Foreigners, regardless of their residential status, will be able to take secured loans from local financial institutions by the middle of next month at the earliest, the Bankers Association of the ROC (銀行公會) said yesterday.
Consensus
"After canvassing opinions from member banks on this issue, the association's board of directors will finalize the regulations for banks to follow in its monthly meeting next month," said Elton Li (李蔭棠), chief of the association's consulting services center, during a telephone interview.
Li made the comments after the central bank on Monday night announced that restrictions on lending to foreigners, including people without alien resident certificates and institutional investors, would be lifted to stimulate domestic investment and activate the capital market.
George Chou (
Among the US$130 billion in foreign capital currently invested in the local stock market, two-thirds comes from retirement and mutual funds, which are not allowed to take out loans from local banks. The other third, hailing from securities firms, hedge funds and private equity, would be potential clients for New Taiwan dollar financing, Chou said.
Wide-ranging
The central bank has also ordered credit cooperatives, fishermen and farmers' funds to follow suit, the statement said.
Tsai Hsian-chung (
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