Private Taiwanese players beat state counterparts in banking competitiveness

CTBC Bank topped the list.

Private sector banks in Taiwan zoomed past their government-led counterparts as they dominated the 2017 competitiveness rankings for the local banking sector released by the Center for the Study of Banking & Finance (CSBF) under National Taiwan University and the Banking Education Association of Taiwan (BEAT), reports Focus Taiwan.

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CTBC Bank snagged the crown with a score of 87.81 points. King’s Town Bank and E. Sun Commercial Bank completed the top three with 86.35 points and 85.5 points respectively.

Foreign banks also made their presence known with Citibank Taiwan snagging fourth place at 84.7 points and HSBC Taiwan with 82.7 points.

Interestingly, Mega Bank emerged as the only government-led bank to occupy a place in the top 10.

Hwatai Bank came bottom of the rankings with a score of 69.59 points after the bank was hit by a $39.1m (NTD1.2b) loss in 2017, when its non-performing loan ratio rose to 1.8%.

The competitiveness ranking took into account the banks’ financial strength, management views, overseas expansion and M&A activity.