Taiwan added to bond index
The nation's bond markets are expected to be included into Lehman Brothers' Global Aggregate Bond Index with a weighting of 0.5 percent and its Asia-Pacific Aggregate Bond Index with an indefinite but higher weighting, which is slated to take effect in January next year, Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
This can also help attract overseas funds to be injected into local bond market where sees none of foreign investment currently, Lin said. Taiwan's local bond market has a daily turnover of around NT$500 billion to NT$600 billion, ten times the amount seen in local bourse, he said.
CME making futures contract
As Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is formulating a new futures contract based on S&P Asia 50 index that includes 13 Taiwanese stocks, the nation's financial regulator would seek partnership with CME to introduce new products to be traded in the local futures market, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
"We hope to introduce the new futures contract to be traded in local futures exchange" in a bid to enhance product lineups in local market to lure more investors, the commission's spokesman Lin Chung-cheng (林忠正) said.
CME is slated to roll out the S&P Asia 50 futures contract in the first quarter of next year exclusively on its Globex electronic trading platform, according to CME's press release issued on Tuesday.
The futures contract is made based on the S&P Asia 50 Index, introduced to the market in 2003, that tracks the 50 largest stocks traded in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.
Temasek chief visits minister
Temasek Eric Chen (陳聖德), the greater China chief of Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings, yesterday visited Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) for nearly one hour, sparking speculations that the company remains highly interested in buying state-run financial institutions.
Chen left the nation's sixth largest financial service provider by assets, Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), as a president late last month to join Temasek.
As Temasek failed to acquire the preferred shares offered by state-run Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) in late July despite great efforts, Chen's meeting with Lin yesterday suggests that the company could be still looking for appropriate targets for merger.
Bank workers plan strike
The unions of state-owned banks plan a joint strike on Nov. 19 to protest against the government's plan to consolidate the financial industry, the Commercial Times reported.
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) has asked the Council of Labor Affairs to negotiate with the unions, the Taipei-based newspaper said.
Shares of Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀), 44 percent owned by the government, plunged Sept. 15 after the government said negotiations with an undisclosed buyer for a more than US$1 billion sale collapsed because of union protests.
Taiwan has almost 50 banks which cater to a population of 23 million people.
The government has said it plans to cut the number of 12 government-controlled banks by half by merging some and selling stakes in others, as well as halving the island's 14 local financial holding companies.
NT dollar declines
The New Taiwan declined against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, falling NT$0.100 to close at NT$33.469.
A total of US$1.06 billion changed hands during the day's trading.
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