Prospect of bigger banks discussed

Vice Finance Minister Chen said that models for holding companies abound in other countries, notably Germany and Holland. Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank are the two major German financial holding companies, while two Dutch financial giants, which operate as holding companies, are ING and ABN-AMRO, he said.

Cross-selling of products aside, financial holding companies will help improve efficiency and cut costs, bankers said.

Jerry Chen (陳亮丞), head of the financial institutions group and head of the global cash and trade group with Citibank, believes that financial holding companies will save time for executives and shareholders.

Holding firms, for instance, will have to convene one shareholder meeting instead of meetings for all its financial units. In terms of financing, instead of raising capital independently, financial holding firms, which will be listed on the stock market as a single entity, can issue stock itself and then allocate capital to the cash-needy units.