Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, Ltd., Referred To As Chang Hwa Bank Or CHB, Is One Of The Large Commercial Banks In Taiwan. It Was Founded On June 5, 1905 By Shi Shen In The Central Part Of The Japanese Occupation. It Is One Of The Three Commercial Banks. It Was Named After The Head Office Was Originally Established In Changhua And Is Located In The Current Location Of Chang Hwa Bank Changhua Branch. However, Due To The Rapid Development Of Taichung, It Gradually Replaced Changhua's Influence In Central Taiwan, So The Business Department Was Moved To Taichung After 5 Years Of Establishment. Chang Hwa Bank Is Also One Of The "eight Major Banks" In Taiwan.
Due To Operating Problems In The 2000s, In The Second Financial Reform, Private Capital Rescue Was Introduced, And Taishin Financial Holdings Obtained The Largest Single Equity Stake, But Then The Problem Of Government And Private Shares Competing For Operating Rights Gradually Arose. It Was Not Until August 2022 That Taishin Financial Holdings And The Ministry Of Finance Reached A Consensus To Resolve The Dispute. Taishin Financial Holdings Withdrew Its Lawsuit Against The Ministry Of Finance To "confirm The Existence Of The Contractual Relationship Between The Operation Rights Of Chang Hwa Bank" And Has Significantly Reduced The Shareholding Of Chang Hwa Bank. On June 16, 2023, The Shareholders' Regular Meeting Completed The Re-election Of Directors. The Nomination List Of Directors Was Fully Nominated By The Public Share Camp, Which Also Means That Taishin Financial Holdings Will Fully Withdraw From The Board Of Directors Of Chang Hwa Bank, Officially Ending The 18-year Battle Over The Right To Operate.
The Earliest Taiwanese Self-funded Bank In Changhua Was A Serious Phenomenon In The Qing Dynasty. In Order To Clear The Lease Rights During The Japanese Occupation, The Japanese Government Paid Huge Public Bonds. In Meiji 38 (1905), The Central Taiwan Local Gentry Headed By Wu Ruxiang, In Order To Solve The Public Debt Problem, And Raised Funds 220,000 Yen As A Capital Organization To Establish "Chang Hwa Bank, Ltd.", With Its Head Office In Changhua Hall. At That Time, Lu Gang Celebrity Gu Xianrong Was Also Selected As The Monitor. It Was The First Bank Established By Taiwanese Self-financing. In 1910, The Head Office Of CHB Was Moved To Taichung Hall. In 1936, CHB Built A New Head Office (now Taichung Head Office), Which Was Completed In September 1938. The New Head Office Was Designed By Haofu Shirakura And Kizaburo Hatayama. It Is A Classical Building.
After The War, It Was Reorganized Into Changhua Commercial Bank. On October 16, 1946, After World War II, CHB Established The "Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Preparatory Office", With Lin Xian-tang, The Head Of The Lin Family At That Time, Serving As The Preparatory Director, And The National Government Accepting The Shares Of The Former Japanese Shareholders Of CHB. In February 1947, Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Held Its Founding Shareholders' Meeting, And The Board Of Directors Elected Lin Xian-tang As The Chairperson; On March 1, CHB Was Officially Restructured Into Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, With A Total Capital Of The Old NT $10 Million; At This Point, CHB Became A Provincial Bank Of Government-private Joint Stock.
In 1948, A Baseball Team Was Established, And With Five Other Bank Baseball Teams, It Played An Important "bank Guild Game" In Taiwan's Early Baseball History (also Known As The Six Banks Library Baseball Game) Until The Team Was Disbanded In 1960.
The First Bank In Taiwan To List Its Shares. In February 1950, The Total Capital Of CHB Was Adjusted To NT $2 Million. On February 15, 1962, CHB Became The First Bank In Taiwan To List Its Shares.
