Insurance giant Cathay Life In-surance Co (
The Cathay Financial Holding Company (
Application for approval of the merged firm will soon be submitted to the Ministry of Finance.
The ministry, which starts taking applications of financial holdings companies on Nov. 1, has said it expected to see 12 applications in the initial period.
Several financial institutions are to consolidate in order to form financial holdings firms, including Fubon Insurance Co (
Taiwan authorities have said the financial sector had to consolidate to improve profit margins and increase competitiveness.
Competing in Taiwan's overcrowded financial market are 53 domestic banks, 360 grassroots institutions and 38 foreign banks.
More consolidation and integration in the financial sector are expected in two years as the nation comes under pressure to streamline the industry in the face of a wobbly economy, Minister of Finance Yen Ching-chang (
Outside competitive pressures are also growing as institutions begin to prepare for Taiwan's entry into the WTO -- a move that will bring tougher foreign competition.
Analysts said the long-expected changes to the overcrowded sector would strengthen competitiveness over the long term, but that it will take at least one to two years before a leaner industry emerges.
"The design of setting up financial holding companies has opened a door to upgrade competitiveness of the financial industry," said Chen Chung-hsing (
"But it is not the only answer," he said.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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