The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus yesterday said Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) violated the principle of administrative neutrality by attending a meeting of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) New Frontier Foundation think tank on Tuesday.
Koo’s participation at the meeting was “outrageous” and a violation of Article 10 of the Organic Act Governing the Establishment of the Financial Supervisory Commission (金融監督管理委員會組織法), which stipulates that the FSC is to act in accordance with the law and independently oversee financial operations, KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗), a former FSC chairman, told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
The meeting was organized in a way markedly different from past practices, which called for the Taiwan Financial Services Roundtable to compile a white paper containing suggestions for the commission, he said.
“Instead, the foundation invited Koo to hear suggestions from representatives of financial institutions, which is very inappropriate,” Tseng said.
By attending the meeting, Koo sent a message that financial institutions need to go through a DPP think tank to offer the their suggestions to the government, allowing the DPP to influence the agency’s operations, he added.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said that Premier William Lai (賴清德) appointed the “wrong person” to lead the commission, as Koo does not have a financial background.
Koo, who first rose to prominence helping former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) fight a corruption lawsuit, was appointed to the position at a time when some DPP members have called for Chen to be pardoned, suggesting that there might be a connection between the two events, Lai Shyh-bao said.
During his time as chairman of the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, Koo wielded power comparable to that of the Control Yuan and the Judicial Yuan, Lai Shyh-bao said, expressing concerns that Koo will abuse his authority and turn the FSC into the “party assets settlement committee 2.0.”
Lai Shyh-bao said that he has begun drafting a bill to bar the head of the FSC from attending events organized by political parties.
Koo said he attended the meeting to hear financial institutions’ opinions, which are important references as the FSC creates policy to boost the nation’s financial development.
He conceded that the financial regulator should remain neutral while performing its duties, saying that he would reflect on the incident and be more mindful of the venue and timing of future events, as well as how to keep the financial sector at “arm’s length” when doing his job.
Separately yesterday, New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said he agreed that the head of the FSC should not attend political events.
However, Tseng seems to have forgotten that he gave two presentations while chairman of the FSC at the KMT’s headquarters in October 2013 and July 2015 when the KMT was the ruling party, Huang said.
He urged Koo not to follow the “bad example” set by Tseng.
Huang has been a vocal critic of the FSC’ handling of embezzlement charges against former SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) chairman Ho Shou-chuan (何壽川) under former FSC chairman Lee Ruey-tsang (李瑞倉), Koo’s predecessor.
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