Local financial firms cut China lendingRISK REDUCTION: Although China remains the second-largest market to which local financial holding firms are exposed, last quarter exposure to the country fell 2.3 percentBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterThe nation’s 16 financial holding companies last quarter cut their combined lending to China to NT$671.34 billion (US$22.73 billion) from NT$698.26 billion in the first quarter, down 9.2 percent from NT$739.71 billion a year earlier, data released on Saturday by the Financial Supervisory Commission showed. The financial holding companies’ combined foreign lending last quarter fell to NT$3.54 trillion, compared with NT$3.56 trillion in the first quarter and NT$3.58 trillion a year earlier, the data showed. Many financial holding companies last quarter shifted their China lending business to focus mainly on syndicated loans to diversify risks, it added. Compared with the second quarter of last year, Taiwanese financial firms’ lending to China had fallen by NT$68.4 billion as of the end of June, the data showed. The financial holding companies’ combined foreign exposure — including foreign investment, and corporate and interbank lending — totaled NT$20.42 trillion in the second quarter, the data showed.

Source: Taipei Times September 06, 2020 15:56 UTC