A Financial Supervisory Commission official yesterday said she was optimistic about more relaxed financial policies across the Taiwan Strait in the near future.
Financial Supervisory Commission Vice Chairwoman Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠) told an economic forum in Taipei organized by CommonWealth Magazine that the improved ability of local banks to take higher risks and the government’s stronger risk control ability allow the commission to “take strides in adjusting cross-strait financial policies.”
Describing the financial industry as a “confidence industry,” Lee said financial regulators in Taiwan and China have established mutual trust over the past few years.
Lee said the commission would seek to help financial institutes establish a network in the near future so that they can connect their financial services in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.
The commission will also seek to set up an Internet platform to provide money transfer services so that Chinese consumers do not have to come to Taiwan to buy Taiwanese products, she said.
She said the commission would also make efforts to allow non-banks, such as financial guarantors and small loan companies, to set up branch offices in China to meet the needs of Taiwanese businesses there.
The commission is also considering opportunities for Taiwanese banks to cooperate with their Chinese counterparts in money management services and to provide such services for Chinese customers, she said.
The internationalization of the yuan also provides a good opportunity for Taiwan, which has a large trade surplus with China and is also a big investor there, Lee said.
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