CTBC Bank Co (中國信託銀行), the flagship banking arm of CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), has obtained approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to open a representative office in Houston, Texas, the commission said yesterday.
CTBC Bank’s operations in the US consist of a subsidiary and a representative office in Los Angeles, and a branch in New York.
To provide financial services to more Taiwanese investors and help them extend their reach in the US market, the bank plans to set up a representative office in Houston, the FSC said in a statement.
Photo: An Rong Xu, Bloomberg
Taiwanese banks are allowed to open a representative office in foreign markets first to collect market information before the office is upgraded into a branch.
A total of 25 Taiwanese banks have branches in the US market, with three having subsidiaries in place and an additional three running representative offices there, the commission said.
In Texas alone, two Taiwanese banks have branches, it said.
As of December last year, CTBC Bank has 12 branches in overseas markets, including New Delhi; Sriperumbudur, India; New York; Tokyo; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Singapore; Shanghai; Guangzhou; Xiamen; Shenzhen; and two in Hong Kong.
The bank also has subsidiaries in Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada, the US, Japan and Thailand, and representative offices in Bangkok, Hanoi, Beijing, Los Angeles, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney and Yangon, Myanmar.
Last year, CTBC Bank’s pretax profit generated from overseas markets topped NT$20 billion (US$615.54 million), accounting for more than 30 percent of its total pretax profit of NT$62.83 billion.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS