(30 March 2007 – Taiwan) Standard Chartered which has had problems in its business in Taiwan has completed the purchase of the island’s Hsinchu International Bank for US$1.2 billion and sees better times ahead.The bank said it expected a turnaround in its Taiwan business this year after posting a pretax loss of US$100 million in 2006 on the back of poor consumer credit.
The bank’s Taiwan head James McCabe said the outlook for 2007 was good and even better in 2008.
He said the bank saw good opportunity in wealth management, consumer banking, corporate banking and the SME segment.
The Taiwan banking market experienced a combined loss of T$7.4 billion in 2006 due chiefly to consumer credit card misuse but foreign players have again shown interest in the island now that the issue appears to have bottomed.
Citigroup could pay up to US$400 million for Taiwan’s Bank of Overseas Chinese.