ICBC to drop Taiwanese investment plan
(1 October 2015 – Taiwan) Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is poised to drop a plan to buy 20 percent of Taiwan’s Bank Sinopac after waiting more than two years for the passage of a cross-strait trade agreement involving financial services.
In a statement released earlier this week, the Chinese bank said its agreement to invest in Sinopac Financial Holdings Co. will not be extended if Taiwanese ownership rules are not amended before the deadline expires, expected to be this week.
Sinopac Financial’s Chief Financial Officer Michael Chang had valued the deal at about US$609 million (A$866 million) in April 2013 when the investment was first announced.
Bank Sinopac said in a separate statement that it and ICBC reached an agreement to focus on more realistic cooperation including leveraging the Chinese lender’s network for the use of Taiwanese clients.
Bank Sinopac’s chief executive of financial products, Ting Chen said on Wednesday “As the regulatory environment develops, there’s a chance we may revisit the deal.”
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