Financial Supervisory Commission Head Dr. Huang Tien-mu says there are four primary reasons behind Citibank’s decision to halt consumer banking services in Taiwan. Huang was speaking before the Legislature on Wednesday morning. The US banking giant announced last week that it was pulling out of 13 consumer banking markets, including Taiwan.
Huang says that international banks are still fine-tuning their cross-national strategies after the 2008 global financial crisis. He also said that operating costs for financial institutions are on the rise as well. Huang said that digitization of financial products and strong competition from Taiwan’s domestic banks have all factored into Citibank’s departure.
Huang assured lawmakers that his commission will make sure Citibank’s departure is handled in a way that protects the rights of the bank’s employees and clients.