The Cabinet-level Fair Trade Commission yesterday approved the US company General Electric's acquisition of a one-third stake in Cosmos Bank Taiwan (
The stake purchase by the Connecticut, Ohio-based GE will allow the world's biggest issuer of private-label credit cards to control nearly half of Cosmos' board and superintendent seats.
GE had hoped to acquire a 40 percent to 49 percent stake in Cosmos and so obtain the seats of 4 board members, one independent board member and one superintendent, according to the commission.
Cosmos is the nation's largest cash card issuer, with 905,267 cards in circulation as of the end of May, according to government statistics.
GE's stake in Cosmos is not expected to lead to any change to the nation's financial markets or to unfair competition, in light of both companies' relatively low market share in Taiwan.
GE currently operates a credit card company, lending company and insurance agency in Taiwan, while Cosmos has a market share of less than 1 percent in the nation's lending and deposit markets, according to the commission.
GE's stake in Cosmos is the nation's first such investment by a foreign firm in a local financial institutions. The acquisition is expected to raise Cosmos' international profile.
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