Taishin looks to reduce bad debt figure

Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), the nation's second-biggest cash card issuer, expects to reduce its rocketing cash card bad debt ratio down to the regulatory ceiling of 8 percent this month, following the disposal of bad debts announced last month, the company said yesterday.

"We hope the sale of NT$5.5 billion [US$166.02 million] of bad loans, of which cash cards made up 90 percent, will cut our high cash card bad loans ratio by up to 4 percent," Taishin Financial Spokesperson Carol Lai (賴昭吟) told the Taipei Times in a phone interview yesterday.

Flagship unit Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) registered a cash card defaulted loan ratio at 11.97 percent in August. The bank has not issued any new cash cards since May.

Taishin Financial denied a report in the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday that it planned to write off up to NT$20 billion of bad debts this month.

"We haven't decided whether to do a one-time write-off or five-year amortization. We hope to come to a final decision by the end of this month after thorough consideration as to the potential impact on capital adequacy and earnings," Lai said.

Also, Taishin Financial said they had not set the share swap ratio for merger with Chang Hwa Bank (彰化銀行), refuting a report about a ratio of 1:1 and that Taishin International would be the surviving entity.