Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), the largest lender in the country, is scheduled to open a representative office in Fukuoka, Japan, on March 22 at a time when the Taiwanese semiconductor industry is extending its reach into the Japanese market, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電).
Speaking with reporters, Bank of Taiwan chairman Lyu Jye-cherng (呂桔誠) said the bank has been a major supporter of the local semiconductor industry and is determined to follow the
industry’s move by making its presence felt in the Japanese market by providing one-stop shopping services to Taiwanese IC suppliers.
Photo: CNA
Bank of Taiwan would be able to integrate its strength in domestic business units (DBUs) and offshore business units (OBUs) along with its branches internationally to provide the best possible services to Taiwan’s high-tech sector in foreign markets, Lyu said.
To develop a better understanding of Japan’s economic and industrial development, the bank decided to open a representative office in Fukuoka with an application approved by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in early December.
Bank of Taiwan has forged close business ties with major Japanese banks, such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Mizuho Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, so the Taiwanese bank would be able to provide better services through such cooperation in Japan, Lyu added.
Bank of Taiwan already has a branch in Tokyo and operates branches in 10 other cities internationally: New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Sydney and Johannesburg.
In addition, Bank of Taiwan has representative offices in 10 cities including Mumbai, Yangon, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok and Phoenix, Arizona, where TSMC is building two advanced wafer fabs.
In Japan, the first TSMC wafer fab in Kumamoto is scheduled to begin operations on Sunday next week.
On Tuesday last week, TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, announced it would build a second wafer fab in Kumamoto — Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM) — through a joint venture with its Japanese partners.
The second fab is expected to break ground at the end of this year, with operations slated to begin at the end of 2027.
Together with JASM’s first fab, the overall investment of JASM would exceed US$20 billion, TSMC has said.
Led by TSMC, its suppliers are investing in Japan, which has prompted more Taiwanese banks to set their sights on the Japanese market, the FSC said.
On Feb. 6, the FSC approved an application from Bank of Taiwan to set up a branch in Tokyo.
The FSC said that in addition to Bank of Taiwan, First Commercial Bank, Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, Mega International Commercial Bank, Taiwan Business Bank, E.Sun Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank and CTBC Bank also operate branches in Japan.
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