The PFP's legislative caucus will soon propose eliminating 50-year-old regulations on foreign exchange controls, according to Chinese-language media report yesterday.
The regulations and other laws restrict the general public from taking money out of the country.
A PFP legislator said the move would be welcomed by foreign investors.
"We want to prevent the central bank from regulating foreign exchange held by private businesses and the general public. Instead, the central bank would only regulate foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank itself. Foreign investors would welcome the move, since it represents further liberalization of this country, which could attract more foreign investors to Taiwan," PFP legislator Norman Yin (
Meanwhile, a central bank official declined to comment.
"Since the proposal is [going to be] made by legislators, the central bank declines to make any comment," said Chou A-ting (
The regulations regulating foreign exchange (
"Since Taiwan has become a member of World Trade Organization (WTO), any future measures controlling the movement of capital in and out of the country would violate WTO rules and regulations," said Yin. "The PFP is ready to make a proposal to scrap the outdated regulations and to prevent any [central bank] misuse in the future," said Yin.
Yin is confident that the move will win support from most legislators.
"There is no reason for legislators from other political parties not to support the proposal. I think the proposal would secure a majority vote," said Yin.
Currently, the central bank sets an annual ceiling of US$5 million for individuals and US$50 million for businesses to remit money out of the country. Any amount beyond the ceiling must be approved by the central bank. Were the regulations scrapped, the current ceilings would be abolished unless a national crisis occurred, according to Yin.
"After scrapping the regulations, the central bank would only be able to regulate foreign exchange reserves controlled by the central bank. The central bank would no longer be able to put its hands on foreign exchange held by individuals and businesses," said Yin.
"In addition, part of the current Central Bank Law (
However, whether the said regulations will actually be abolished remains to be seen.
"The question of whether to abolish the regulations for foreign exchange is a big one. The administration might have a different point of view on this matter. However, there is a huge space to amend related laws, which could encourage more financial derivatives [introduced in this country] and other benefits," Lawrence Liu (劉紹樑), a partner at Lee & Li Attorneys-at-Law (理律法律事務所) was quoted by the report as saying.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
Israel yesterday said it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, while Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan. The Trump administration has already dialed back aspects of the proposal after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan would be carried out. Trump yesterday said that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the