Taipei: CTBC Bank, the flagship banking arm of Taiwan-based CTBC Financial Holding Co., has obtained approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to open a representative office in Houston, the FSC said Wednesday.

According to Focus Taiwan, the FSC, the top financial regulator in Taiwan, stated that CTBC Bank's operations in the United States currently consist of a subsidiary based in Los Angeles, a branch in New York, and a representative office in Los Angeles. To further provide financial services to Taiwanese investors and assist them in expanding their reach in the U.S. market, the bank is planning to establish a representative office in Houston.

Taiwanese banks are initially allowed to open a representative office in foreign markets to gather market information before potentially upgrading the office into a branch. The FSC highlighted that a total of 25 Taiwanese banks have a presence in the U.S. market, with three maintaining subsidiaries and an additional three operating representative offices. In Texas, two Taiwanese banks have already established branches.

As of December 2024, CTBC Bank operates 12 branches in international markets, including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Delhi, Sriperumbudur, New York, Tokyo, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen, and Shenzhen. It also has subsidiaries in Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada, the U.S., Japan, and Thailand, along with representative offices in Bangkok, Hanoi, Beijing, Los Angeles, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, and Yangon.

In 2024, CTBC Bank reported that its pretax profit from overseas markets exceeded NT$20 billion, which accounted for more than 30 percent of its total pretax profit of NT$62.83 billion (US$193 million).