Taiwan Expands Kaohsiung Asset-Management Pilot Nationwide

Taiwan has sought to build an Asian asset-management hub since the 1990s, but earlier efforts were constrained by tax, foreign-exchange and geopolitical concerns. The Financial Supervisory Commission is now using a Kaohsiung pilot zone as a regulatory sandbox, linking wealth-management experiments with the island’s semiconductor, artificial-intelligence and manufacturing base. The strategy aims to channel domestic savings and overseas capital into local industries while testing services that Taiwanese clients have often obtained offshore.

At a July 8, 2026, asset-management forum, FSC Chairman Peng Jin-lung said tax incentives would help but were not essential, arguing that economic strength and phased experimentation offered Taiwan a route to compete with Singapore and Hong Kong. By end-June, 57 financial firms were testing 38 businesses in the zone; as of end-May, it served 4,999 high-net-worth clients with NT$602 billion in assets. Proposed legislation would integrate licenses, create an “inside the territory, outside the customs boundary” financial zone and establish an internationally aligned trust framework.

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 a pilot zone in Kaohsiung to advance its Asian Asset Management Center initiative. The program allows banks, life insurers, investment trust and consulting firms, and securities companies to test innovative services aimed at wealthy clients. It is a key part of Taiwan’s effort to expand its asset-management industry, retain domestic wealth and attract more international capital.

The regulator said 59 financial institutions have received approval to enter the Kaohsiung zone, with the total expected to exceed 60 in 2026. Participating firms are expanding into family-office services, financing backed by portfolios of financial assets and technology-enabled private banking. The rush underscores intensifying competition for high-net-worth clients as Taiwan seeks to build a broader wealth-management hub.