Taipei - Taiwan on Wednesday approved the
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's (ANZ) acquisition of the Royal Bank of Scotland's business in Taiwan. ANZ will take over the retail, commercial and institutional banking operations in Taiwan, which includes 1,400 staff, 21 branches and licenses for an additional 16 branches, effective April 17.
"Taiwan is a key market in our Greater
China strategy and the acquisition gives ANZ a substantial Taiwan business with more than 1 million customers and a sizable commercial and institutional client base," ANZ's chief executive of
Asia Pacific, Europe and America operations, Alex Thursby, said in a statement.
In August, ANZ agreed to acquire the Royal Bank of Scotland's retail, wealth management, commercial and institutional banking businesses in six countries for 550 million dollars.
The other countries were Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The
Vietnam and Philippines' acquisitions were completed in late 2009, with the remaining units to be acquired in the next three months, Thursby said.
Melbourne-based ANZ is the fourth-largest
bank in Australia and the largest bank in New Zealand. It has 5.7 million retail clients and 39,000 staff worldwide.
ANZ said its goal is to become a leading regional bank in the Asia-Pacific. dap dc tl
101334 GMT Mrz 10
