Taipei, May 9, 2008 (CENS)--Overseas banking units run by Taiwan and foreign banks handled import and export foreign exchanges and remittances across the Taiwan Strait totaling some US$209.8 billion in 2007, representing a year-on-year-growth of 27% to show such operators have become key handlers of financial transactions for Taiwanese firms in mainland China, according to the Cabinet-level Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

The FSC made the remark at a commissioner meeting of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC). With remittances through OBUs bearing advantages as tax exemption for deposits and high degree of confidentiality, such remittance over the past few years across the Taiwan Strait has registered double-digit growths annually, with increasingly more Taiwanese firms in China taking advantage of the convenient service.

The FSC survey showed a total of 31 domestically owned and 16 foreign banks handled remittances and export and import foreign exchange transactions through OBUs last year. In addition, these OBUs and their overseas subsidiaries saw outstanding capital amount to US$1.035 billion last year.

To help the international competitiveness of these OBUs and their overseas subsidiaries, the FSC has allowed them to handle foreign currency factoring business. At the same time, the commission has also allowed these OBUs to extend loans to foreign firms` subsidiaries located in China. The FSC hopes Taiwan banks will be able to rapidly attract more Taiwanese and foreign firms to use the OBUs as key financial handlers across the Taiwan Strait.

Despite having deregulated the OBU operations, the FSC does not plan to allow mainland Chinese enterprises to use the services offered by Taiwan bank OBUs.

(by Ben Shen)