Taipei Fubon Bank Co (台北富邦銀行) has secured approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to open a branch in Mumbai, India.
The FSC said in a statement yesterday that Taipei Fubon Bank — a subsidiary of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) — had taken into account the Indian market’s current and long-term growth prospects before deciding to set up a branch in Mumbai.
The planned branch is expected to help Taiwanese investors in India and local Indian enterprises access financing opportunities, including international syndicated loans, it said.
Photo: Kelson Wang, Taipei Times
The commission therefore issued the green light to Taipei Fubon Bank to seek approval from financial authorities in India to open a branch in the Indian financial hub.
If successful, it would be the fourth Taiwanese bank to set up shop in India, it added.
So far, CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行) has two branches in India, one in New Delhi and the other in Sriperumbudur, while Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), the largest Taiwanese lender, and Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) each have a representative office in Mumbai.
India is one of the 18 countries targeted by the government’s New Southbound Policy, which aims to enhance trade and exchanges between Taiwan and the 18 countries in Southeast and South Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand, to reduce Taiwan’s dependence on China. It was introduced after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in 2016.
As of the end of last month, Taipei Fubon Bank had overseas branches in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Binh Duong, as well as in Hong Kong and Singapore, the FSC said, adding that the bank owns a subsidiary — Fubon Bank — in China.
In addition, it has representative offices in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Sydney, Australia.
Fubon Financial last month retained the title of most profitable financial institution in Taiwan after it posted a net profit of NT$14.07 billion (US$446.3 million), up 131 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share of NT $10.8.
Taipei Fubon Bank also posted a new monthly high of almost NT$3.5 billion in net profit that month.
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