Financial authorities said yesterday that they would stick to the policy of withholding approval for the establishment of new bank branches this and next year, as concern over overbanking remains.
Banks that want to expand their business bases are encouraged to continue pursuing merger and acquisition opportunities to acquire branch licenses, a Financial Supervisory Commission official said at a press briefing.
Financial institutions should use mergers and acquisitions to achieve reasonable economy of scale in the oversaturated market, said Susan Chang (
In future, the commission will review the necessity of approving applications for additional branches by both local and foreign banks in the first half of every year, she said.
Taiwan's banking system is still fraught with problems of fragmentation and interest margin compression, the international rating agency Fitch Ratings said yesterday.
Fitch has in recent months announced a series of rating upgrades on certain Taiwanese lenders, especially privately run banks that have been successful in developing a profitable consumer banking franchise, the agency said in a statement.
"The better-managed private banks in Taiwan had benefited from the expansion of retail banking through improved asset quality, increased diversification of revenues, strong fee income growth and enhanced risk management," Fitch said.
Looking ahead, "increased transparency and closer regulation in the credit card and cash card businesses should continue to support the performance of these banks as well as the industry as a whole, as well the gradual recovery in mortgage lending," Fitch said.
Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), whose Fitch rating was upgraded to `BBB' from `BBB-' in July, yesterday formally received the green light from the Financial Supervisory Commission to take over all the assets and liabilities of the 10th Credit Cooperatives of Hsin Chu (新竹十信), effective Oct. 18.
The NT$1.4 billion (US$41.5 million) merger will add another 12 branches to Taishin for a total of 101 across the country, making it the nation's 12th bank to have more than 100 branches, according to the commission's records.
Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行), with 181 outlets, has the most branches nationwide.
The First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) is second, followed by the Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫) and Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行).
The nation's financial holding companies pursued expansion through consolidation in droves this year.
Examples include Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), which won its bid to acquire Fengshan Credit Cooperatives (鳳山信用合作社) in July, and E. Sun Financial Holding Corp (玉山金控), which formally took over the Kaohsiung Business Bank (高雄企銀) earlier this month.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
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