Rapid expansion to overseas markets in Asia has resulted in a 116 percent surge in risk exposure to the region since 2013, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) data showed.
In light of the high level of saturation, dwindling birthrate and limited profit growth prospects of the Taiwanese market, the commission in late 2013 began encouraging major financial holding companies to be more active in overseas mergers and acquisitions through the provision of regulatory easing and incentives.
Since then, profit contributions from overseas Asian markets among Taiwanese financial institutions had grown 144 percent to US$1.44 billion last year, compared with US$587 million in 2012, the commission said.
Among the world’s top 1,000 banks, profit contribution from Asia has risen to 51 percent this year, compared with 19 percent in 2006, the commission added, citing a report by The Banker, a British publication.
However, as the Asian markets become more important, total exposure by Taiwanese financial institutions have also surged 116 percent to US$202.8 billion as of the end of the first nine months, compared to 2013, commission data showed.
At the same time, overseas branches and representative offices in Asia set up by the world’s top financial institutions, including banks, insurers and brokerages, had grown to represent more than 60 percent of their physical presence globally.
Specifically, since 2013, the number of banking locations in Asia have grown 66 percent to 336, while the number of brokerages rose 14 percent to 83, and insurance service locations gaining 5.6 percent to 38.
In particular, the commission said that it is further ease regulations limiting brokerages from providing capital to their overseas subsidiaries.
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