CTBC Commercial Bank Co’s (中國信託銀行) Japanese subsidiary Tokyo Star Bank has launched an office in Kumamoto, targeting growing corporate loan and housing mortgage demand in the region with the arrival of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), CTBC said yesterday.
CTBC is the second Taiwanese bank to open a new branch on Japan’s western island of Kyushu. E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) in September opened a branch in Fukuoka, which is less than an hour’s drive from Kumamoto.
Tokyo Star Bank is eyeing growing demand for loans and foreign exchange business for Taiwanese and Japanese suppliers of TSMC in Kumamoto, the bank said in a statement. The bank also set its sights on rising housing mortgage demand in the area, saying the real-estate market has been invigorated by the arrival of TSMC employees and semiconductor supply chain workers.
Photo courtesy of CTBC Commercial Bank
TSMC’s first fab in Kumamoto is scheduled to enter mass production late next year. The chipmaker has hired about 800 local employees to facilitate the fab’s operations.
“The launch of Tokyo Star Bank’s Kumamoto office aims to support the development of Taiwanese companies in the semiconductor chain in Japan and to provide consultancy services for Japanese companies’ deployment in Asia,” CTBC Bank president James Chen (陳佳文) said in the statement.
More than 35 TSMC suppliers are investing in Kumamoto or neighboring areas in Kyushu, as they want to stay close to the world’s largest contract chipmaker with immediate and quality services.
TSMC is planning to build a second fab, while speculation has emerged that a third plant is also under consideration.
Apart from CTBC and E.Sun, Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) and Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) have also opened new branches in Kyushu.
In addition, Taishin plans to set up a new branch in Fukuoka and Chang Hwa is considering launching a branch in Osaka in the first quarter of next year, after both received approval from Japan’s Financial Services Agency last month.
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