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Bank to adopt Standard Chartered's name

Standard Chartered Taiwan CEO James McCabe, left, and Hsinchu International Bank chairman Wu Chih-wei, right, pose with children after announcing that Hsinchu International will be renamed Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan). PHOTO: YANG YA-MIN, TAIPEI TIMES

Following its acquisition late last year, Hsinchu International Bank (新竹國際商銀) will be renamed Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Ltd, the London-based banking group said yesterday.

The name change will be submitted for approval at Hsinchu International's annual general meeting on May 21.

Hsinchu International's incumbent chairman and president Wu Chih-wei (吳志偉) is expected to continue chairing the merged entity and to be responsible for strategy formulation.

James McCabe, current chief executive officer (CEO) of Standard Chartered's Taiwan branch, would also retain his title in the merged bank and oversee daily operations, Wu said yesterday at a press briefing.

The new name represents the combination of Hsinchu International's strong regional branch presence with Standard Chartered's international network and financial services to link Taiwanese customers to the rest of the world, Kai Nargolwala, executive director of Standard Chartered group, said in a statement.

The takeover marks the nation's first foreign buyout of a local lender, boosting the British banking group's number of local outlets from three to 86. The move has also driven other international banks in the country, including Citibank, to seek expansion through mergers and acquisitions.

Standard Chartered expects to see rising profitability in the wake of the merger.

"The combination of [the two banks'] business will result in greater profits and broader growth momentum," McCabe said, while declining to elaborate on forecast growth figures.

Standard Chartered incurred a loss of NT$3.3 billion last year in the wake of the consumer credit abuse problem. This compared with profits of NT$1.15 billion in 2005, the Financial Supervisory Commission's data showed.

Hsinchu International posted a huge loss of NT$5.45 billion last year, compared with profits of NT$3.26 billion a year earlier, the commission's data showed.
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