The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday it would resume issuing licenses to qualified local banks wishing to set up new branches this month after freezing the issuance of the permits for six years to promote consolidation in the nation's crowded banking sector.
The commission's decision will not apply to foreign banks and industrial banks, as the regulator will review their applications on a case-by-case basis, commission spokesperson Susan Chang (張秀蓮) said.
This month
Local banks must file their applications by the end of this month for two new branches and those that plan to set up outlets in rural areas will be eligible to receive one more license.
The commission will issue no more than 10 branch licenses to banks and two to cooperatives each year, Chang said.
Banks must meet 10 requirements, including a capital adequacy ratio exceeding 10 percent last year and a bad loan ratio that is not higher than 2 percent.
Helping out
Financial institutions that fail to meet the conditions but that have helped the government take over or manage troubled rivals within the past year will also be eligible to apply to set up new branches, Chang said.
So far, three institutions have managed or taken over troubled banks -- Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行); Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), which took over Great Chinese Bills Finance Corp (力華票券); and Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), which helped manage China United Investment and Trust Co (中聯信託).
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
CUSTOMERS’ BURDEN: TSMC already has operations in the US and is a foundry, so any tariff increase would mostly affect US customers, not the company, the minister said Taiwanese manufacturers are “not afraid” of US tariffs, but are concerned about being affected more heavily than regional economic competitors Japan and South Korea, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said. “Taiwan has many advantages that other countries do not have, the most notable of which is its semiconductor ecosystem,” Kuo said. The US “must rely on Taiwan” to boost its microchip manufacturing capacities, Kuo said in an interview ahead of his one-year anniversary in office tomorrow. Taiwan has submitted a position paper under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act to explain the “complementary relationship” between Taiwan and the US
Pegatron Corp (和碩), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is to spend NT$5.64 billion (US$186.82 million) to acquire HTC Corp’s (宏達電) factories in Taoyuan and invest NT$578.57 million in its India subsidiary to expand manufacturing capacity, after its board approved the plans on Wednesday. The Taoyuan factories would expand production of consumer electronics, and communication and computing devices, while the India investment would boost production of communications devices and possibly automotive electronics later, a Pegatron official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. Pegatron expects to complete the Taoyuan factory transaction in the third quarter, said the official, who declined to be
RSS