Exposure to China among financial service companies in Taiwan fell 8.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.02 trillion (US$31.41 billion) at the end of last quarter amid concerns over a slowing Chinese economy and rising geopolitical risks, data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed yesterday.
Their exposure was down NT$100.018 billion as Taiwanese banks cut their combined exposure — including lending, investments and interbank loans and deposits — to NT$936.161 billion, down NT$73.997 billion, or 7.33 percent, from a year earlier, commission data showed.
Local banks’ exposure to China reached the lowest level since the commission started tallying it in the third quarter of 2013.
Photo: AFP
Taiwanese banks in the second quarter scaled back lending to the Chinese market by a combined NT$77.259 billion from a year earlier and decreased investments by NT$7.659 billion over the same period, although interbank loans to Chinese counterparts rose by NT$10.922 billion, the FSC said.
Their exposure accounted for 20.3 percent of the sector’s net worth at the end of second quarter, sliding for a 24th straight quarter and also hitting the lowest level since the data became available, the data showed.
Taiwanese insurance companies’ investments in marketable securities in China fell 25.8 percent from a year earlier to NT$70.3 billion at the end of last quarter, accounting for only 0.21 percent of the sector’s total disposable funds, the commission said.
The investments in Chinese securities were all made by life insurers, while property and casualty insurers have held no securities in China since January last year, it said.
Taiwanese securities and futures brokerages, as well as securities investment trust and consulting firms, cut their combined exposure to China by 9.67 percent annually to NT$14.207 billion at the end of last quarter, accounting for a mere 1.88 percent of the sector’s net worth, it said.
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