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Tsai, Chang-hsien --- "Is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush? Reflections on equity crowdfunding regulation in Taiwan" [2020] ELECD 232; in Arner, W. Douglas; Wan, Yee Wai; Godwin, Andrew; Shen, Wei; Gibson, Evan (eds), "Research Handbook on Asian Financial Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020) 525

Book Title: Research Handbook on Asian Financial Law

Editor(s): Arner, W. Douglas; Wan, Yee Wai; Godwin, Andrew; Shen, Wei; Gibson, Evan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 26

Section Title: Is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush? Reflections on equity crowdfunding regulation in Taiwan

Author(s): Tsai, Chang-hsien

Number of pages: 22

Abstract/Description:

After the US JOBS Act of 2012 authorized equity crowdfunding platforms, Taiwan’s Government created the Go Incubation Board for Startup and Acceleration or GISA Board in January 2014, run by the Taipei Exchange, to play a role similar to a private crowdfunding platform authorized in the US. By the end of April 2015, private equity crowdfunding platforms were authorized in Taiwan. Both the equity crowdfunding regulations governing the public GISA Board and private platforms in Taiwan were patterned after the US JOBS Act of 2012, albeit reflecting how Taiwan’s local equity crowdfunding regulation placed greater emphasis on investor protection than capital formation. This chapter argues that, for enforcing investor protection, bureaucrats may prefer the approach of ‘a bird in the hand’ (the government-operated GISA Board) to ‘two in the bush’ (various private platforms thriving without rigid scrutiny and direct governmental control), in theory and in practice.