Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) yesterday said it has gained Prudential Financial Inc’s approval to delay its purchase of the US company’s Taiwanese unit as it awaits the Financial Supervisory Commission’s (FSC) approval of the acquisition.
“We keep in close contact with the US company and update it about our latest communication with the FSC,” Taishin Financial president Welch Lin (林維俊) told a virtual investors’ conference in Taipei.
Lin did not reveal how much additional time Taishin Financial would be granted, saying that it was striving to obtain the FSC’s approval.
Photo: Kelson Wang, Taipei Times
Taishin Financial on Aug. 11 last year signed an agreement with Prudential Financial Inc to acquire Prudential Life Insurance Co of Taiwan (保德信人壽) for NT$5.5 billion (US$196.55 million) before Monday last week, documents released by Taishin Financial and the commission showed.
Taishin Financial expects the acquisition to boost its profit momentum, but the commission has concerns over its effect on the firm’s financial stability and whether it would have enough capital to comply with stricter solvency rules for insurers in the coming years.
Taishin Financial reported that its securities unit, Taishin Securities Co (台新證券), has become its second-largest profit contributor, accounting for 9 percent, or NT$394 million, of its total profits last quarter, after its banking arm, Taishin International Bank (台新銀行).
Net fee income totaled NT$4.2 billion last quarter, up 18 percent year-on-year and the highest in a single quarter, Taishin Financial said, attributing the gains to an annual increase of 13 percent in fees from its banking unit’s wealth management and a substantial rise of 103 percent in fees from its securities unit.
However, fees from its credit card business declined 23 percent to NT$325 million, as cardholders shopped abroad less amid the pandemic, while domestic consumption generated relatively lower fees, it said.
Taishin Bank would this year focus on collaborating with retail channels, such as department stores and online stores, to boost its fee income, the conglomerate said.
The banking unit’s net interest margin rose to 1.13 percent, one basis point lower than at the end of last year and down from 1.21 percent a year earlier, Taishin Financial data showed.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The firm has already completed one fab, which is to begin mass producing 2-nanomater chips next year, while two others are under construction Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, plans to begin construction of its fourth and fifth wafer fabs in Kaohsiung next year, targeting the development of high-end processes. The two facilities — P4 and P5 — are part of TSMC’s production expansion program, which aims to build five fabs in Kaohsiung. TSMC facility division vice president Arthur Chuang (莊子壽) on Thursday said that the five facilities are expected to create 8,000 jobs. To respond to the fast-changing global semiconductor industry and escalating international competition, TSMC said it has to keep growing by expanding its production footprints. The P4 and P5
DOWNFALL: The Singapore-based oil magnate Lim Oon Kuin was accused of hiding US$800 million in losses and leaving 20 banks with substantial liabilities Former tycoon Lim Oon Kuin (林恩強) has been declared bankrupt in Singapore, following the collapse of his oil trading empire. The name of the founder of Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (興隆貿易) and his children Lim Huey Ching (林慧清) and Lim Chee Meng (林志朋) were listed as having been issued a bankruptcy order on Dec. 19, the government gazette showed. The younger Lims were directors at the company. Leow Quek Shiong and Seah Roh Lin of BDO Advisory Pte Ltd are the trustees, according to the gazette. At its peak, Hin Leong traded a range of oil products, made lubricants and operated loading
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
TRENDS: The bitcoin rally sparked by US president-elect Donald Trump’s victory has slowed down, partly due to outflows from exchange-traded funds for the token Gold is heading for one of its biggest annual gains this century, with a 27 percent advance that has been fueled by US monetary easing, sustained geopolitical risks and a wave of purchases by central banks. While bullion has ticked lower since US president-elect Donald Trump’s sweeping victory in last month’s election, its gains this year still outstrip most other commodities. Base metals have had a mixed year, while iron ore has tumbled, and lithium’s woes have deepened. The varied performances highlight the absence of a single, over-riding driver that has steered the complex’s fortunes, while also putting the spotlight
RSS