The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday it would consider allowing local financial firms to invest in China’s finance leasing companies.
Banking Bureau Director-General Kuei Hsien-nung (桂先農) made the announcement after a meeting between Financial Supervisory Chairman Chen Yuh-chang (陳裕璋) and executives from about 20 financial firms to discuss investment in China.
Kuei said the commission would place the issue on the agenda of its weekly committee meeting today.
If all proceeds smoothly, subsidiaries of local banks and financial holding firms may soon be allowed to make the move, Kuei said.
Financial Supervisory Commission Vice Chairman Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) said the commission would also consider easing other cross-strait banking rules and promote other changes that do not require legal revisions.
Local lenders have urged the government to allow them to open subsidiaries, instead of branches, in China, and to own a stake in more than a single Chinese peer.
Chairpersons from Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), SinoPac Financial Holding Co (永豐金控), Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) and Taiwan Industrial Bank (台灣工業銀行) said in a joint statement yesterday morning that they could not compete with their foreign counterparts in the Chinese market because of these restrictions.
A bank branch cannot conduct yuan trading or process loans of less than 1 million Chinese yuan (US$147,100), among other financial services that offer better profitability, the statement said.
“Various kinds of limitations severely weaken local lenders’ abilities to take advantage of China’s booming consumer market and other banking business opportunities,” the statement said.
It added that major foreign banks have, since 2006, set up subsidiaries in China and are aggressively strengthening their presence there.
Wu said that as this involves talks with China, the commission would conduct a detailed study when planning the next round of talks with Beijing.
The financial firms also urged the commission to raise China-bound banking investment ceilings, which are currently capped at 10 percent and 15 percent of the net worth of local financial holding companies and banks respectively.
The lenders did not recommend a new ceiling, Wu said.
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],”