By Fanny Liu, Dow Jones Newswires | September 15, 2011
TAIPEI (Dow Jones)–The Financial Supervisory Commission said Thursday it is still reviewing Chinatrust Financial Holding Co.’s (2891.TW) planned US$180 million acquisition of MetLife Inc.’s (MET) Taiwan life insurance unit, after the application was submitted five months ago.
Lin Tung-liang, secretary-general of the insurance bureau of the FSC, told reporters the regulator is now reviewing the “eligibility” of the major shareholders of Chinatrust.
Taiwan’s government does background check on buyers, including their nationality and funding sources, if a merger or acquisition target is a local company or a local operation.
Chinatrust Financial, which owns Chinatrust Commercial Bank Co., Taiwan’s largest credit-card issuer, has outlets in Taiwan, the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Indonesia.