Taiwan draws 1,005 finance industry talent via gold card programme

In APAC, most came from Hong Kong and Singapore.

Taiwan has approved 1,005 employment gold cards in the financial field since its launch in 2018 up until June 2026, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

Within the region, financial industry talent were recruited from Hong Kong and Singapore, the FSC revealed.

Specifically, Hong Kong (278 cards), the United States (229 cards), Singapore (129 cards), Canada (72 cards), and the United Kingdom (69 cards) were the top five sources for financial-field gold card recipients.

An employment gold card functions as a work permit, resident visa, alien resident certificate, and re-entry permit. 

It is valid for three years and allows foreign professionals to seek employment, change employers, as well as participate in Taiwan’s health insurance and labor pension schemes.

Taiwan’s private banks have seen positive momentum tied to merger activity as well as demand for semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) products, according to a separate report by Fitch Ratings.