Financial Consumer Protection

On March 11, 2026, CIEL Deputy Director Professor Chao-Hung Chen was invited to participate in an academic exchange jointly organized by National Taiwan University and Kyoto University. During the session titled “Low Fertility, Aging Population, and the Law,” he delivered a presentation titled “Elderly Finance and Challenges to Financial Consumer Protection,” examining emerging challenges to financial consumer protection in an aging society from the perspectives of financial law and regulatory practice.

As Taiwan’s population continues to age rapidly, the number of elderly investors and retirees is expected to grow significantly, increasing the demand for elderly finance, namely financial services designed for elderlies. Deputy Director Chen noted that existing financial consumer protection tools largely rely on Know Your Customer (KYC) , product rating and product disclosure. However, in the context of elder customers, these tools may be less effective due to degration in physical, sensory, or mental capacity. At the same time, a regulatory dilemma arises as to whether elder customers should necessarily be considered unsuitable for highly speculative investment products, since investment decisions remain closely related to personal financial planning and individual autonomy.

In practice, financial institutions may strengthen the identification of and assistance to elder customers through staff training, the creation of a friendly service environment, continuous communication, and proper record-keeping. These measures can help prevent fraud while also managing potential legal risks.

Deputy Director Chen concluded that demand for elderly finance will continue to increase over the next two to three decades. Accordingly, the financial consumer protection framework will need to be adjusted and further refined. Moving forward, more effective institutional designs will require interdisciplinary collaboration and the sharing of international experiences.