International Academic Exchange｜Professor Catherine Malecki Visits CIEL to Discuss Sustainable Corporate Governance in Europe

On October 22, 2025, CIEL was honored to welcome Professor Catherine Malecki from Rennes 2 University, France, for an academic exchange with Professor Yueh-Ping Yang , Deputy Director of CIEL, on recent developments in sustainable corporate governance and market regulation in Europe. Professor Malecki also delivered a guest lecture in Deputy Director Professor Chao-Hung Chen’s class on Financial Law.

◆Progress of Sustainable Governance in Europe
As the world has become more concerned of sustainability issues, the EU’s framework for sustainable finance and corporate governance has become more comprehensive in recent years. Nevertheless, a balance must still be struck between complexity and enforceability, in order to provide companies with predictable and enforceable standards to follow.

◆The French Experience
Among the EU’s recent sustainability-related initiatives, including the widely discussed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), their legal prototype originated largely in France. France has established detailed domestic legislation and self-regulatory standards to implement the relatively abstract EU directives and regulations in this field. The influence of France’s sustainability rules on EU’s sustainability laws is, therefore, a subject deserving greater attention in comparative legal studies.

◆Taiwan’s Perspective
In recent years, Taiwan has advanced a series of corporate sustainability frameworks, including the Sustainability Taxonomy and ESGInfoHub, drawing largely from the EU model. Moreover, as Taiwan plays a key role in the global supply chain, the EU’s sustainability regulations exert a profound impact on Taiwanese enterprises. Given France’s role as a driving force behind EU’s sustainability laws, continued dialogue and exchange with France’s experience is of great value to Taiwan.

CIEL will continue to deepen interdisciplinary dialogue on sustainable corporate governance, compliance, and financial supervision, laying a solid legal foundation for corporate sustainability transitions.

On October 21, 2025, CIEL was pleased to welcome Professor Nizan Geslevich Packin, jointly appointed at the City University of New York and University of Haifa, to the center for academic exchange. CIEL’s Deputy Director, Professor Yueh-Ping  Yang, engaged in an in-depth discussion with Professor Packin on corporate governance and financial technology regulation, with a focused dialogue on three major topics: prediction markets, open banking, and crypto-assets.

Prediction Markets: Blurred Regulatory Boundaries
Professor Packin shared her recent research on prediction markets, highlighting how prediction markets and online gaming platforms seek to redefine themselves as financial services or futures market providers, thereby avoiding traditional gambling regulations. She further shared examples from the United States, including market operators acquiring shares in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and interactions with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)—trends that may reshape the regulatory landscape in the future.

Open Banking: The Political Economy of Data-Sharing Governance
Deputy Director Yang shared his recent work on open banking, noting that his research draws on Professor Packin’s previous scholarship in the field. The dialogue extended to developments in the EU and Australia, and particularly the shifting stance of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding open banking—especially the political considerations behind data-sharing fees and access rights.

Crypto-Assets: The Balance Between Innovation and Oversight
Professor Packin shared her perspectives to be presented at FinTech Taipei 2025, and both scholars exchanged views on the regulatory rationales surrounding crypto-assets, including stablecoins. Professor Packin expressed regulatory concerns regarding the inherent risks of the crypto asset market and stablecoins, while Professor Yang shared his observation of Taiwan’s regulatory stances and evolving regulatory framework in this domain.

CIEL will continue to closely monitor the intersection of financial regulation and technological innovation and promote dialogues and collaborations between international scholars and global academic networks.

How corporations disclose their carbon emissions information has become a crucial issue for corporate governance and in the capital market in recent years. In September 2025, CIEL Deputy Director and Associate Professor Chao-Hung Chen published an article titled “Carbon Emission Disclosure and Greenwashing Risk in the Capital Market” in the NTU Law Journal.

Professor Chen ‘s study examines the disclosure practices of publicly listed companies in Taiwan regarding their GHG emissions between 2011 and 2021. While the article agrees that disclosure is an important tool to promote carbon reduction, the study suggest that the effectiveness of carbon disclosure must depend on whether the information disclosed is accurate, comprehensive, and comparable to offer useful data to the market.

Highlights:

1. Limited effectiveness voluntary disclosure — Few companies disclosed their carbon emission data voluntarily before mandatory rules took effect, supporting the move toward a mandatory disclosure regime.
2. Fragmented and inconsistent content — Disclosure statements were often brief and inconsistent in format and content. Much information lacked third-party verification, showing signs of selective or incomplete reporting.
3. Significant greenwashing risk — Many firms relied on vague qualitative descriptions rather than concrete quantitative data, making it difficult for investors and regulators to assess real carbon reduction outcome.

Professor Chen emphasizes that regulators should strike a balance between lowering disclosure costs and enhancing the substance of disclosure as well as to establish quantifiable data over time in order to strengthen the credibility and market value of ESG information.

