Standard Chartered Bank expects to double its client revenue in wholesale banking in the greater China market within the next four years by leveraging the resources obtained through the buyout of Hsinchu International Bank (新竹國際商銀), the British lender said yesterday.
"It is an exciting deal and the acquisition helps increase six times the number of wholesale banking customers," Andrew Bester, regional head of Standard Chartered's wholesale banking client relationships for greater China and Japan, told a media briefing in Taipei yesterday.
The transaction brings a significant customer base to the bank, including the supply chain across Asia of a major US global retailer, to which the bank hitherto had no access, Bester said.
PHOTO: YANG YA-MIN, TAIPEI TIMES
The British banking group announced last September it would take over its Hsinchu-based rival, marking the first buyout of a local bank by foreign interests as the regulator sought to consolidate the crowded banking industry.
The acquisition makes Standard Chartered the international bank with the biggest franchise network in Taiwan, with 86 branches nationwide.
The bank said the deal would give it access to a considerable number of Taiwanese customers operating in China, where it plans to have 40 outlets -- up from 21 at present -- by the end of this year and completes its layout for markets in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.
Standard Chartered plans to keep building franchises in the region to strengthen its status as one of the top three foreign wholesale banks in the greater China market and double client revenue by 2011, Bester said.
The bank saw a 39 percent annual rise in client revenue in greater China wholesale banking last year, beating an Asia-wide 23 percent in group revenue and Taiwan's 37 percent.
The bank has set up its Taiwan desk, comprised of a group of Taiwanese bankers in cities including Suzhou and Shanghai, to serve China-based Taiwanese clients, said Helen Hui (許穗華), head of client relationships at Standard Chartered Taiwan's wholesale banking unit.
International banks have aggressively taken over Taiwanese rivals to expand their business base in the region, posing a grave threat to local lenders that dominate lending to Taiwanese companies operating overseas and in China.
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