State-run Taiwan Business Bank (TBB, 台灣企銀) has gained approval from the US regulator to set up a branch office in New York, according to a statement issued on Thursday.
The regulatory green light granted by the US Federal Reserve Board took effect immediately, the statement said.
The approval is to allow TBB to expand its business in the US from the west coast to eastern regions. It is also to help increase the number of the lender’s overseas branches from six to seven.
TBB currently operates a US branch in Los Angeles; two Australian branches, in Sydney and Brisbane; a Hong Kong branch; and branches in Shanghai and Wuhan in China.
Small and medium-sized enterprises are the primary clientele of TBB, which has 125 branches in Taiwan.
The bank held consolidated assets of about US$45 billion as of June 30 last year, ranking it the 14th-largest bank in Taiwan.
State-run Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) controls a 17.2 percent stake in TBB, the statement added.
Separately, Taiwan Cooperative Bank (TCB, 合作金庫銀行), the banking arm of Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co (合庫金控), on Thursday opened a representative office in Yangon, Myanmar, the bank’s fifth foothold in the ASEAN market.
ASEAN FOOTHOLD
The bank’s four other units in the ASEAN market are one branch located in Phnom Penh; two sub-branches located in Tuek Thla and Pur Senchey, also in Cambodia; and another branch located in Manila.
The bank said that the representative office in Yangon is expected to help the bank extend its reach in the ASEAN market and take advantage of the market’s great growth potential.
TCB operates 15 overseas branches: five in ASEAN; two in the US; one in Belgium; one in Australia; five in China; and one in Hong Kong.
On Thursday, the bank gained regulatory approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission to open a branch in Changsha in China’s Hunan Province.
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