ANZ completes RBS Taiwan acquisition
ANZ today announced it had completed the acquisition of The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Taiwan businesses, including the additional acquisition of the ABN AMRO Private Banking business in Taiwan.
Announcing the completion of the acquisitions in Taipei today, ANZ CEO Asia Pacific, Europe and America Alex Thursby said: “ANZ has operated in Taiwan for 30 years and with the completion of these acquisitions we are now a major bank in Taiwan with 22 branches and a substantial business covering retail, wealth, commercial, institutional and private banking.
“Taiwan is the fourth largest banking market and the fifth largest economy in Asia with growing linkages to mainland China. We see a significant opportunity for ANZ to grow in Taiwan both domestically and connecting our Taiwanese customers across Greater China and the Asia Pacific region.
” In addition to acquiring the retail, wealth, commercial and institutional businesses of RBS in Taiwan, ANZ has also completed the acquisition of the ABN AMRO Private Banking business in Taiwan. The two businesses were previously joined, prior to the sale of ABN AMRO to a consortium including RBS in 2007, and they remain closely connected sharing systems and technology.
The Private Bank acquisition gives ANZ a private banking team in Taiwan to develop ANZ’s private banking business in Greater China, adding operations in the Taiwanese cities of Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung.
To coincide with the completion of the acquisitions ANZ has launched a new Chinese name 澳盛銀行 - Au Sheng Yin Hang:
• ANZ will use its new Chinese name in Taiwan from today, and it will then be progressively rolled out in Hong Kong and China, subject to regulatory approval.
• The Chinese character ‘Au’ is an abbreviation for Australia and also connotes a bay or deep body of water, which is symbolic of money and wealth in Chinese cultures; ‘Sheng’ means prosperous and ‘Yin Hang’ means bank.
• ANZ has re-branded the former RBS and ABN AMRO branches in Taiwan to its new Chinese name.
Customers and staff have been transferred to ANZ with minimal disruption. Former RBS and ABN AMRO customers retain their existing relationship managers and can continue to access branches, ATMs and internet banking facilities as usual. ANZ has also introduced its new ANZ Signature Priority Banking service in Taiwan for affluent retail customers.
Taiwan is the fourth of six markets to transition to ANZ ownership following the completion of the RBS acquisitions in the Philippines, Vietnam and Hong Kong.