Taiwan’s 16 financial holding companies were most exposed to the US in the fourth quarter of last year, for the 27th consecutive quarter, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Saturday.
US-related loans and investments held by the nation’s financial holding companies in the fourth quarter totaled NT$7.047 trillion (US$245.5 billion), including NT$6.35 trillion in net investment, commission data showed.
The financial holding companies had the second-greatest exposure to the Chinese market at NT$2.45 trillion, the data showed.
Photo: AFP
Since the second quarter of 2015, when the commission began to track Taiwanese financial companies’ global holdings, exposure to the US market has risen to NT$7.047 trillion from NT$2.5 trillion, while exposure to the Chinese market has edged lower to NT$2.45 trillion from NT$2.5 trillion, the data showed.
Chinese-related loans and investments held by financial holding companies have over the past few months fallen briskly.
In the fourth quarter of last year, exposure to the Chinese market declined NT$54.54 billion from the third quarter, while net investment fell NT$55.62 billion and net lending fell NT$26.71 billion, although deposits and interbank loans in the Chinese market increased by almost NT$30 billion, the data showed.
In the fourth quarter, investment in China by Taiwanese financial holding companies declined for the fourth consecutive quarter, as authorities in Beijing took dramatic measures to rein in speculation in the technology sector and in real estate, Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance economist Lin Shih-chieh (林士傑) said.
Investment in China by Taiwanese financial holding companies is expected to continue to fall this year amid increasing concern that a spike in COVID-19 cases in China could hurt the country’s economic prospects, Lin said.
Taiwanese financial holding companies at the end of last year had the third-greatest exposure to the UK at NT$1.08 trillion, followed by France at NT$998 billion, Hong Kong at NT$931 billion, Japan at NT$858 billion and Australia at NT$770 billion, commission data showed.
As trade tensions between the US and China continue to simmer, Taiwanese financial holding companies have shifted some of their focus to the ASEAN market, the commission said.
The financial holding companies’ exposure to ASEAN member states at the end of last year totaled NT$1.72 trillion, up from NT$720.26 billion at the end of 2015.
Among the ASEAN member states, the Taiwanese companies had the greatest exposure to Singapore at NT$360.73 billion, followed by Indonesia at NT$347.39 billion and Vietnam at NT$325.51 billion.
In the ASEAN market, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam accounted for about 60 percent of the companies’ exposure, commission data showed.
As of the end of last year, the holding companies had a total overseas exposure of NT$62.15 trillion, the data showed.
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