Latest News

On November 3, 2025, CIEL was honored to welcome Professor Florence G’Sell from Stanford Law School for an academic exchange. She engaged in an in-depth dialogue with CIEL Deputy Director Professor Yueh-Ping Yang and Professor Chao-Hung Chen on the current developments of virtual assets, artificial intelligence, and other aspects of digital laws, examined through comparative perspectives from Europe, the United States, and Asia.

🔹 Trends in Virtual Asset Regulation Across Asia
Asian jurisdictions exhibit divergent regulatory approaches to virtual assets. Japan was among the first to establish rules for stablecoins; Singapore adopts a principles-based regulatory model; Hong Kong adopts a comprehensive and rigorous framework; and South Korea continues to show a high level of regulatory attention toward virtual assets. In Taiwan, the government is actively promoting the Virtual Asset Service Act, which covers virtual asset service providers, stablecoins, and other related issues, and it is expected to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation.

🔹 Differences in Regulatory Cultures Across Europe, the U.S., and Asia
Europe adopts a rule-based approach with comprehensive regulatory frameworks for virtual assets and artificial intelligence. However, its implementation progresses relatively slowly due to differences among its member states.The United States tends to be market-driven, with a relatively light-touch or deregulatory stance. Asia, by contrast, could be viewed as taking a middle-ground approach between Europe and the U.S., featuring pragmatic and hybrid regulatory strategies that balance flexibility and efficiency—making the region particularly significant for comparative legal studies in this area.

🔹 The Future Integration of Blockchain and AI
The integration of blockchain and AI can be seen as an next-generation model of existing blockchain-smart contract integrations, which has the potential to enhance the capabilities of both technologies. However, it may also introduce greater uncertainty, less explainability, and increased legal liability challenges.

CIEL will continue to closely follow developments in technological innovation and legal governance, foster international academic exchanges and collaboration, and contribute to forward-looking research and policy discussions.

On October 27, 2025, CIEL was honored to host Professor LAU Kwan Ho from the School of Law at Singapore Management University, who visited the Center for an in-depth dialogue with CIEL Deputy Director Professor Yang Yue-Ping.

This exchange focused primarily on several observations regarding the legal frameworks for international commercial dispute resolution.

Developments and Challenges in International Commercial Dispute Resolution

The two professors first exchanged insights on the experiences of Singapore and Taiwan in promoting mechanisms for international commercial dispute resolution. Their discussion covered the challenges currently faced by the Singapore International Commercial Court and the underlying causes, further extending to the importance of enforceability in international commercial dispute resolution.

Geopolitical Confrontations and New Challenges in International Commercial Dispute Resolution

Against the backdrop of global geopolitical tensions and supply chain restructuring, the two professors discussed how geopolitics may affect international commercial dispute resolution — including the types of commercial disputes arising from economic sanctions and the potential impact of political antagonism on specific issues of international commercial arbitration, such as the appointment of arbitrators.

CIEL will continue to closely follow developments in international commercial law and dispute resolution and foster the dialogues between different jurisdictions and regions.

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.

🚀 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. 💡

On June 12, 2025, Deputy Director Professor Yueh-Ping Yang of CIEL was invited by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Yuan to attend the public hearing on the draft Virtual Asset Service Providers Act. Representing the research team commissioned by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), Professor Yang shared key legislative considerations underlying the draft bill.

The hearing was convened by Legislator Lai Hui-Yuan, with representatives from the FSC, the Central Bank, and the Ministry of Justice in attendance. Several legislators, including Lin Szu-Ming, Huang Shan-Shan, Mai Yu-Chen, Chung Chia-Pin, Lai Shyh-Bao, and Ko Ju Chun, also delivered remarks.

In his presentation, Professor Yang emphasized that the draft Act is not a wholesale transplant of any single foreign model, but rather a comparative synthesis of frameworks from the EU, Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea, adjusted for Taiwan’s market characteristics. The core principle is to classify virtual asset service providers (VASPs) as financial institutions subject to financial supervision, complemented by criminal liability provisions to address enforcement challenges where regulators currently lack inspection authority over unlicensed operators.

Regarding stablecoin regulation, Professor Yang noted that the draft bill applies only to fiat-backed stablecoins, while stablecoins pegged to other virtual assets or commodities are neither explicitly regulated nor prohibited. He also explained that, rather than attempting to regulate all emerging virtual asset businesses at once, the draft prioritizes higher-risk activities—such as lending services with established market presence—while granting regulators flexibility to expand oversight incrementally as needed.

Overall, Professor Yang highlighted that the draft Virtual Asset Service Providers Act serves as a “principles-based framework law”, providing a comprehensive supervisory structure while leaving room for subsidiary regulations and administrative orders to adapt dynamically to technological change, thus avoiding rigid rules ill-suited to the fast-evolving industry.

The full transcript of the public hearing is available here:
https://ppg.ly.gov.tw/ppg/SittingAttachment/download/2025060251/PPGB60500_2100_20988_1140618_0004.pdf

On March 4, 2025, the International AI Law Research Foundation hosted the International Symposium on AI Governance and National Security, bringing together representatives from international think tanks, government, industry, and academia. The symposium explored global trends in AI governance, policy challenges, and strategies for cross-border cooperation, aiming to strengthen Taiwan’s position in the global technology race. Deputy Director Yueh-Ping Yang of CIEL was invited to participate and share his insights on strategies for AI governance and transnational legal collaboration.

The event featured a keynote speech by Deputy Minister Ning Yeh of Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs. It also welcomed representatives from Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, the Hudson Institute, and Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs as panel discussants.

Deputy Director Yang chaired the second roundtable discussion, titled “AI Governance and National Security (II): Strategies for Transnational Legal Coordination and Cooperation.” Together with U.S. and Taiwanese representatives, the session examined different models of AI regulation and the national security considerations underlying them.

For further details and coverage of the symposium, please refer to: https://intlailaw.org/article_d.php?lang=tw&tb=3&id=2612

Deputy Director Professor Yueh-Ping Yang of CIEL has contributed an English-language chapter entitled “Trusts and Fund Structures in Taiwan: Laws and the Boundaries of Trusts” to the newly published volume Asia-Pacific Trusts Law, Volume 3: Boundaries in Context, released by the international academic publisher Bloomsbury.

In this study, Professor Yang uses Taiwan’s investment fund regime as a case study to analyze the advantages and limitations of trusts as an “asset segregation mechanism” for investment funds. He highlights that the predominance of trust structures in Taiwan’s public funds is fundamentally linked to the institutional design of the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act (SITCA). By contrast, private funds in Taiwan tend to adopt corporate or limited partnership structures, a pattern also shaped by the relatively limited regulatory oversight under the SITCA.

Through his analysis of Taiwan’s differentiated regulatory design and practical operation of asset segregation mechanisms, Professor Yang demonstrates that the advantages of trusts are not absolute but instead depend heavily on the relative flexibility of a country’s trust law and business organization law, underscoring the strong contextual dependence on the legal system.

For more information about this publication, please refer to:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/asiapacific-trusts-law-volume-3-9781509972951/