TAIWAN: The Ministry of Finance has approved...

TAIWAN: The Ministry of Finance has approved 15 applications for establishing private commercial banks as part of its efforts to liberalize the country’s banking industry. The new banks, selected from among 19 applications submitted before the October, 1990, deadline, are the first approved since the mid-1970s. “This is an historic move,” Vice Finance Minister Lee Chung-ying said at a news conference. “The opening of new private banks marks a big step forward in liberalizing our banking system,” Lee said. “We hope these banks will stimulate our banking industry to become more efficient and to eventually penetrate international financial markets.” Lee said the government approved more banks than expected because the local financial market is large enough to permit new banks to become viable. He said the competition will spur the 24 existing government-owned banks to enhance the efficiency of their operations and the quality of their services.