He said the amendment would not resolve the MOU problem, on the contrary, loosening restrictions would only cause greater disorder in bank management, Liu added.
The FSC said, according to current international practice, signing a formal bilateral MOU is not necessarily a matter of high politics and sovereignty.
"It can be done as long as there are communication conduits and cooperation mechanisms between the home and host countries," the commission's spokesperson Susan Chang (
Local financial institutions said they welcomed the plan.
"We do hope for opportunities to develop in China's financial market where Taiwanese banks enjoy advantages of language and culture [in competing with foreign rivals]," said Lee Chang-ken, chief strategy officer of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), the nation's largest financial group by assets.
Additional reporting by Jewel Huang



