Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has granted approval to a proposal submitted by Fubon Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Fubon Financial Holding to invest US$34 million to acquire a 20% stake in a commercial bank in Xiamen city, in mainland China’s southeastern province of Fujian, according to CNANews.

This approval makes Fubon Financial Holding the first Taiwanese banking group to obtain governmental permission to invest in a bank in China via an overseas subsidiary. The company is expected to forge a contract with Xiamen City Commercial Bank in the middle of the year if everything goes smoothly, says Gong Tien-hsing, president of Fubon Financial Holding.

Fubon Financial Holding’s total assets amounted to US$7.78 billion as of the end of 2007.

Xiamen City Commercial Bank was established in 1996 with investment by the Xiamen local government, as well as by several private companies and individuals. Now with 31 branches around the city, the bank touts itself as “the Xiamenese’ own bank.” Its total assets totaled 15.05 billion yuan and net assets stood at 440 million yuan as of the end of 2006.

• ICBC, Alibaba Sign New Online Deal
• Italian Bank Intesa Sanpaolo Acquires 20% Stake in QCCB
• Nokia Launches China’s first NFC Mobile Payment Trial in Xiamen
• ICBC Opens Subsidiary in the Middle East
• China UnionPay to Issue New Shares
• China Mobile Poised to Buy into SPD Bank
• ICBC Acquires Controlling Stake in Macau’s Seng Heng Bank
• China Minsheng Bank to Make Strategic Investment in US Bank