Wu Rong-i elected as TSE chairman

Wu Rong-i (吳榮義) was yesterday elected chairman by the board of Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE). Wu is currently Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) chairman, but he will replace Gordon Chen (陳樹) in a handover ceremony that is scheduled to take place on Monday.

TSE president Samuel Hsu (許仁壽) will also step down, but the firm has not named his successor.

Wu told reporters on Thursday that he would work to halt capital outflow and attract fresh funds into the nation. Taiwan should offer investors profitable returns on the back of an ideal investment environment, he said.

It is widely expected that Wu will continue to promote the overseas listing of TAIFEX, as well as the completion of the delayed four-in-one merger of TSE, TAIFEX and other small exchanges.

Wu, who was vice premier when Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) led the Cabinet between February 2005 and January last year, had aggressively pushed TAIFEX to link with its international peers after assuming the role in July last year.

Under Wu, the TAIFEX signed memorandums with the US, Japan, Germany, Thailand and Russia on bilateral cooperation and information exchange.

He will face a difficult task in attracting companies to list on the TSE, as there were 688 firms trading shares on its bourse last year, down from 691 in 2005 and 697 in 2004.