Deputy Director Yueh-Ping Yang Receives the 2024 Ta-You Wu Memorial Award from the National Science and Technology Council

On April 25, 2025, Deputy Director Professor Yueh-Ping Yang of CIEL attended the award ceremony hosted by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), where he was honored with the 2024 Ta-You Wu Memorial Award.

Since 2018, Professor Yang has dedicated his research to blockchain finance and the regulation of virtual assets. His work spans a wide range of topics, including initial coin offerings, the issuance and settlement of security-type virtual assets, regulation of virtual asset trading platforms, decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), anti-money laundering (AML) measures for virtual assets, cross-border supervision, and comparative legal studies on international virtual asset regulation. His research on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) was particularly distinguished, as it was one of only four papers selected globally at the 2022 Washington FinTech Week and was subsequently published in the SSCI-indexed Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business.

Professor Yang’s research achievements not only contribute significantly to academic scholarship but have also had a substantial impact on the development of Taiwan’s virtual asset regulatory framework over the past five years. He has been invited to provide policy consultation, legal recommendations, and training to multiple government agencies, including the Financial Supervisory Commission, the Executive Yuan’s Anti-Money Laundering Office, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Digital Affairs, and the Ministry of Justice. His contributions include assisting authorities in drafting the AML registration system for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), the draft Virtual Asset Service Act, and regulatory guidelines for VASPs and stablecoins, thereby making a profound impact on both theory and practice.

Deputy Director Yueh-Ping Yang of CIEL was invited by the Asia FinTech Alliance to chair the online seminar “Regulatory Perspectives on FinTech Innovation in Taiwan” on March 25, 2025.

Serving as moderator and opening speaker, Deputy Director Yueh-Ping Yang introduced the session, which featured two distinguished speakers. Brenda Hu, Director of the Department of Financial Market Development and Innovation at the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), presented on Taiwan’s FinTech development strategies and progress, highlighting policy support and emerging industry opportunities. Alex Huang, Chief of the Securities Firms Division at the Securities and Futures Bureau of the FSC, shared Taiwan’s practical experience in virtual asset regulation and discussed the latest regulatory developments.

The session concluded with a comprehensive Q&A, offering participants an opportunity to engage directly with the experts and deepen dialogue.

This online seminar focused on Taiwan’s FinTech development strategies, practical approaches to virtual asset regulation, and the balance between regulation and innovation. It provided international industry leaders and policymakers with insights into Taiwan’s regulatory direction for FinTech and virtual assets, while also fostering a platform for collaboration across industry, government, and academia.

On March 25–26, 2025, the Asian Corporate Law Forum 2025 (ACLF)—a leading international forum on corporate law and corporate governance in Asia—was held at the Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. This year’s ACLF was organized by Professor Dan W. Puchniak of Singapore Management University in collaboration with the European Corporate Governance Institute. Centered on the theme of “Corporate Governance and Sustainable Development of Asian Enterprises,” the forum brought together prominent scholars and regulators from Singapore, Japan, India, China, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan, and beyond.

CIEL Deputy Director Professor Chao-Hung Chen was invited to deliver a presentation titled “Weaponizing Financial Firms as Surrogate Regulators,” which explored how governments leverage financial institutions to achieve indirect regulatory effects. In addition to his presentation, Professor Chen also participated as a discussant in other sessions, engaging in in-depth dialogue with scholars from various jurisdictions. His contributions further showcased the expertise and influence of Taiwan’s academic community in international scholarly exchanges.

More information on the forum is available at: https://ccla.smu.edu.sg/aclf

Deputy Director Professor Yueh-Ping Yang of CIEL was invited by the AI FinTech Association to serve as a panelist in the session “AI Innovation, Internationalization, and Open Banking” at the 2025 AI FinTech Development Forum, held on June 10, 2025.

The forum opened with remarks from Minister of Digital Affairs Yennun Huang, Vice Chairperson of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Yen-Liang Chen, and Deputy Minister of the National Development Council Jan, Fang-Guan. The keynote address was delivered by Shih Yi-Chun, Deputy Director-General of the FSC’s Department of Financial Innovation.

