Chinatrust plans RI bank

Chinatrust plans RI bank

TAIPEI (Reuter): Chinatrust Commercial Bank , Taiwan's largest private bank, plans to set up joint-venture banks in Indonesia and the Philippines later this year, a company spokeswoman said.

"To cope with the government's southbound policy, we plan to set up banks in southeast Asia to offer financial services to Taiwan investors there," said Wang Li, Chinatrust's public relations manager.

Chinatrust plans to set up in October a joint-venture bank based in Jakarta with Indonesia's Tamara Bank. It will invest T$1.03 billion to take an 85 percent stake in the venture, which will be named Chinatrust Tamara Bank, Wang said.

Both governments have approved the Indonesian venture, she said.

Chinatrust also plans to invest some T$600 million by the year-end in a Manila-based joint-venture bank to be called Access Banking Corp., Wang said.

The venture, which will have three Philippine partners, needs final approval by the central bank there, she said.