Cabinet picks new director-general for oversight bureau

The Cabinet yesterday approved the appointment of William Tseng (曾銘宗), secretary-general of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), to the position of director-general of the FSC's Examination Bureau, the FSC reported on its Web site.

Tseng's comes in the wake of Shih Jun-ji's (施俊吉) appointment as chairman of the FSC last month, and is expected to further consolidate the financial watchdog's newly minted management team.

Tseng's appointment took effect immediately.

"Tseng is modest and prudent and devoted to his duties. He has experience of financial supervision and managing large-scale financial institutions, which was decisive in his appointment," the statement read.

The commission is expected to name an insider to be Tseng's replacement as secretary-general by the end of this month, spokesperson Susan Chang (張秀蓮) said in a phone interview yesterday.

The director general's position has been left vacant since former head Lee Chin-chen (李進誠) resigned in June last year for his alleged involvement in illegal trading. Since then, Lee's position was temporarily filled by the FSC's former vice chairman Lu Daung-yen (呂東英) and Tseng.

Tseng, 47, served as vice president and then president of Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行) between 1998 and 2004, making him the youngest president of the nation's state-run banks.

In 2004, he was promoted to deputy head of the FSC's planning department and, in January last year, he was appointed deputy director general of the banking bureau. He took up the position of secretary-general early this year.