First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), the banking unit of First Financial Holding Co Ltd (第一金控), said on Friday that it is planning to open a branch in Chengdu, China, by the end of June next year.
First Bank said it has been given the green light by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) — Taiwan’s banking regulator — to open the Chengdu branch in Sichuan Province.
SECOND OUTLET
The branch would be First Bank’s second outlet in China.
The banking unit opened its first China branch in Shanghai in December last year.
Now that it has received approval from the FSC, First Bank said it would submit an application as soon as possible with the China Banking Regulatory Commission to obtain Chinese approval to establish the new branch.
The bank said that it would remit a total of 1 billion yuan (US$157 million) in stages to the new outlet as working capital.
MANUFACTURING HUB
Chengdu has grown in popularity as a western Chinese manufacturing hub for Taiwanese investors, and First Bank said that it hopes the planned branch will serve as its operations center in the region.
The bank added that it also plans to establish a financial leasing company in the city in order to better serve Taiwanese clients there.
The initiative would follow the bank’s moves in eastern China.
First Bank established a financial leasing firm called FCB Leasing in Suzhou in March to provide a wider range of services to clients of its Shanghai branch.
That branch has been designated by the bank as an operations center.
OVERSEAS BRANCHES
First Bank currently operates 16 overseas branches in cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Macau, Brisbane, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
It also has a representative office in Bangkok.
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