Abstract：https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:ap:8c85c7c9-e28a-47a4-b0e5-34efa25e0477

In September 11, 2025, at the “IADI Core Principles International Conference” held in Taiwan by the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI).CIEL Deputy Director Professor Yueh-Ping (Alex) Yang was invited to serve as a panelist, sharing on the topic of “The Impact of Digital Financial Innovation on the Deposit Insurance System.”

This session focused on whether emerging financial instruments such as electronic payments, stablecoins, and deposit tokens should be covered by deposit insurance. From an academic perspective, Deputy Director Yang proposed three key criteria for the assessment: liquidity risk, contagion risk, and the money creation function, which sparked enthusiastic responses and in-depth discussions among representatives from various countries.

IADI is an international standard-setting body for deposit insurance systems, and Taiwan’s Central Deposit Insurance Corporation is IADI’s formal member. This year’s conference, held in Taiwan, comes at a significant moment for the revision of IADI’s Core Principles since 2014, and coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Central Deposit Insurance Corporation, giving it profound significance.

Professor Chao-Hung Chen, Deputy Director of the Center for Innovative Enterprise Law (CIEL) at National Taiwan University, has recently been awarded a three-year research grant by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), recognizing his academic contributions and research potential in the fields of fintech and digital asset regulation.

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The approved research project, titled “A Study on the Tokenization of Financial Markets and Its Legal Infrastructure”, will run from 2025 to 2028. The study will focus on the transformative potential of tokenization in reshaping the structure of existing capital markets and explore the legal infrastructure required to support such transformation. The project not only continues the Center’s commitment to the development of digital financial regulation but also builds on the key themes highlighted in CIEL’s 2024 salon.

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As fintech and digital assets increasingly converge, designing a legal framework that balances innovation with risk management has become a critical issue for global research and policy agendas. Through this project, CIEL aims to further strengthen its position at the forefront of digital financial law research and to provide concrete policy recommendations for Taiwan’s future regulatory design. The Center also intends to share the project’s findings and progress on public platforms, fostering dialogue between academia and practice.

In July 2025, Professor Wang-Ruu Tseng, Director of the Center for Innovative Enterprise Law (CIEL), and Professor Yueh-Ping Yang, Deputy Director, were invited by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to attend a public hearing on the draft amendments to the Regulations Governing the Investment of Financial Holding Companies, where they provided professional insights on the key revisions.

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Since its promulgation in December 2010, the Regulations have undergone two amendments, the most recent in May 2022. The current draft represents a comprehensive revision, expanding the provisions from 12 to 13 articles. The main directions include:

• Strengthening rules governing investment activities of financial holding companies while moderately relaxing financial leverage requirements, balancing institutional stability and market order.

• Adding corporate governance requirements for investment decision-making, such as requiring the first investment case of a financial holding company to be reviewed by the audit committee and assessed by external independent experts, in order to protect shareholder rights and ensure prudent decision-making.

• Clarifying the required documents for investment applications, disclosure of tender offer conditions, and restrictions on reapplications.

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The hearing gathered opinions from scholars and experts with the aim of ensuring that the legal framework balances flexibility and transparency in financial holding company mergers and investments, while enhancing overall market governance. CIEL will continue to monitor the evolution of related regulations and promote the development of a sound financial legal environment.

On July 30, 2025, Professor Yueh-Ping Yang, Deputy Director of the Center for Innovative Enterprise Law (CIEL), was invited by the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice to chair the “56th Symposium on the Prevention of Economic Crime: Emerging Criminal Issues and Countermeasures in Third-Party Payment Services.”

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The symposium focused on criminal techniques used to conceal illicit financial flows through third-party payment channels, as well as the new anti-money laundering (AML) challenges faced by third-party payment providers following the amendment of Article 6 of the Money Laundering Control Act and the implementation of the Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering and Service Capacity Registration for Third-Party Payment Service Providers on November 30, 2024.

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The event opened with remarks by Deputy Director-General Wu Yi-kung of the Investigation Bureau and featured distinguished panelists, including Judge Hsing-I Lin of the Taipei District Court, Chief Prosecutor Tzu-Wei Cheng of the Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office, Inspector Ling-Ping Su of the Administration for Digital Industries, and Eric Liu, General Manager of Green World FinTech. Together, they discussed preventive measures against crimes involving third-party payment services from four perspectives: judicial practice, prosecutorial investigation, regulatory policy, and industry self-regulation.

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In his role as chair, Professor Yang highlighted that since 2021, Taiwan has established clearer AML regulations for third-party payment providers, with the Administration for Digital Industries serving as the administrative regulator. Following the 2024 amendments, regulatory controls have been further strengthened. To effectively prevent third-party payment services from becoming conduits for illicit financial flows, closer coordination between administrative regulators and law enforcement authorities will be essential. The symposium also extended discussion from the “Kyushu Case,” examining the role of third-party payment systems in facilitating illicit fund transfers and addressing new criminal patterns such as “fake three-way transactions,” underscoring the importance of inter-agency cooperation and public-private collaboration.

