To Boost Asset Management Scale, FSC Eases Rules to Allow Intra-Group OTC Derivatives Trading
To promote Taiwan as an Asian asset management hub, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has relaxed regulations. This will allow discretionary investment managers, appointed by high-net-worth institutional investors, to conduct over-the-counter (OTC) derivative transactions with related parties within the same financial group.
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- 📰 Published: May 14, 2026 at 22:38
- 🔍 Collected: May 14, 2026 at 23:02 (23 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 14, 2026 at 23:08 (5 min after Collected)
Central News Agency Message
(CNA, by reporter Su Su-yun, Taipei, 14th) To promote Taiwan as an Asian asset management hub and expand the scale of its asset management market, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced today that for high-net-worth institutional investors or professional investment institutions, it will relax rules to allow their appointed discretionary investment managers to conduct over-the-counter (OTC) derivative financial product transactions with interested parties within the same group. The new rule is effective immediately.
The FSC's relaxation of this rule will help financial holding companies integrate group resources, and their subsidiary investment trust companies and other discretionary investment managers are expected to benefit. There are currently 79 discretionary investment managers in the market, including 35 investment trust firms, 23 investment consulting firms, and 21 securities firms and banks that also operate this business.
Huang Hou-ming, Deputy Director-General of the FSC's Securities and Futures Bureau, stated that in the past, whether for natural persons or professional institutions, their discretionary investment managers were not allowed to conduct securities-related product transactions with other interested parties within the same financial holding group through over-the-counter negotiations. At that time, the regulation was based on the consideration of lower transparency in the OTC market, aiming to protect investors.
Huang Hou-ming pointed out that, following suggestions from the industry and considering the higher level of professionalism of high-net-worth institutional investors or professional investment institutions, they do not need to be subject to the same rules as retail investors. Therefore, an amended directive was recently issued to relax the product scope. In the future, as long as the contract specifies, discretionary investment managers can conduct OTC derivative product transactions, such as stock options and structured products, with related parties like securities firms within the same group for these professional clients.
For example, an insurance company under A Financial Holding, which originally entrusted the group's A Investment Trust to manage its securities investments, was previously restricted by conflict of interest rules, preventing A Investment Trust from conducting OTC derivative transactions with A Securities, another firm under the same holding company. Once the regulation is loosened, this restriction can be broken, and transactions will have more flexibility. Such transactions also typically serve a hedging function.
Regarding the expected benefits, Huang Hou-ming said that this move would allow financial holding companies to integrate group resources under well-designed supporting measures, and plan to consolidate assets managed by various financial subsidiaries under the unified management of the group's investment trust firm through discretionary mandates. This is hoped to enhance the scale and competitiveness of Taiwan's asset management market. (Edited by: Pan Yi-ching) 1150514
(CNA, by reporter Su Su-yun, Taipei, 14th) To promote Taiwan as an Asian asset management hub and expand the scale of its asset management market, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced today that for high-net-worth institutional investors or professional investment institutions, it will relax rules to allow their appointed discretionary investment managers to conduct over-the-counter (OTC) derivative financial product transactions with interested parties within the same group. The new rule is effective immediately.
The FSC's relaxation of this rule will help financial holding companies integrate group resources, and their subsidiary investment trust companies and other discretionary investment managers are expected to benefit. There are currently 79 discretionary investment managers in the market, including 35 investment trust firms, 23 investment consulting firms, and 21 securities firms and banks that also operate this business.
Huang Hou-ming, Deputy Director-General of the FSC's Securities and Futures Bureau, stated that in the past, whether for natural persons or professional institutions, their discretionary investment managers were not allowed to conduct securities-related product transactions with other interested parties within the same financial holding group through over-the-counter negotiations. At that time, the regulation was based on the consideration of lower transparency in the OTC market, aiming to protect investors.
Huang Hou-ming pointed out that, following suggestions from the industry and considering the higher level of professionalism of high-net-worth institutional investors or professional investment institutions, they do not need to be subject to the same rules as retail investors. Therefore, an amended directive was recently issued to relax the product scope. In the future, as long as the contract specifies, discretionary investment managers can conduct OTC derivative product transactions, such as stock options and structured products, with related parties like securities firms within the same group for these professional clients.
For example, an insurance company under A Financial Holding, which originally entrusted the group's A Investment Trust to manage its securities investments, was previously restricted by conflict of interest rules, preventing A Investment Trust from conducting OTC derivative transactions with A Securities, another firm under the same holding company. Once the regulation is loosened, this restriction can be broken, and transactions will have more flexibility. Such transactions also typically serve a hedging function.
Regarding the expected benefits, Huang Hou-ming said that this move would allow financial holding companies to integrate group resources under well-designed supporting measures, and plan to consolidate assets managed by various financial subsidiaries under the unified management of the group's investment trust firm through discretionary mandates. This is hoped to enhance the scale and competitiveness of Taiwan's asset management market. (Edited by: Pan Yi-ching) 1150514