Awards for Excellence 2009: Taiwan

Taiwan is non-Japan Asia’s least profitable banking sector, with a market long overdue for consolidation feeling the effects of an economic slowdown more severely than its neighbours. While Taipei Fubon Bank, the main banking subsidiary of this year’s winner, Fubon Financial Holdings, reported results as modest as the rest of its peers, the group as a whole is much better placed than many of its rivals. Analysts praise Fubon’s less leveraged, more conservative approach to lending and recognize the scope of the group’s ambitions to move beyond the stagnant domestic market. The group’s acquisition of ING’s life insurance business for $600 million is well regarded, and the bank’s move onto the Chinese mainland through its 19.9% stake in Xiamen Commercial Bank bodes well for the future.