The 11th Legislative Yuan on Wednesday ended its first session, passing new laws against fraud, including amendments to provisions of the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法). The new laws were passed quickly after three readings and without much debate.
The Executive Yuan had passed the draft laws in May and sent them to the Legislative Yuan for review. The Legislative Yuan passed the bills after three readings in just two months, demonstrating a high level of consensus on the issue and marking a new milestone for regulations against fraud in Taiwan.
However, this also highlights how dissatisfied Taiwanese are with widespread fraud activities. How will the new laws be implemented? How can fraud activities be effectively managed and eliminated in this era of transnational social platforms?
It is up to ministries to formulate sub-laws and develop supporting measures. The Cabinet expects the laws to be implemented without difficulty, but surprisingly, not until next year.
After a law is enacted or revised, administrative agencies and businesses need to go through an adjustment period, allowing the government and the public to adapt to changes in the legal system and facilitating compliance with the law. And yet, fraud-related issues have plagued the public for a long time.
Fraudulent advertisements have run rampant on digital platforms with little regulation for more than 10 years. After passing the new laws, the government should combine its power and resources to quickly establish supporting legal systems, eliminating fraud activities at the source to build a more reliable digital environment.
Taiwanese cannot wait until next year.
Lo Cheng-chung is a professor and director of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Institute of Financial and Economic Law.
Translated by Nicole Wong
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