The recent incorporation of three state-run banks, including the Bank of Taiwan (BOT,
"The move will force the three state-run banks to improve their financial transparency in the near future like other private corporations," said William Fong (方偉昌), an analyst at Primasia Securities Co, adding the three banks make up a total market share of 25 percent.
"Standing on a firm legal footing now, the three have taken a baby step toward privatization, which is slated to be completed by 2006," said Chou Tein-chen (周添城), an economics professor at National Taipei University.
BOT chairman Chen Mu-tsai (
Land Bank chairman Wei Chi-lin (魏啟林) yesterday said that he plans to list the yet-to-be-established financial holding company on the stock market in early 2005 after recruiting other commercial banks, investment banks and securities houses and insurers into the mega financial holding company.
However, to further strengthen the bank's competitiveness, Wei added that he plans to merge with another local financial-holding company with foreign management expertise in 2006 while facilitating its privatization plan.
"We expect to dilute government-owned shares in the to-be-privatized financial institution from 100 percent to below 40 percent," Wei said yesterday.
Fong yesterday said the performance of the three state-run banks in the next three years will be key to whether state-own shares can attract buyers.
"Foreign investors used to hold bearish views about state-run banks, which are considered to be very conservative and comply with government policies," Fong said.
The incorporation move, therefore, is sure to benefit the banks' plans to release government-owned shares in the future although forthcoming challenges in corporate and consumer banking are still ahead for them to conquer, he added.
According to Wei, challenges to the banks' privatization plans include a legislative approval to follow through the privatization plan, efforts to write off non-performing loans and to maintain bank stability while bringing in international and professional financial expertise to improve bank health.
Mei Chiang (
She said that, if these state-run banks are still allowed to undertake government-instigated loans to corporate and consumers to maintain their market shares, their ratings may remain stable.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last