The formerly loss-making lender the Bank of Overseas Chinese (華僑銀行) was given another shot in the arm yesterday when it formed a strategic alliance with New York Life International to develop bancassurance business.
Bancassurance is a combination of banking and insurance services.
After eight months of negotiations, the US' largest mutual insurance company decided to invest US$20 million in the local lender, gaining a 5 percent stockholding.
PHOTO: KAO CHAO-FEN, TAIPEI TIMES
"I see much potential in protection products [in Taiwan]?[because] there is a tremendous amount of the population that is under-insured for life, accident and retirement services. It's a perfect time to do a strategic alliance with the Bank of Overseas Chinese," David Skinner, chief executive of New York Life International's Asia region, told the Taipei Times on the sidelines of a signing ceremony in Taipei yesterday.
The deal marked the domestic banking sector's second strategic alliance with an overseas operator after the UK's Prudential Plc invested in E.Sun Financial Holding Co (
Wayne Pai (
"Via the deal, Bank of Overseas Chinese can introduce not only New York Life's capital, but also the reputation of a century-old multinational and established professional system, talent and know-how. In the long term, the cooperation will also drive up Polaris Financial's credit rating and boost its international exposure," he said.
Pai said that in the following months, the group's over 100 branches nationwide -- including 55 belonging to the bank -- will start selling bancassurance.
The group hopes this business segment will account for 30 percent of the bank's revenues in three years.
Elaborating on the lender's plans, bank president Mike Chang (張嵩峨) said it will focus more on the fee-income segment, and expects to expand into the pension fund and asset management markets.
The bank estimated that the deal will boost its operating performance, strengthen internationalization and facilitate the development of new products.
Since Polaris Financial became the Bank of Overseas Chinese's largest shareholder in December last year, raising its stockholding to a controlling 46 percent, the bank has undergone recapitalization and moved into the black in May, recording profits of NT$53 million (US$1.6 million).
The lender expects its non-performing loan ratio for last month to decline to 2.42 percent.
Skinner said that the focus of New York Life's efforts for the time being is to develop its cooperation with Bank of Overseas Chinese. It has no plans to invest in or merge with other Taiwanese companies, he said.
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 Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday reported record sales for the first quarter, which analysts attributed to solid demand for emerging technologies. Consolidated revenue totaled NT$592.64 billion (US$18.51 billion) in the January-to-March period, up 16.5 percent from a year earlier, but down 5.26 percent from the previous quarter, TSMC said in a statement. The first-quarter revenue beat analysts’ average projection of NT$579.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported. That performance lends weight to expectations that the world’s most valuable chipmaker would return to solid growth this year after weathering a post-COVID-19-pandemic cratering of smartphone and computer sales. TSMC is budgeting
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
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