Taiwan Bank buys American Continental and plans further US expansion amid military tensions with Beijing

Taichung Commercial Bank of Taiwan announced Friday that it had agreed to buy California-based American Continental Bank for about $82 million to expand into the U.S. market.

American Continental Bank serves primarily Chinese American communities in the City of Industry and surrounding communities in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. It has offices in the City of Industry, Alhambra, Chino Hills and Arcadia in California and in Bellevue, Washington. The bank also has loan manufacturing offices in Fremont, California and Carrollton, Texas.

“We are excited to enter the Los Angeles, Washington and Texas markets and intend to open new offices in the United States,” President David Jia said in a statement.

Taichung Commercial Bank’s move comes this year amid heightened military tensions between mainland China and Taiwan. Taiwan is home to many of the world’s largest tech companies, and Washington has encouraged Taiwan’s chip industry to invest in the US. Semiconductor wafer maker GlobalWafers this year announced plans to build a $5 billion facility in Texas, and MediaTek, which competes with Qualcomm, will open a design center at Purdue University. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, one of the largest chip makers in the world, is already building a facility in Arizona.

According to Investopedia, the US currently has more than 70 Asian American or Pacific Islander American-owned banks. East West Bank is leading; Taiwan-based CTCB Bank belongs to this group. Far East National, then backed by Taiwanese bank SinoPac, was acquired by Los Angeles-based Cathay General in 2017.

The history of Taichung Business Bank dates back to the 1950s when it started as a savings cooperative. It took advantage of banking industry liberalization in the 1990s, following the end of nearly four decades of martial law in 1987, to expand north from its base in the central Taiwan city of Taichung into the richer market of Taipei, Taiwan’s largest city and main business hub . Today, Taichung Business Bank shares are traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of approximately $2 billion.

Taiwan is ranked 22nd in the world^nd largest economy. Taiwanese companies included in the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s top public companies include Hon Hai Precision — Apple’s major supplier led by billionaire Terry Gou — and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSMC, which makes computer chips for Intel. Others among Taiwan’s many Apple suppliers include Pegatron, Lite-On Technology, Inventec, Catcher Technology, Largan Precision, and Compeq Manufacturing.