Standard Chartered Bank aims to deepen penetration of the nation’s small and medium-sized enterprises and yuan-linked operations in a bid to distinguish itself from peers in the local market, Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Ltd president and chief executive officer John Tan (陳銘僑) said yesterday.
“There is ample room for Standard Chartered to strengthen its services to local small and medium-sized enterprises, which have been the backbone of Taiwan’s economy,” said Tan, who took office on April 1.
Standard Chartered Taiwan recently reshuffled its organization and concluded that commercial banking should also be a core business, in addition to corporate and retail banking, he said.
The lender plans to approach business based on customer needs rather than just seeking to sell products that pay better commissions, he said.
A yuan expert with long working experience in Hong Kong and China, Tan said he has seen great business opportunities linked to the currency, as Taiwan is serious about developing into an offshore yuan hub in the region.
The bank will help find channels to digest the nation’s rapidly accumulated yuan deposits in Greater China, Tan said.
Currently, 60 to 70 percent of local yuan deposits are parked at the Bank of China’s (中國銀行) Taipei branch, UBS Securities said in a recent report.
Standard Chartered Taiwan will also help local customers overcome regulatory barriers in the course of expansion in China as it has done for the past years, Tan said.
The latest statistics compiled by the central bank showed month-on-month growth of yuan deposits in Taiwan had slowed last month from March, mainly due to recent depreciation of the yuan.
The outstanding balance of yuan-denominated deposits in Taiwan reached 287.54 billion yuan (US$46 billion) as of the end of last month, continuing the trend of new historical highs, the central bank said yesterday.
The figure showed an increase of 7.13 percent, or 19.15 billion yuan, from the 268.39 billion yuan recorded at the end of March, slowing from the 8.64 percent month-on-month expansion recorded a month earlier, as the decline in yuan dragged down hedge demand, the statistics showed.
Additional reporting by Amy Su
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