The Development Bank of Singapore (DBS, 星展銀行), Southeast Asia’s largest bank, yesterday vowed to become a leading player in Taiwan and the region by exploiting its purchase of Bowa Commercial Bank (寶華銀行) last February.
With 40 branches across Taiwan and 950 employees, the Singapore-based lender said it intended to expand its workforce by more than 10 percent and form six banking hubs in cities including Taipei, Taoyuan and Kaohsiung this year.
DBS Group chairman Koh Boon Hwee (許文輝) said the bank was committed to Taiwan and would invest the necessary resources to build a strong presence.
“We believe there are many growth opportunities in Taiwan as it looks set to become a key financial center in Asia,” Koh told a news conference in Taipei.
DBS is the first Singaporean bank to make a major investment in Taiwan.
DBS CEO Richard Stanley said the expansion in Taiwan would reinforce the group’s Greater China strategy.
“We now have a sizeable platform to grow and extend our footprint in Asia,” Stanley said. “DBS already counted many Taiwanese small and medium-sized companies among its customers in Greater China. We look forward to leveraging our extensive footprint in Hong Kong and growing presence in China.”
Jerry Chen (陳亮丞), head of DBS Taiwan, said the bank had resumed all products and services previously offered by Bowa before its takeover by the Central Deposit Insurance Corp.
Looking ahead, Chen said DBS would continue to build on the strong foundation of its Taipei branch, set up in 1983, which serves medium and large corporations, and offer a comprehensive array of products and services in Taiwan targeted at small and medium enterprises as well as the affluent.
“We are pleased to have obtained credit card and wealth management licenses, which will enable us to offer holistic wealth management solutions to individual customers in Taiwan,” Chen said.
Toward that end, the company plans to establish enterprise banking hubs in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, after opening its first priority banking center at the newly renovated branch on Dunhua N Road in Taipei yesterday.
The bank said it was also exploring ways to optimize its branch network in Taiwan by relocating some branches to more convenient locations.
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