While the Executive Yuan has yet to decide on a regulatory system for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs), the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said it would only oversee enforcement of money laundering policies.
The commission maintains an open stance and welcomes all industry innovations, Banking Bureau Deputy Director Sherri Chuang (莊秀媛) said at a news conference, adding that it prefers to monitor developments to avoid stifling early-stage growth.
As cryptocurrencies and the issuance of new “coins” are classified as commodities, the virtual assets do not fall under the commission’s jurisdiction, Chuang said.
The commission is only involved in preventing money laundering through virtual assets, she said.
The situation is similar to that of lease finance companies, where the commission’s involvement is limited to money laundering prevention, she added.
ICOs, which have been billed as the future of fundraising, do not cross any regulatory red lines in Taiwan, Securities and Futures Bureau Chief Secretary Chien Hung-ming (簡宏明) said.
Each ICO would be assessed on a case-by-case basis, he said, adding that regulators are primarily concerned with examining the fundraising prospectus of each coin issuance.
The commission would assess each issuance to determine if they should be classified as a security or a virtual commodity, he added.
“It is very difficult to define broadly, as each case is different,” Chien said.
Separately yesterday, the commission confirmed that four Taiwanese companies are waiting to seek a stock listing for their Chinese subsidiaries.
To prevent equity dilution and inadequate transparency, the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Taipei Exchange have implemented rules to ensure shareholders’ interests, the commission said.
Taiwan-based parent companies would be required to seek board of directors and shareholder approval, as well as third-party expert opinions, before they may cut holdings in China-based subsidiaries by more than 3 percent within three years, the commission said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
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Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would