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The Center for Innovative Enterprise Law will continue to monitor AML developments and the maintenance of financial order in the digital economy, while promoting a more rigorous, transparent, and adaptive legal framework to meet the challenges posed by emerging financial crimes.

On July 29, 2025, Professor Yueh-Ping Yang, Deputy Director of the Center for Innovative Enterprise Law (CIEL), was invited by the Administration for Digital Industries, Ministry of Digital Affairs, to attend the consultation meeting on the draft amendments to the “Mandatory and Prohibited Clauses for Standardized Contracts of Third-Party Payment Services.”

This draft amendment marks the first major review and revision of the regulation since its inception. Its aim is to adjust contractual content to better align with industry practices, reflect the development of emerging payment models, and further strengthen consumer protection. The revision focuses on addressing systemic gaps that have remained unamended for years, responding to the rapid evolution of industry and technology; updating contractual provisions to prevent consumers from facing information asymmetry or risks of compromised rights when using third-party payment services; and ensuring that contract terms adopted by providers comply with existing laws and enhance transparency.

During the meeting, Professor Yang offered his professional opinions on the draft provisions. In particular, he addressed issues such as the definition of third-party payment services, the circumstances under which providers may refuse to offer services or delay disbursement of funds, and the requirements for consumers to provide identity verification data. His observations and suggestions sought to balance regulatory frameworks with industry practice.

The Center for Innovative Enterprise Law will continue to closely monitor the evolution of digital payment and fintech contract regulations, while promoting the establishment of a regulatory environment that both fosters innovation and safeguards consumer rights.

🚀 Binance Global CEO Visits CIEL｜In-Depth Dialogue on Virtual Asset Regulation

🥇 Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, the world’s largest virtual asset exchange, along with Asia-Pacific team members Damien Ho and Ken Chien, visited the Center for Innovation and Enterprise Law (CIEL). They engaged in an in-depth discussion with CIEL Deputy Directors Prof. Yueh-Ping (Alex) Yang, Prof. Chao-Hung Chen, and Prof. Kai-Ping Su on topics including international trends in virtual asset regulation, Taiwan’s regulatory developments, and legal compliance for virtual asset service providers (VASPs).

Binance and CIEL exchanged views on the progress of Taiwan’s draft Virtual Asset Service Act, sharing perspectives on the transition from registration to licensing regimes for VASPs, capital requirements, cybersecurity, and anti-money laundering mechanisms. The discussion also covered regulatory approaches for offshore VASPs entering the Taiwan market, as well as potential criminal risks associated with marketing via local finfluencers or key opinion leaders (KOLs).

In addition, the dialogue touched on crime prevention issues, including how money laundering and fraud affect virtual asset regulation. Binance and CIEL shared insights into the practical challenges that may arise from implementing the Travel Rule, particularly the need for adequate data-sharing infrastructure, and discussed possible supervisory directions. Binance also shared its observations on the unique characteristics and potential of Taiwan’s virtual asset market.

We sincerely thank the Binance team for their visit. CIEL remains committed to advancing legal frameworks in the fields of virtual assets and financial technology. Through ongoing dialogue with global industry leaders, we aim to help Taiwan develop a market ecosystem that balances innovation, resilience, and the rule of law, enhancing its international competitiveness and trustworthiness. 💡

Professor Wang-Ruu Tseng, Director of the Center, published her study “Mergers & Acquisitions and Shareholder Protection in the Context of Foreign Companies’ Primary Listings in Taiwan” in the June 2025 issue (No. 361) of the Monthly Review of Law. The article provides an in-depth analysis and institutional reflection on the disputes over mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and shareholder protection that arise following foreign companies’ primary listings in Taiwan.

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In the article, Professor Tseng notes that cases of delisting through M&A by foreign companies in Taiwan have sparked investor dissatisfaction and drawn close scrutiny from regulators. Under the current framework, shareholder protection mainly relies on provisions in companies’ articles of incorporation, but these provisions cannot contravene the mandatory laws of the companies’ home jurisdictions, thereby limiting their effectiveness. Furthermore, the Taiwan Stock Exchange adopts different regulatory approaches to M&A-driven delistings and other voluntary delistings, the rationality of which remains open to debate.

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Specifically, when investors dispute the fairness of the M&A consideration in the case of Taiwanese companies, they may petition the court to determine a fair price. However, when the subject company is a foreign issuer, the interplay of governing law, international jurisdiction, and articles of incorporation often makes shareholder remedies more difficult. Using two Taiwanese cases with similar facts but divergent rulings as a starting point, and drawing on the experience of Cayman-incorporated companies facing shareholder litigation after going private and delisting in the United States, Professor Tseng analyzes the legal complexities and practical challenges involved. The study concludes that Taiwan should further clarify the applicable law and procedural design to better balance investor protection with the feasibility of cross-border regulation.

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The full article is available for download at:
https://lawdata.com.tw/tw/detail.aspx?no=536137&listkey=