Koos Group (
Chinatrust Commercial Bank (
"The Koos Group is keen on exploring the possibility" of a financial holding company, he said in an interview. "Obviously we see value in putting all the parts together." A holding company will allow the entities to make further acquisitions under one umbrella and cross-sell products.
Reorganizing financial units into a holding company may also help promote discipline among Koos Group units, some investors said, as Taiwan's slumping economy hurts even rich families like the Koos.
In June, Amvescap Plc, Europe's biggest publicly traded fund manager, bought 70 percent of the Koos' Grand Pacific Securities Investment Trust Co (
The Taiwanese economy shrank 2.35 percent in the second-quarter and Albert King, president of HSBC Investment Management Taiwan Ltd, forecast the economy may contract as much as 8 percent in the third quarter.
"These family groups have been leveraging their assets, they are facing difficulties," said King, who helps manage about NT$2.5 billion in investments.
Koos Group has NT$36 billion in assets, about 20,000 employees around the world and a controlling interest in at least 80 companies.
If the Koos Group does merge its financial units into one company, it will be the latest Taiwanese company to announce plans to do so ahead of the November enactment of a new law allowing the formation of holding companies that can acquire lenders, securities companies, insurers and money managers.
KGI Securities, which has units in Hong Kong, China, Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines, is looking to acquire other brokerages. KGI is in talks with Singapore's J.M. Sassoon Holdings Ltd to help expand its broker, asset management, investment banking and proprietary trading businesses.
"We are looking not just in Taiwan but throughout the region" for potential acquisitions, Koo said.
He said KGI was looking to expand its relationship with Deutsche Bank AG, whose asset management unit signed a joint venture with the Koos Group in August to offer investment services.
"We have plans to work closer together to initiate other business in the region," Koo said. KGI Securities was formerly known as China Securities Co Ltd.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
RSS