Taiwan's Syndicated Loans Hit 6-Year Quarterly Low of US$4.5B. in Q3

Due mainly to weak market demand, Taiwan's syndicated loans shrank to US$4.5 billion in Q3, a new 6-year quarterly low, according to the statistics compiled by Bloomberg, a U.S.-based business news and financial information provider.

Of the top-10 syndicated lenders, nine were Taiwanese banks and the Development Bank of Singapore was the only foreign bank, with three commanding  market share of over 10%, namely Bank of Taiwan (BOT), Mega International Commercial Bank, and Taiwan Cooperative Bank with percentages of 18.3%, 10.6% and 10%, respectively.

Of those ranked No. 11 to No. 20, half were foreign banks including Mizuho Corporate Bank, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., and United Overseas Bank with market share of 0.9%-1.6% each.

In the first three quarters  syndicated loans accumulated to US$16.58 billion, down 12.5% from last year's corresponding US$18.943 billion.

Recently some foreign banks have been issuing U.S. dollar-denominated bonds in Taiwan. Lately the Development Bank of Singapore floated bonds valued  US$230 million and United Overseas Bank some US$353 million, with both being Singaporean banks.

In addition, USB AG, a Swiss bank, issued bonds totaling US$750 million early in September and Societe Generale, a French bank, raised funds of US$605 million in the first half of July. (JL)

Taiwan's Top-10 Syndicated Lenders in Q3, 2014                                   Unit: US$B.
Rank	Lender	Loan value
1	BOT	3.032
2	Mega	1.762
3	Taiwan Cooperative	1.663
4	Land Bank of Taiwan	1.325
5	Taishin International Bank	1.307
6	Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank	1.26
7	CTBC Bank	0.976
8	First Bank	0.891
9	Chang Hwa Bank	0.602
10	The Development Bank of Singapore	0.478

Source: Bloomberg