Citigroup Inc plans to recapitalize its local brokerage -- Citigroup Securities Investment Consulting Inc (花旗證券) -- with an investment of NT$2 billion, said Stanley Fischer, vice chairman of the world's largest credit card issuer.
Fisher made the remark on Monday at the lender's headquarters in New York while receiving a delegation led by Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (
Fischer said that the US bank counts Taiwan as one of the top 10 markets in its global expansion strategies and is bullish about the potential growth in its financial derivative markets.
Lin is leading a 46-member delegation of financial officials and entrepreneurs to the US East Coast this week to promote investment in Taiwan.
According to Citigroup, its Taipei unit contributes at least NT$8 billion of profit annually to the parent company.
Fisher told Lin that the bank is interested in putting down future investments on Taiwan's bad loans while expressing his optimism in the nation's economic recovery.
The bank will soon set up a special task force to study Taiwan's bad-loan market and come up with acquisition and investment strategies, Fisher said.
He also vowed to contribute his company's financial expertise in banking, securities and insurances, in order to assist the government's efforts to facilitate a unified financial supervisory system.
Chan Tze-ching (陳子政), head of Citibank Taiwan, also expressed confidence in Taiwan's financial potential, saying the government's deregulatory move to scrap restrictions on qualified foreign institutional investors is on the right track.
Chan added that Taiwan should take full advantage of its capabilities in creating wealth and make the best use of its abundant capitals to grab a sizeable market share in the greater Chinese capital markets.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last