FSC says BIS ratio of five banks drops below required 8%

Five banks saw their capital adequacy ratio drop to below the mandatory 8 percent in the second quarter, with Chinfon Bank (慶豐銀行) plunging to just 3.93 percent, government data showed yesterday.

Chinfon Bank saw its capital adequacy ratio -- also known as the BIS ratio that measures a bank's financial strength -- fall by 2.38 percent from 6.31 percent in the first quarter, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said in a posting on its Web site yesterday.

Far Eastern International Bank (遠東商銀) posted 7.93 percent in the ratio in the April-June quarter, the first time it has fallen below the mandatory 8 percent, the commission said.

Cosmos Bank (萬泰銀行) saw the biggest drop, posting a ratio of 5.05 percent in the second quarter from 7.51 percent in the first.

It was followed by the Bank of Overseas Chinese (華僑銀行), which had a ratio of 5.86 percent in the second quarter and EnTie Commercial Bank (安泰銀行) with a 6.38 percent ratio.