The Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC) yesterday emptied its pockets to dispose of The Chinese Bank (
"In negotiations, the HSBC agreed to take over The Chinese Bank's assets, liabilities and operations [in return for a] payment of NT$47.488 billion [from the government's financial restructuring fund]," a CDIC press release said.
The parties are expected to sign a contract on Wednesday, the release said.
HSBC's asking price was within 10 percent of the amount offered by the CDIC, president Johnson Chen (
After the acquisition, HSBC's network of branches will increase from eight to 47.
"The Chinese Bank will provide HSBC in Taiwan with significant opportunities in retail, commercial and corporate banking, while we believe HSBC's international network, global expertise and financial strength will benefit our new customers and employees," HSBC Taiwan CEO Alistaire Currie said.
The acquisition also signifies HSBC's commitment to the nation, as "Taiwan is a key component of HSBC's Greater China positioning," HSBC chairman Vincent Cheng (鄭海泉) said in the same statement.
More than 750,000 Taiwanese companies operate in China, with Taiwanese direct investment in China totaling US$7.6 billion last year -- an increase of 180 percent from a year earlier -- Cheng said.
He said HSBC, a leader in Hong Kong and the largest foreign bank in China, was strongly positioned to benefit from the region's growing trade and investment.
To complete the deal, HSBC is required to establish a local subsidiary with a minimum capitalization of NT$10 billion in three years, or within one year of HSBC's total assets in Taiwan exceeding NT$450 billion, whichever comes first, the HSBC statement said.
As of late October, The Chinese Bank had a net worth of negative NT$29 billion. However, Chen said yesterday that the troubled lender's losses had worsened.
The bank now had debts of NT$130 billion, compared with only NT$90 billion in assets, he said.
The government's financial restructuring fund will have only NT$30 billion left in the coffers after another NT$12.9 billion is paid to Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), which agreed to purchase debt-ridden China United Trust and Investment Crop (CUTIC, 中聯信託) in October.
Under such circumstances, the CDIC may have to borrow as much as NT$18 billion from the central bank and domestic banks to pay for the HSBC deal, Chen said. He said interest rates for any loans had not been decided.
However, Chen said the CDIC expected to recoup some cash by liquidating The Chinese Bank's NT$20 billion holdings in consumer banking and NT$10 billion corporate banking businesses.
Chen said the agency would reserve enough capital to dispose of debt-ridden Bowa Bank (寶華銀行) in an auction set for Jan. 31.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”