As a panelist, Professor Yang shared his views on how open banking and AI-driven financial innovation are reshaping supervisory models. He emphasized that modern financial supervision is shifting away from the traditional model of “government sets the rules, industry complies” toward a more market-oriented approach of “industry designs the rules, government reviews and approves.” This transition requires financial institutions not only to demonstrate compliance capabilities but also to develop rule-making capacity, grounded in an understanding of supervisory objectives and the risk management demands of technological innovation.

Professor Yang further introduced the concept of the emerging “Washington Effect” in contrast to the previously discussed “Brussels Effect,” stressing that market-driven supervisory approaches can facilitate cross-border FinTech development and enhance global competitiveness.

For related reporting on this forum and Professor Yang’s panel discussion, please refer to: https://techorange.com/2025/06/10/2025-ai-based-fintech/

Professor Wang-Ruu Tseng, Director of the Center, and Associate Professor Chao-Hung Chen, Deputy Director, recently co-authored the chapter “Cryptocurrencies in National Laws – Taiwan” in the book Cryptocurrencies in National Laws, published by the international academic publisher Brill.

This chapter comprehensively examines the legal status of virtual assets under Taiwan’s current legal framework, addressing whether they should be regarded as “objects” or “rights” under civil law, and whether they can be traded as property or are merely technical digital codes.

The article further points out that, in the absence of legislation fully keeping pace with technological developments, judicial practice and regulatory authorities must adapt and respond amid uncertainty. The authors, combining both private and public law perspectives, analyze the proprietary nature of virtual assets and discuss the legal risks and regulatory challenges arising from market transactions. The chapter not only presents Taiwan’s distinctive experience in supervising virtual assets and determining their status under private law, but also situates the discussion within a comparative international law context, offering cross-border insights into the regulation of crypto-assets.

Further publication information can be found here: https://brill.com/edcollchap/book/9789004722507/BP000032.xml

As central banks around the world actively explore Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), Taiwan has also launched in-depth discussions on the potential introduction of a “digital New Taiwan dollar.” Deputy Director Yueh-Ping Yang was interviewed by Taiwan Banker magazine, where he provided an in-depth analysis of the legal and policy implications of CBDC implementation in Taiwan, as well as the potential challenges and regulatory measures it entails.

Deputy Director Yueh-Ping Yang first emphasized that the development of CBDCs is not merely a technological upgrade, but rather a profound reconstruction of legal and policy frameworks. Under the currently prevailing “two-tier architecture” of CBDCs, the roles and relationships between central banks, commercial banks, and the general public as CBDC holders will need to be redefined. In addition, regulatory adjustments will be required in three major areas: personal data protection, supervisory frameworks, and legal authorization.

Addressing privacy concerns—the most controversial aspect of CBDCs—Yang noted the inherent tension between anonymity and anti-money laundering (AML) measures. He explained that the key to mitigating privacy concerns lies in how intermediary institutions (such as banks or payment providers) within the two-tier framework manage transaction data. If intermediaries are required to transmit transaction data back to the central bank, the central bank would hold comprehensive CBDC transaction records, which raises surveillance concerns. Conversely, if no transaction data are transmitted, systemic resilience may be weakened, increasing operational risks.

Deputy Director Yueh-Ping Yang further highlighted that, within the two-tier system, questions regarding the status, regulation, and liability of intermediary institutions must be clarified before CBDC adoption. He also noted that whether the central bank should be empowered to revoke or freeze unlawful transactions under specific circumstances would require dedicated legislative support. Finally, he pointed out that cross-border payments and international regulatory cooperation will present additional challenges for CBDC implementation in the future.

For the full Taiwan Banker report, please refer to: https://service.tabf.org.tw/FBS/SinglePage/625337

On February 25, 2025, PwC Taiwan hosted the seminar “Decoding New Trends in Virtual Assets: Innovation, Applications, and Challenges.” The event focused on the latest developments in virtual assets, their innovative applications, and related regulatory issues.

Speakers included Richard Watanabe, COO of Financial Services at PwC Taiwan; Kordan Ou, CEO of KryptoGO; Attorney Yu-Hsun Lee, Partner at PwC Legal; and PwC Taiwan accountants Shang-Tun Wu and Yu-Chen Hu. They shared insights on the opportunities and challenges of virtual assets from financial, legal, accounting, and industry perspectives, while also discussing how to strike a balance between regulation and innovation to promote a stable and healthy market.

