Financial Supervisory Commission’s Koo Has Become a Risk to Financial Services Industry

 Financial Supervisory Commission’s Koo Has Become a Risk to Financial Services Industry

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

September 7, 2017

 Translation of an Excerpt

Lai Ching-te’s new Cabinet will be sworn in on September 8; Wellington Koo, chairman of the Ill-Gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, has been appointed chairman of the "Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC)." Outsiders lambasted the appointment as "dolling of political spoils" and "being not professional"; up to this point, the new Premier has not expressed his views on this subject. Koo himself, however, responded to outside questioning by saying “no path corrections, therefore, no baggage,” even indicating at a press conference that he would implement a great mission to "delink family-control" from Taiwan's financial services industry. He self-imposed expectations on the new job, causing a shock to the financial services industry; the criticisms from the outside world to Koo’s non-professionalism became even stronger.

The development of Taiwan's financial services industry has not kept pace with the world, especially falling far behind the Mainland. This "unprofessional and purely political" personnel appointment not only will doom the development of Taiwan's financial services industry, but the normal operations of democratic politics will also likely be affected.

The FSC is a highly sensitive ministry with purview over capital flows of the financial services industry and enterprises or individuals, and controlling all funding of the financial services industry as well as data of individuals’ bank deposits. Theoretically speaking, the FSC should be headed by someone without strong political leanings, thus winning the trust and dispelling the misgivings of all circles. Today, attorney Wellington Koo has been transferred to his new post from the chairmanship of the Ill-Gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee for his “achievements” in the agency; the Green camp lavished praise on Koo, while the Blue camp hates him to the bone. With someone leading an FSC that should be independent in the exercise of supervision, and not subject to political interference, could it be considered as appropriate?

Society has had a largely negative assessment for the personnel arrangements of Wellington Koo; appointing someone with no professional capability as FSC chairman, the DPP and the Cabinet as a team will bear the risk for him—as a Cabinet minister being able to eliminate irregularities and not able to break new ground—is not what is needed for the era of great global transnational financial competition. 

Attachment : none