Standard Chartered Bank (渣打銀行) said yesterday its number of affluent Taiwanese customers rose 50 percent at the end of June compared with December last year, and that it was on track to double its client base by 2013 by providing more premium service packages.
The London-based financial services provider has sought to attract more high net worth customers with a minimum of NT$3 million in savings, lending and investment with the bank.
The move comes in the wake of Taiwan’s lowering of the inheritance tax from a progressive rate of up to 50 percent, to a flat 10 percent, to facilitate the return of overseas capital and boost economic growth.
“We see great growth potential in this business area,” said Annie Tan (陳薈賓), head of premium banking, at a news conference in Taipei.
The number of people with savings of US$100,000 in the country reached 1.7 million last year, higher than Hong Kong’s 1 million, Tan said, citing an unspecified international survey.
To attract this market, the bank yesterday launched a total-solution service package for wealthy customers, including four free airport pickups a year in the Greater China area, up to one month’s free airport parking and other privileges, Tan said.
These customers will also receive more bonus credit card points at select hotels, restaurants and department stores, the bank said.
Tseng Kuan (曾寬揚), head of consumer banking, said the new service package was designed to meet the need for professional and customized wealth management services and lower management fees.
Tseng declined to comment on the bank’s target market share and value, saying the new campaign was only part of ongoing efforts to strengthen its premium banking services.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
DOLLAR SIGNS: The central bank rejected claims that the NT dollar had appreciated 10 percentage points more than the yen or the won against the greenback The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell for a sixth day to its weakest level in three months, driven by equity-related outflows and reactions to an economics official’s exchange rate remarks. The NT dollar slid NT$0.197, or 0.65 percent, to close at NT$30.505 per US dollar, central bank data showed. The local currency has depreciated 1.97 percent so far this month, ranking as the weakest performer among Asian currencies. Dealers attributed the retreat to foreign investors wiring capital gains and dividends abroad after taking profit in local shares. They also pointed to reports that Washington might consider taking equity stakes in chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor
RSS