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Two foreign banks to quit Taiwan, a third halts growth

Two foreign banks plan to withdraw from Taiwan and a third is rethinking expansion plans due to changes in their headquarters' business strategies, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday.

The report said that Toronto-Dominion Bank of Canada and the Bank of California may leave Taiwan before year-end, while Cetelem Bank of France has canceled plans to expand business in Taiwan.

Financial Supervisory Commission spokesman Lin Chung-cheng (林忠正) said yesterday that he personally was not aware of the withdrawals planned by the two foreign banks and declined to comment further.

But Toronto-Dominion Bank confirmed to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa yesterday that it plans to quit Taiwan due to its headquarters' change in strategy.

"But we must first settle our assets and liability, and we don't know how long that will take," Toronto-Dominion Bank's senior manager Elain Huang said.

Bank of California refused to comment.

Cetelem Bank, retail banking arm of BNP Paribas group, said in a statement released late Tuesday that it will streamline operations in Taiwan because its business growth has been slower than expected.

"The bank has identified that its potential business development is much slower than planned," the bank's Taipei branch said in the statement.

After due deliberation, the bank has decided to stop new businesses but to concentrate on existing portfolios (including consumer finance, credit card, personal and installment loans), the statement said.
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