ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch financial services company, is in talks to take a stake in the Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (
ING may invest directly or through a share swap, taking up one or two of the 15 seats on the 96-year-old bank's board, said Chang Hwa spokesman Sheng Cheng-chang (沈振昌), confirming an earlier report in a Chinese language newspaper, citing president Mike Chang (張伯欣).
"ING and Chang Hwa are looking for ways to further cooperation in Taiwan," Sheng said.
ING, which owns shares in and has an alliance with Korea's H&CB, would potentially get better access to Taiwan's 23 million people.
The Ministry of Finance has invited executives from about 80 foreign banks, including ING, to a briefing Monday about financial industry reform to lure investments, said Kuo Chun-ming (
Officials at ING, which has fund management and insurance joint ventures with Chang Hwa, declined to comment. Chang Hwa in May hired ING to conduct a six-week review of its operations.
"It's the expertise brought by foreign partners, not their money, that will be a key element of financial industry reform," said Lin Tsui-pin (林翠萍), who manages Prudential Securities Investment Trust Co's (保誠投信) NT$400 million (US$12 million) Financial Fund.
Citigroup Inc, Taiwan's largest foreign bank and credit card issuer, in 2000 bought 15 percent of Fubon Group (
By the end of this year, Chang Hwa plans to apply to bring securities and insurance companies under a holding company, Sheng said. The ministry owns a 23.5 percent controlling stake in the bank.
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