Hu appointed chairman of FSC

Taking the Rebar Asia Pacific Group (力霸亞太企業集團) scandal as a guide, Hu Sheng-cheng (胡勝正), the newly appointed chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commis-sion, said last night that efforts to stabilize the market and strengthen financial rules and regulations would top his agenda.

Hu made the remark in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) after Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) announced the appointment earlier yesterday.

Hu is the fourth chairman of the commission and follows Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉), who resigned earlier this month. Shih tendered his resignation after a run on Rebar-linked The Chinese Bank (中華銀行).

Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝) was the commission's first chairman. He was suspended early last year, and later replaced, over alleged breaches of government procurement regulations.

Lu Daung-yen (呂東英) took Kong's position temporarily before he was replaced by Shih in August.

The frequent changes at the head of the commission and the involvement of several high-ranking officials' in scandals have battered its image. Boosting the morale of the commission will therefore be another priority, Hu said.

In the long term, Hu said he would carry out the many financial reforms the Cabinet has proposed.

Hu, 67, earned his doctorate in economics at the University of Rochester. Before heading the Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), he held the position of minister without portfolio, appointed in 2001, with duties focusing on negotiating and supervising financial policies.

"I accepted the position calmly, because I'm familiar with financial policies and related affairs from my past work experience," Hu said.

Hu also served as a director at the central bank and the Chung Hwa Institution for Economic Research (中經院), was a director and research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of Economics, and served as professor of economics at National Taiwan University, Purdue University and Texas A&M University in the US.

Meanwhile, describing her new appointment as a "homecoming," Hu's successor at the CEPD, Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥), said she hoped the council would play a role as a coordinator between government departments and a strong executor of the Cabinet's policies.

Ho, 56, entered the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1975 as a technician in the Industrial Development Bureau.

Ho moved up through the hierarchy to become minister in 2004. She served as vice chairwoman of the CEPD before taking the helm.

As a career woman, Ho pledged to help women reach their potential in the workplace by providing more vocational training tailored for female workers.