China Merchants’ application for Taiwan expansion postponed

Lender's less than 2 year branch in New York prompted Taiwan regulator to delay approval.

China Merchants Bank’s plans to open a branch in Taiwan have been postponed by Taiwan's banking regulatory agency, reports caijing.com, citing a company filing.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has already approved the Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Merchants Bank to establish branches in Taiwan, according to a report in CapitalVue.

On September 23, Taiwan's banking regulatory agency approved the first two banks to open branches in Taiwan, but review of Merchants’ application has been postponed until after the National Day holiday.

Taiwan requires that Mainland banks first have a branch in an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member country for a minimum of two years before then establishing a branch in Taiwan, yet Merchants’ New York branch only opened in October 2008.