The Finance Ministry is encouraging national banks to develop private banking to motivate Taiwanese businessmen in Hong Kong to move their assets back to Taiwan.
Last month, China passed a controversial national security law for Hong Kong that gives Beijing unprecedented power over the city. Taiwan’s government and banks have been keeping a close eye on political changes in Hong Kong, and Taiwan’s national banks with branches in Hong Kong have become stricter in granting loans to Chinese businesses because of the law.
Mega International Commercial Bank President Robert Tsai said that the bank’s Hong Kong branch relies heavily on Taiwanese business people's savings, a resource that the government is hoping to move back to Taiwan. Tsai said that the bank will be taking the government’s advice in developing more private banking operations.
Other countries are also reconsidering its business relations with Hong Kong. Among them, the United States has suspended special tariffs it used to grant Hong Kong as a response to the law.