DBS’s purchase of Citi’s local consumer business in January was a timely reminder of Taiwan’s allure. Yes, the island lies on a geopolitical fault line and the banking sector is crowded. But it’s also profitable and now welcomes digital disruption.

Of all the 13 consumer businesses on the block in Citi’s Asia revamp, Taiwan was the most prized. DBS’s successful bid bolsters an already profitable business – and doing so required some hard thinking about geopolitics by the Singapore bank’s board.

Record profits and fines, a big loss in Indonesia, Citi’s retail departure and a once-in-a-generation merger: it has been a strange year for Taiwan’s over-crowded banking sector.

JPMorgan’s blockchain units have launched a new validation solution called Confirm. It is another small step towards mainstream use of the technology in payments.

The chief executive of Taiwan lender E.Sun, Joseph Huang, tells Euromoney that banks are responsible for helping not just customers but the whole of society, as Covid-19 pushes countries into lockdown.

Despite being a global leader in IT and semiconductors, Taiwan has long been a digital laggard. The regulator has just issued the island’s first digital banking licences, but is it a simple case of ‘too late’ rather than ‘better late than never’?

As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.

It is unusual for a Taiwanese bank: owned by foreign institutional investors rather than bankrolled by a tycoon or controlled by the state, it’s also on a roll, investing heavily in digital and expanding fast around Asia… but can it last?

President Tsai’s flagship foreign policy aims to redirect bank lending and investment away from China and towards southeast Asia. Taiwan has tried to diversify twice before and failed – will it work the third time?

A falling number of corporates are choosing to list on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Given the dire after-market performance of Aslan Pharmaceuticals, it is not hard to see why.

Asian banks are increasingly proving themselves to be much more than just volume-hungry lenders.