The domestic banking sector has a total of NT$4.4 billion (US$135 million) in investment exposure linked to the bankrupt US automaker General Motors Corp (GM), the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
Three domestic banks have a total exposure of NT$943 million in GM-linked investments, Lin Tung-liang (林棟樑), deputy director of the commission’s banking bureau, told a media briefing.
The three banks have set aside NT$760 million to cover potential losses, he added.
Another 20 banks sold local investors NT$3.45 billion in structured notes linked to the US automobile giant as part of their investment portfolios, he said.
Of these, NT$3.33 billion in investments were principal-guaranteed, meaning that no losses would be incurred by domestic investors, Lin said.
The commission’s initial investigation concluded that no domestic insurance companies, securities brokerages or mutual funds were found to have directly invested in the bankrupt automaker.
In other news, commission figures yesterday showed that the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) for unsecured credit card loans saw a slight improvement in April, while the asset quality of unsecured cash card loans deteriorated slightly.
The nation’s 40 credit card issuers reported a total of NT$233 billion in consumer lending, 1.57 percent of which turned sour in April — down from March’s 1.64 percent.
The bad loan ratio for cash card lending, however, climbed 0.039 percentage points from the previous month to 3.349 points in April, the commission said.
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