Futures Exchange, Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp and GRETAI Securities Market into a financial-holding company by the end of the year.
"I'll do my best to carry out the coordination work and collect opinions from various sides for better solutions," Chen told a press conference yesterday.
The Cabinet announced yesterday morning that Chen, currently a deputy minister of finance, would replace Wu Nai-jen (
Exactly when Chen will take up his new post, however, has yet to be decided.
Chen said he would work toward internationalizing the securities market to boost the nation's shrinking stock turnover, and that launching an international bourse to lure foreign capital would be the key.
Chen, 52, holds a master's degree in public finance from National Chengchi University and a doctorate in business from National Taiwan University.
No a stranger to the securities sector, he served on the Ministry of Finance's securities and futures committee for 17 years. That committed is now the Securities and Futures Bureau under the Financial Supervisory Commission. He served as chairman of the committee, a councilor to the finance ministry and a section chief with the Cabinet.
A staunch Buddhist vegetarian, Chen uses the term yuanfen, or destiny, to explain every turn in the course of his career.
"However destiny plays out, I'll go there to serve the country," he said.
This is the same spirit that allowed him to weather a series of disputes in 1996, when he was stripped of his role as chairman of the securities and futures committee. His suggestion to extend stock trading hours and his involvement in the Nankang Rubber Tire Co (南港輪胎) investment case were two of the reasons he lost that job.
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