The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has voiced support for the consolidation of the private banking sector.
The FSC said on Wednesday that more mergers and acquisitions are needed to make Taiwan’s banking sector more competitive internationally. The FSC said several government-controlled banks are already negotiating merger and acquisition deals but progress has been slow. The FSC has asked 16 private financial holding companies to submit their road maps for the next 3 to 5 years. The FSC will provide the assistance needed for them to expand their scale.
The goal of these merger and acquisition deals will be to expand the scale of banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies so Taiwan’s financial sector can take up more market share and become more competitive in Asia.
The FSC said that of the 39 banks in Taiwan, only seven have more than a 5 percent share of total assets in the banking system. Mergers and acquisitions are the easiest way for these smaller banks to achieve the size needed to compete across Asia.