The Taiwan Banker

Jin-lung Peng, Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), walks with a quick pace, and his mind is constantly working. He transitioned from the public sector into academia, and then back into the public sector. He said that he is there to complete a task, and plans to return to academia as soon it is finished. Peng has three different cross-sector life experiences. His past experience in the government, solid theoretical foundation in academia, and practical experience as an independent director of many companies laid the foundation for his current role. This month, the Taiwan Banker exclusively interviewed Chairman Peng, giving Taiwan’s financial community the chance to better understand this key figure who will be involved in supervision and development of the financial industry for the next few years. Readers will understand his views on the financial industry and his thinking on its development and development, as well as the solutions has proposed, and more importantly, how he plans to achieve his blueprint. My impression of Chairman Peng is that action and innovation are his DNA. Reform and opening are underway. Because he aims for action and openness, he is pragmatic. Without revising the law, he quickly established the Financial Market Development and Innovation Office. With this organizational structure in place, he started to draw up a blueprint. Because he aims for innovation and opening, it was necessary to carry out what he described as a “sewer infrastructure project” – an innovative platform for regulatory adjustment allowing for direct dialogue between scholars, businesses, and senior FSC officials. He said that members of the financial community with problems will not need to know him, just to discuss their problems on the platform. Unlike several previous chairs, Peng believes that more bankers is not a bad thing. The fact that banks can survive means that they can find their markets. He said that if some banks focus on serving small places, “That's great! They can become corner shops.” If size really mattered, he joked, “We might as well merge all banks in Taiwan into one!” That said, new markets and strategies will still be necessary for the industry to grow. Therefore, he proposed to create an Asian asset management center with Taiwanese characteristics. He also promised an implementation plan before the end of August. All of this is from two short months in office so far. Chairman Peng moves fast, but not haphazardly. Before reaching his goal, he takes feasible steps, accumulating small achievements and waiting for the completion of the big goal. Under his leadership, the financial industry is expected to usher in a trend of opening. Even so, Peng emphasized caution. “Only by braking will you reach your destination safely.”