Barclays Taiwan aims to grow its foreign exchange and equities brokerage businesses in line with the British financial service provider’s efforts to deepen its presence in the Greater China area, chief executive Cosmas Lu (陸怡豪) said yesterday.
Lu said he expected the firm’s brokerage business to see fast growth this year after its entry into the local market in July last year.
“Toward that end, we intend to strengthen research staff with a focus on entertainment, retail and other non-tech sectors,” Lu told a media briefing.
These sectors are the biggest beneficiaries of Taiwan’s Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China — with some firms playing an influential role in industries in China, Lu said, citing as an example Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (康師傅控股), the producer of the popular instant noodle and beverage brand Master Kong (康師傅).
The company, which plans to change its name from “Barclays Capital” to “Barclays” on Monday, said the brokerage and advisory division generated more than 50 percent of income for the branch last year. Lu said he did not expect the underwriting business to make any major advances this year.
Barclays Bank PLC posted £5.59 billion (US$8.7 billion) in net income last year, a fall of 2 percent on a year earlier, while tier one capital rose from 10.8 percent to 11 percent, company data showed.
Exposure to debt-ridden Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Greece totaled £71 billion last year, compared with £8.2 billion in 2010, according to company statistics.
“There is ample business potential for us to tap in terms of foreign currency hedging for local companies and institutional investors,” Lu said.
Barclays Taiwan aims to become one of the top three foreign exchange players in the nation — measured by turnover — in the medium to long run, on a par with the group’s standing in Asia, Lu said.
Last week, in a meeting with the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), Lu urged the regulator to remove legal barriers for yuan-denominated wealth management services and products.
Taiwan, which outperforms Hong Kong in terms of capital and cross-border trade volume, should take advantage of the yuan’s internationalization, Lu said.
“The FSC appeared to respond positively and could ease rules later this year,” he said.
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