Taiwan’s Peng Backs Kaohsiung Sandbox for Asia Asset Hub

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission and the Kaohsiung City Government launched the Kaohsiung zone of the Asian Asset Management Center on July 22, 2025, as the country’s first testing ground for wealth-management reforms. The initiative uses regulatory exemptions to bring together banks, securities firms, asset managers, advisers and insurers, with the broader aim of retaining domestic wealth, attracting overseas capital and talent, and strengthening Taiwan’s position in Asia’s asset-management market.

The FSC said on July 24, 2026 that 58 financial institutions had entered the zone and participated in 38 pilot businesses. Banks served 6,214 high-net-worth clients with NT$728.1 billion ($24.7 billion) in assets under management. Regulators plan to extend mature services, including bank-run family-office advisory operations, beyond Kaohsiung. The next phase will also allow banks to invest in foreign virtual-asset ETFs through trusts and streamline account-opening procedures across offshore banking, insurance and securities units, known as OBUs, OIUs and OSUs.

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission established the Kaohsiung pilot zone as a testing ground for its Asian Asset Management Center strategy, combining regulatory flexibility with support from the Kaohsiung City Government. The initiative is central to Taiwan’s push to expand its wealth-management industry, retain affluent clients and attract international capital and financial professionals. It also gives banks, insurers and securities firms a controlled setting to trial services before any broader rollout.

At a July 2026 event marking the zone’s first anniversary, FSC Chairman Peng Jin-lung said 58 financial institutions had entered the district and received approval to pilot 38 business lines. Assets entrusted to participating firms for management exceeded NT$90 billion. Peng described the development as a “water gathers, fish congregate” effect, citing central-local cooperation, market-opening measures and the return of Taiwanese financial professionals from overseas.

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission and the Kaohsiung City Government inaugurated the Asian Asset Management Center’s Kaohsiung pilot zone on July 22, 2025. The initiative links banking, legal, accounting and other professional services through financial-service trials and regulatory easing. Its priorities are to retain wealth held by high-net-worth clients, channel capital into industries including semiconductors, AI and electric vehicles, and narrow the financial-development gap between northern and southern Taiwan.

At the Asian Asset Management Summit on July 8, 2026, Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Lo Ta-sheng said the zone had completed its first year of operation. Its family-office services had served 161 clients, with nearly NT$71.2 billion in assets under management. The next phase will support the FSC’s expansion of cross-border financial services, build a cluster of financial and professional-service providers, and steer long-term capital toward Taiwan’s emerging industries.

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission is using the Kaohsiung pilot zone to test policies for its Asian Asset Management Center initiative. Through financial-services trials, it aims to attract high-net-worth clients, family wealth management businesses and private capital. With the zone entering an evaluation phase after one year of operation, the prospects for turning trial programs into permanent services will shape the development of Taiwan's wealth management and succession-planning markets.

The FSC said family-office advisory services and innovative high-savings insurance policies are expected to formally launch in the third quarter of 2026. During the same quarter, it will also introduce three trial programs covering cross-border financial services, eased restrictions on private funds and dedicated accounts for prepaid premiums. The announcement did not disclose minimum asset or premium thresholds, and further details are still pending from the FSC.

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission is promoting an Asian asset management hub under a strategy to retain domestic wealth, attract capital and support industrial development. It has planned five major initiatives, including expanding asset management and integrating financial inclusion with sustainability. Chairman Peng Jin-lung has also made financial security and innovative development twin priorities, linking the Asian Innovation Capital Platform with sustainability disclosures and anti-fraud measures so capital can support AI and startup industries.

On June 18, 2026, the FSC announced four measures to “expand investment in Taiwan”: advancing amendments to REITs regulations, increasing investment in venture capital and startups, strengthening the capital market, and facilitating cross-border dual listings. Twelve companies were listed on the Taiwan Innovation Board, with annual trading volume of about NT$90.8 billion, up 289% year on year. The FSC also lowered the risk coefficient for venture-capital investments, with the measure applying to investments of up to NT$50 billion.