Sat, Sep 22, 2007 page12

• Bank of the West targets Taiwanese subsidiaries in US

  • By Kevin Chen / STAFF REPORTER
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  Bank of the West, a wholly owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas Group, has opened a representative office in Taiwan as the lender targets a growing number of Asian clients -- particularly Taiwanese companies -- in the US.

  The Taipei office, which is he lender's second in Asia after it established a Tokyo representative office last year, was formally launched on Wednesday.

  "More than 60 percent of our existing customers are from Taiwan," Yukinori Nishio, executive vice president and head of the San Francisco-based lender's Pacific Rim banking division, said in a teleconference yesterday.

  Many high-tech Taiwanese companies do business internationally, Nishio said, adding that the new Taipei office would enable the bank to build stronger relationships with potential clients.

  "With [the] new office in Taipei, we can advise our new customers in Taipei of what's the economic environment in the US," he said.

  Nearly 30 percent of Taiwan's listed companies have subsidiaries or affiliated companies in the US, the bank said.

  The bank's Taiwanese clients include EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), the nation's second-largest air carrier, CMC Magnetics Corp (中環), the world's second-largest maker of recordable CDs, and the Tzu Chi Buddhist Compassionate Relief Foundation (慈濟功德會), the nation's largest charity.

  Asked whether the bank would upgrade its Taipei office into a branch, Nishio said the bank had no such plans.

  A representative office is only allowed to collect market information and build customer relationships, but may not provide lending services.

  "We are focusing on helping our customers in the US and we are not intended to make a loan to companies here," he said.

  The bank has no plans to open more offices in Asia in the near future, he said.

  "This new office ... will also cover Hong Kong and China as well," Nishio said.

  The Taipei office is led by Jeff Chien (簡捷夫).

  "We have independent divisions with the bank that are targeting on Asian clients ... More than 200 people in these divisions who are either Taiwanese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and Japanese bilinguals or multilinguals," Nishio said.

  But the bank faces stiff competition from Citibank, HSBC and several Taiwanese banks with subsidiaries or branches in the US, including Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀), Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行).

  Moreover, some Taiwanese subsidiaries doing business in the US may see no need for financing as their parent companies have invested or provided loans to them.

  "Customers' needs are varied. While we are a local American bank, our approach is very similar to private banking approach, [in] that we can serve our customers from both corporate and individual sides."

  "We also provide some sophisticated products such as cash management and electronic deposit services, which are unavailable from branches of Taiwanese banks in the US," he said.
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