Deputy Director Yueh-Ping Yang of CIEL was also invited to the seminar to share his views on emerging trends in virtual asset regulation. He introduced the core framework of Taiwan’s current registration system for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) and elaborated on the forthcoming Virtual Asset Service Act draft bill. He highlighted its key regulatory features and the ways in which it represents a significant advancement beyond the existing registration regime.

For more details, please refer to PwC Taiwan’s coverage of the seminar: https://www.pwc.tw/zh/news/press-release/press-20250226-1.html

On February 13, 2025, Professor Yueh-Ping Yang, Associate Director of our Center, was invited to attend the Seminar on the Draft Virtual Asset Service Act organized by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC). As a representative of the FSC-commissioned research team, Professor Yang assisted in explaining the legislative background and the drafting process of the bill.

.

In January 2024, the FSC commissioned the research team to explore the feasibility of enacting a specialized law for virtual asset regulation. After continuous consultation with the research team, and by taking into account both comparative experiences from foreign jurisdictions and the practical needs of Taiwan’s industry, the FSC completed the draft of the Virtual Asset Service Act.

.

During the seminar, the FSC first provided a brief overview of the development of Taiwan’s virtual asset regulatory framework and relevant international trends, before engaging with stakeholders on key aspects of the draft. Discussion topics included stablecoin issuance, regulatory requirements for service providers (such as newly defined categories of virtual asset services, licensing systems, capital requirements, business guarantees, and personnel qualifications).

.

For the FSC’s official press release, please refer to: https://www.fsc.gov.tw/ch/home.jsp?id=96&parentpath=0,2&mcustomize=news_view.jsp&dataserno=202502130003&dtable=News

From February 4 to 7, 2025, Deputy Director Professor Yueh-Ping Yang of our Center was invited to participate in the Transnational Program organized by the Faculty of Law, Waseda University. He delivered a lecture titled “FinTech’s Challenges to Financial Regulation: An Accountability Perspective” to the participants of the program.

The Transnational Program is a long-standing international short-term course hosted annually by Waseda University’s Faculty of Law. The 2025 program focused on the theme of financial technology (FinTech) and was jointly organized by Professor Shuichi Furuya, Director of the Graduate School of Law at Waseda University, and Professor Atsushi Koide. Participants included faculty members and students from National Taiwan University (Taiwan), Seoul National University (Korea), Queen Mary University of London (United Kingdom), Bucerius Law School in Hamburg (Germany), and Waseda University (Japan). The program featured lectures and student group presentations on various FinTech-related issues.

In his lecture, Deputy Director Yueh-Ping Yang highlighted how the emergence of FinTech—characterized by the cross-border nature of the internet, the decentralization of blockchain, and the automation of artificial intelligence—has diluted and restructured the traditional “regulatory intermediaries” upon which financial supervision has long relied. This transformation poses significant challenges to conventional accountability frameworks in financial regulation.

Deputy Director Yang further proposed several potential directions for regulatory adaptation. These include: (1) direct regulation of FinTech providers, (2) indirect regulation of FinTech providers through traditional financial institutions, and (3) technical regulation conducted in cooperation with non-financial regulatory authorities.

Professor Yueh-Ping Yang, Associate Director of our Center, has published a paper in the edited volume Judicial Digitalization and Access to Justice, entitled Crowd Wisdom in Smart Contract Dispute Resolution: Can Crowdsourced Dispute Resolution Be Considered Arbitration?

.

This study focuses on Smart Contract Dispute Resolution (SCDR), particularly the model of Crowdsourced Dispute Resolution (CDR). Such mechanisms integrate crowd participation with blockchain technology in an attempt to address disputes arising from smart contracts in a decentralized and expeditious manner.

.

In his research, Professor Yang highlights that although these mechanisms demonstrate a high degree of innovation, they raise unresolved issues regarding legal classification, professional expertise, procedural fairness, and enforceability. By comparing the similarities and differences between traditional arbitration and SCDR, and reflecting on the essential elements of an “arbitration” system, Professor Yang argues that whether current SCDR mechanisms can legally be recognized as arbitration remains debatable. He further suggests that to be considered a true arbitration system, SCDR would need to strengthen its procedural safeguards.

.

For publication details, please refer to: https://www.angle.com.tw/book.asp?BKID=17543