Foreign lenders are expanding staff in Taiwan to take advantage of coming business opportunities linked to the Chinese yuan as the nation aims to develop into a regional offshore yuan trading hub.
Standard Chartered PLC plans to add between 50 and 100 frontline staff members next year as the local branch of the British lender aims to grow its retail customers by 10 percent, newly appointed consumer banking head Tiew Siew-chuen (張秀娟) said last week.
“It is achievable to expand the customer base by 10 percent next year from the current 1 million,” Tiew said.
Toward that end, Standard Chartered Taiwan intends to strengthen services to small and medium-sized enterprises and affluent Taiwanese, Tiew said.
More than 40 percent of Taiwanese have expressed interest in owning yuan deposits once Taiwan extends yuan-linked products and services, currently restricted to corporate customers via offshore banking units, to domestic banking units, Tiew said, citing an internal poll.
That suggests 4.4 million potential customers based on a population of 11 million aged between 30 and 60, she said.
Yuan-denominated time deposits top the list of choices because 57 percent of respondents indicated a willingness to open accounts to benefit from higher interest rates and the currency’s likely appreciation, the survey showed.
“We would offer the most competitive interest rates available to win customers,” Tiew said.
DBS Taiwan (星展銀行) also plans to recruit new management associates in an annual bid to strengthen its personnel lineup, the Singaporean bank said in a statement last week.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group will increase its headcount in the second quarter, the lender said.
Citibank Taiwan (台灣花旗) plans to hire more management associates.
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