Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), the nation’s second-biggest financial services provider, yesterday launched a new business aimed at serving Taiwanese businesspeople in China via a Chinese lender in which it owns a stake.
The company said in a statement that Xiamen City Commercial Bank (廈門市商銀), in which Fubon Financial has a 19.9 percent stake, yesterday set up a “Taiwan desk” devoted to providing financial services for Taiwanese businesspeople in China.
“Fubon Financial has been closely working with Xiamen City Commercial to expand their business and the Taiwan desk is a major step forward in the venture,” company chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) said in the statement.
Tsai said that the Taiwan desk would first target Taiwanese businesspeople in Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian Province and seek later to reach out to their counterparts throughout China.
In line with the expansion plan, Xiamen Bank chief Gao Zhouyang (高朝陽) signed a cooperation agreement with a local Taiwanese businesspeople’s association to provide loans worth 15 billion Chinese yuan (US$2.2 million) over three years, the statement said.
Gao said customers would be able to wire US currency at Taipei Fubon Bank (台北富邦銀行), which could be cashed in China the same day. He added that the transaction may be shortened to three hours if conducted online.
Besides the Taiwan desk, Xiamen Bank set up a credit division for small enterprises whose assets were valued at 30 million Chinese yuan (US$4.4 million) or less, the statement said.
Fubon Financial reiterated its plan to tap into the Chinese market once governments on both sides sign a memorandum of understanding now that it already has offices in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and the US.
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