Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) yesterday said that he would fulfill his promise to uphold the principle of administrative neutrality and keep politics at “arm’s length.”
“In light of the opinions voiced, I will no longer attend any political events to prevent further disputes,” Koo told a news conference in Taipei.
The remarks came after he was criticized for attending a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) New Frontier Foundation meeting earlier this month.
Koo said that he attended the meeting to be briefed on a white paper by the Taiwan Financial Services Roundtable (台灣金總) to learn about recommendations by businesses and that he is seeking further dialogue with key companies and financial technology (fintech) developers listed in the white paper.
Regarding concerns that his emphasis on improving corporate governance and measures to combat money laundering at the expense of neglecting the development of new opportunities for the financial sector, Koo said that financial companies must face higher standards than publicly traded companies in other industries.
Companies would not fear audits and checks if governance is built into their corporate culture, Koo said, when asked to comment on businesses urging him to ease regulatory control.
“If companies commit to meeting compliance standards, then there would be no issues about whether a rule is perceived as too tight or too loose,” Koo said, adding that he has seen much of the other side of the coin during his time as an attorney.
Koo said that a fundamental question on the role of the financial sector has emerged since his appointment as commission chairman a month ago.
“I am unsure whether the financial sector should be regarded as one of the nation’s strategic industries, or as an industry tasked with assisting and stimulating growth for other industries,” Koo said.
While the government has called on the financial sector to expand into other Asian markets in the past, fintech is the latest disruptive development challenging financial sector incumbents, Koo said, adding that he needs more time to consider this.
Meanwhile, the commission has outlined incentives rewarding insurers who invest in the government’s “five plus two” innovative industries, such as raising the number of new products they can apply to introduce to the market, in addition to expanding the number of investment vehicles they can be involved with, including investment funds.
The commission also granted incentives in the form of shorter approvals for new investment funds for three securities investment trust and consulting firms that have demonstrated their commitment to metrics, such as improving their investment research capabilities, employee education and overseas expansion.
Incentives were also granted to six foreign asset management firms operating offshore investment funds in Taiwan for their efforts in deepening their roots in Taiwan, with expedited fund approvals and eased product requirements.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure