The landscape of Taiwan’s highly competitive financial sector is evolving as several mergers and acquisitions take place among its top financial holding companies – all part of moves designed to expand business operations, consolidate resources and strengthen regional advantages – signalling a broader trend of consolidation.

Taiwan’s financial regulator, the Financial Supervisory Commission ( FSC ), approved on March 31 the merger of Taishin Financial Holding and Shin Kong Financial Holding. The merged entity, which will be renamed Taishin Shin Kong Financial Holding, is expected to become the fourth-largest financial holding company in Taiwan by assets.

The new entity will hold NT$8.4 trillion ( US$254.8 billion ) in assets, ranking behind Cathay Financial Holdings ( NT$13.7 trillion ), Fubon Financial Holding ( NT$12 trillion ) and CTBC Financial Holding ( NT$8.8 trillion ). The two companies plan to complete the merger by the end of July. The merged group is also expected to have the second-largest market share in the credit card sector.

The merger between Taishin and Shin Kong has been in the works for over two decades. As early as 2002, the two companies had explored the possibility of a merger. However, the plan was halted due to regulatory requirements for Shin Kong Life Insurance to allocate an additional NT$19.6 billion in policy reserves, which created a major roadblock. In 2022, the proposal was raised again but ultimately failed due to disagreements over stock valuations.

However, both Taishin and Shin Kong approved the merger on August 22, 2024, through a share swap at their respective board meetings and jointly disclosed the decision as a material announcement.

Complicating matters, the following day, CTBC submitted a proposal to the FSC seeking approval to launch a public tender offer to acquire between 10% and 51% of Shin Kong’s shares, with the intention of pursuing a merger, pending regulatory clearance. However, the bid was rejected by the regulator, due to concerns over shareholder protection and market stability.

While Taishin successfully met the FSC’s five key regulatory requirements for mergers, the regulator still had concerns regarding the capital adequacy of Shin Kong Life Insurance. Even after the adoption of IFRS 17, the international accounting standard, and the Taiwan Insurance Capital Standard, Shin Kong Life is expected to face a capital shortfall of approximately NT$100 billion.

The integration of the merging companies, states Welch Lin, Taishin’s president, will begin with their banks, followed by their securities businesses and insurance arms, which will be completed in 2026.

Other mergers

This is not Taiwan’s first case of a financial holding company merger. In 2022, Fubon successfully acquired Jih Sun Financial Holding, marking the first-ever merger between two financial holding companies in Taiwan.

Another major deal – SinoPac Financial Holding’s acquisition of King’s Town Bank – was also approved by shareholders of both companies on March 3, 2025, with completion expected by Q4 2026.

SinoPac announced on December 27, 2024, plans to acquire King’s Town Bank in a transaction valued at nearly NT$60 billion ( US$1.82 billion ). The deal will be executed via a hybrid of stock swap and cash payment. For each share of King’s Town Bank, shareholders will receive 1.15 shares of SinoPac common stock and NT$26.75 in cash.

To fund the deal, SinoPac will issue 1.278 billion new shares and pay NT$29.72 billion in cash. Following the merger, SinoPac will significantly expand its presence in southern Taiwan and has committed to preserving the rights of King’s Town Bank employees and customers.

As well, CTBC has pursued, since last year, a series of acquisition plans targeting Shin Kong Financial, King’s Town Bank and PGIM ( Prudential ) Securities Investment Trust Enterprise, aiming to strengthen its branch network and business operations and rapidly grow its footprint. However, none of these acquisition attempts have succeeded. Previously, when Citi Taiwan sold its consumer banking business, CTBC participated in the bidding but failed to win due to a lower offer.

These developments reflect how Taiwanese financial holding companies are increasingly leveraging regional advantages, resource consolidation and risk diversification as core strategic drivers. And, with regulators gradually relaxing restrictions and continuing to encourage industry integration, Taiwan’s financial landscape appears poised for a new wave of structural transformation.