Overseas exposure of local financial firms hits new high in June

Taipei, Aug. 10 (CNA) The overseas exposure of Taiwan's financial holding companies hit a new high at the end of the second quarter, with growth in exposure to Japan the highest among those institutions' 10 top debtor countries, according to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

Taiwanese financial holding firms' exposure to overseas markets as of the end of June reached NT$31.48 trillion (US$976.88 billion), eclipsing the previous record of NT$30.6 trillion at the end of March, data released by the FSC, the top financial regulator in Taiwan, showed.

The FSC has tallied the overseas exposure of the local financial holding sector since the second quarter of 2015, calculating its overseas lending, interbank loans and investments. All three categories rose in the second quarter of 2026.

Japan remained the third-largest debtor country of Taiwanese financial holding firms at the end of June, with exposure to Tokyo surging 45.9 percent from the first quarter, the data showed.

Analysts said the rise largely reflected an increase in economic activity between Taiwan and Japan as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s investments in Kumamoto prompted other Taiwanese manufacturers to inject funds into Japan's market.

As of the end of the second quarter, Taiwanese financial holding firms' exposure to Japan totaled NT$1.6 trillion, up 45.9 percent from a year earlier and up 4.3 percent from the first quarter, when Tokyo ranked as the third largest debtor country for the first time.

The United States remained the largest debtor country of Taiwan's financial holding firms at the end of June for the 45th consecutive quarter, with exposure at NT$11.1 trillion.

That was up 16.7 percent from a year earlier and up 4.48 percent from a quarter earlier, the data showed.

Analysts said the increase in exposure to the U.S. largely reflected an increase in long-term investments in marketable securities and bonds in the well-developed American capital market.

China remained the second largest debtor country of local financial holding companies, with exposure at about NT$2 trillion as of the end of June, up 6.4 percent from a year earlier and up 3.4 percent from a quarter earlier.

Australia came in fourth. Taiwanese financial holding firms' exposure there rose 29.8 percent from a year earlier and 2.34 percent from a quarter earlier to NT$1.5 trillion at the end of June.

Bank sources said a growing number of Taiwanese banks were keen to open a branch in Australia amid optimism over corporate banking and cross-border financing.

The remaining economies in the top 10 were France (NT$1.41 trillion), the United Kingdom (NT$1.35 trillion), South Korea (NT$1.23 trillion), Hong Kong (NT$1.04 trillion), Canada (NT$919 billion) and the United Arab Emirates (NT$626 billion), according to the FSC.