The Taiwan Banker

June will mark a new beginning for the entire financial industry. On the one hand, President William Lai was officially sworn in as the 16th President of the Republic of China on May 20; during his campaign, he proposed feasible policies to chart a new path for Taiwan’s financial industry. At the same time, Associate Dean Peng Jin-lung of the National Chengchi University College of Commerce, renowned for his expertise in insurance, has been appointed as Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Committee as a recognition of his excellent scholarship. This rotation is highly anticipated by the financial industry. These two people will be in a position to reshape the financial sector over the next few years. Therefore, this issue of the Taiwan Banker provides a comprehensive analysis of President Lai’s financial policies and Chairman Peng’s challenges. With President Lai's strategic objectives as an anchor, Mr. Peng will provide policy advice for implementation within four years, including deepening the sustainable development of finance, promoting popular financial education, growing the asset management sector, leading fintech, and enhancing financial resilience. Lai’s policies will be indispensable for the next era of finance. I divide them into three major pillars and two major application-oriented policies. Sustainable development, financial inclusion, and fintech are the long-term objectives of the industry, reflecting a commitment to the next generation, the financially disadvantaged, and digital transformation. Based on these pillars, the application-oriented policies are turning Taiwan into an Asian asset management center, and strengthening cybersecurity and financial resilience. These directions and objectives are however for the long term; for now, Chairman Peng faces numerous more urgent issues. This issue analyzes these policies, enabling the industry to better grasp the focus of future policy implementation. Special writer Liu Shuning raises several current topics of great public concern, including fraud, high lending rates by leasing companies, and buy now pay later (BNPL). A reduction of financial business tax, which is related to the competitiveness of the financial industry, and whether to extent the offset tax reduction (which helps create stock market flows) all create immediate tests for Peng. We also invited special writer Dong Yawei to profile this atypical government chief with one foot in academia. She describes him as “mild-tempered, flexible in thinking, and good at garnering consensus from all parties.” With a new team, new attitude, and new policies, Peng’s stature and creativity are poised to create a new financial environment for Taiwan.