Over half of bank earnings came from abroad in 2005

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on May 11, 2006. It reports that Taiwanese banks saw their ratio of overseas earnings to overall earnings surpass 50 percent in 2005, for the first time ever.

According to the Banking Bureau of the Financial Supervisory Commission, pretax earnings made by the overseas branches and offshore banking units of Taiwanese banks amounted to NT$33.5 billion (US$1.046 billion) in 2005. This accounted for 55.14 percent of the overall earnings of these domestic banks, which totaled NT$60.9 billion (US$1.9 billion).

According to the International Business Committee of the Bankers' Association of Taipei, many banks have chosen to focus on the management of offshore banking units and on markets in Hong Kong and Vietnam, as part of their internationalization plans. The Bankers' Association of Taipei is also making efforts to put for the promotion of offshore foreign-currency check deposits.

Based on the earnings of offshore banking units and overseas branches, the top-five most profitable banks in 2005 were the International Commercial Bank of China, Chinatrust Commercial Bank, First Bank, Hua Nan Bank, and Bank SinoPac.

Specifically, the International Commercial Bank of China saw earnings from offshore banking units and overseas branches accounting for 47 percent of its overall earnings in 2005. Over the past several years, the Chinatrust Commercial Bank has also been stepping up its overseas operations.

Meanwhile, the Hua Nan Bank and the First Bank both registered NT$1.5 billion (US$46.87 million) in earnings from offshore banking units in 2005. Earnings from Hong Kong branches accounted for one-third of their overall earnings in 2005, with the remainder coming from overseas branches in Singapore, Los Angeles, New York and London.