Two government-linked banks slated to merge in May

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 24, 2006. It reports that two more government-linked banks in Taiwan will be merged in May 2006. They are the Taiwan Cooperative Bank and the Farmers Bank of China. The new bank will be called the Taiwan Cooperative Commercial Bank.

The merge is to comply with the government's policy of reducing the number of state-owned banks. Currently, the Taiwan cooperative Bank has a total of 171 branches around the nation, while the Farmers Bank of China has 109 branches. The new bank is therefore expected to have a total of 280 branches, the highest among domestic banks.

The new bank is expected to take more than 10 percent of the market share. It also plans to introduce international banking management practices by cooperating with foreign banks. Most significantly, the new bank is likely to move into areas such as non-life insurance, wealth management, and private banking.