Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday appointed Kong Jaw-sheng (
"Professionalism, personal integrity, a global vision and little [political] burden is what qualifies Kong for the new post," the premier told reporters at a press conference called to announce Kong's appointment.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMESN
The administration hopes to take advantage of Kong's more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry and foreign investment community in getting the new regulatory body up and running, Yu said.
The new supervisory board will merge the Ministry of Finance's Bureau of Monetary Affairs, the Department of Insurance, the Securities and Futures Commission and the central bank's Bank Examination Department.
The new Cabinet-level agency will have 900 employees and act as an umbrella organization to centralize and oversee the nation's banking sector.
Kong, a 49-year-old banker specializing in financial planning and consulting, began to develop close ties with and to stump for presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (
In early 2001, Kong helped the government organize investment forums in Europe and Hong Kong, in which then-minister of finance Yen Ching-chang (
Kong's close relationship with the Chen administration, however, upset Beijing, which barred the Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group AG from participating in deals in China in 2001 and cost Kong his coveted job in April 2002.
Before the announcement of Kong's appointment, it was reported that some potential candidates -- such as Huang Yung-jen (黃永仁), chairman of E. Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), and Ko Chen-en (柯承恩), dean of the management college at National Taiwan University -- had rejected the job.
At yesterday's press conference, Kong appeared to be very confident about his new post.
"My experience in the financial industry and global perspective is the main reason for my appointment,'' Kong said.
He added that "the new regulatory body is critical to the development of Taiwan's financial industry and corporate governance."
Pundits gave a thumbs-up to Kong's appointment.
"It takes more than political ties to do the job well," said Yang Tze-kiang (
"It takes courage, ambition and professionalism, in which Kong is over-qualified," Yang said.
The former minister praised Kong as an ideal and liberal-minded banker with market-oriented international vision and down-to-the-earth insight into the liberalization of the domestic capital market.
Yang added that when he had been vice finance minister, Kong had been one of his private advisers and had been behind many of his financial policies -- including the nurturing of domestic investment banking and venture-capitalist businesses as well as the adoption of a regulatory approach to open up the financial market.
As an old friend, Yang said that he benefited from Kong's insights when the two men used to sit next to each other during board meetings for the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp.
Bank of Taiwan (
"An enthusiastic banker who provides customers with the best financial services," Lo said.
He went on to say that Kong would be a "bold banker with guts, who exercises flexibility, which is exactly what the rigid local banking sector lacks."
Lo said he admired the marketing strategies Kong launched at conservative Taisugar and helped make many breakthroughs at the state-run enterprise.
He added that he hoped Kong would be able to utilize his creativity in his new post to create a new profit-making environment and help the financial sector.
Kong's expertise in managing foreign banks is expected to help the government attract foreign investors as well as aid local banks with their expansion plans, said Chen Po-chih (
Prior to going to work for CSFB, Kong in 1999 helped set up and then headed the Taiwan operations of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Inc, which CSFB acquired in 2000.
He also helped set up the Taiwan unit of Lehman Brothers Holding Inc and acted as president from 1995 to 1999. Before then, Kong served as a senior executive at the Development Bank of Singapore from 1983 to 1987.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his