Privatization Of Public Enterprises In December 1997, The Taiwan Provincial Government Publicly Solicited Its Holdings Of CHB Common Shares To Implement The Privatization Policy Of Public Enterprises. On January 1, 1998, CHB's Official Shareholding Was Reduced To Less Than 50%, Achieving Nominal Privatization; On December 21 Of The Same Year, The Government Of The Republic Of China Implemented The Fine Province. The Representative Of CHB Official Shares Was Changed From The Taiwan Provincial Government To The Ministry Of Finance, But It Was Still Operated By Members Of The Wu Feng Lin Family. After The Fine Province, The Main Units And Management Cadres Of CHB Were Moved To The Taipei Branch Located In Section 2, Zhongshan North Road, Taipei City, Which Is Now The Taipei Head Office; The Original Taichung Head Office Is Still The Place Where The Company Is Registered.
Taishin And CHB Management Rights Dispute
- On October 3, 2005, The Government Of The Republic Of China Initiated A Capital Increase In Response To The Problem Of Bad Debts In CHB. As A Result, Taishin Financial Holdings Purchased 22.5% Of CHB's Equity, Becoming The Largest Single Shareholder Of CHB And The Beginning Of The Taishin And CHB Case. Since Then, Taishin Financial Holdings Has Been Promoting The Merger Of Its Taishin Bank And CHB. In December 2014, The Ministry Of Finance Solicited The Support Of Minority Shareholders And Obtained 4 And 2 Seats In Each Of The 6 General Directors And 3 Independent Directors At The Temporary Shareholders' Meeting To Re-elect Directors, Regaining The Right To Operate Chang Hwa Bank.
- At The End Of 2014, CHB Re-elected Directors, But Taishin Financial Holdings Only Won 2 Ordinary Director Seats, And CHB Can No Longer Be Listed As A Subsidiary Of Taishin Financial Holdings According To The Financial Holding Company Law. Taishin Financial Holdings Lost The Right To Operate CHB, Resulting In Heavy Losses. After That, Taishin Financial Holdings Filed A Lawsuit Against The Ministry Of Finance, Which Had Regained The Right To Operate, Namely The Taishin And CHB Case.
- In June 2021, Taishin Financial Holdings Announced That It Would Clear 22.5% Of CHB's Shareholding, And The Merger And Acquisition Of Prudential Life Insurance Was Approved By The Financial Regulatory Commission At The Same Time. In August 2022, Taishin Financial Holdings Withdrew Its Lawsuit Against The Ministry Of Finance, And The Taishin And CHB Case Was Officially Closed.
In Response To The New Southbound, Overseas Layout
- Since 2017, In Response To The New Southbound Policy, CHB Has Successively Established An Office In Yangon, Myanmar, And A Branch In Manila, Philippines.
- In November 2018, CHB Deputy General Manager Tu Hongyao Said That The Board Of Directors Has Approved The Addition Of A Houston Branch, Which Will Be Sent To The FSC For Review.
The First Publicly-owned Bank Opened In The Chinese Mainland. In December 2018, In Order To Expand The Financial Business Of The Chinese Mainland, CHB Applied To Restructure The Chinese Mainland Branch In Nanjing Into A Wholly Foreign-owned Bank "CHB Commercial Bank" And Its Branches, And Added A Nanjing Branch Under Its Jurisdiction. The Operating Bases Of The Chinese Mainland Subsidiary Include Kunshan, Dongguan, Fuzhou, Nanjing Branches And Kunshan Huaqiao Sub-branch, With A Total Of Four Branches And One Sub-branch. The Operating Capital Base Of CHB Chinese Mainland Branch Is 2.50 Billion RMB, Which Is Transferred To The Share Capital Of The Chinese Mainland Subsidiary.
Fraud Case
- At The End Of 2005, CHB Embezzlement Case Broke Out.
- In 2014, CHB Theft Case And CHB Fraud Case Broke Out.
- In 2018, The Head Of The Dongguan Branch That Was Exposed Repeatedly Cooperated With The Price Evaluation Company "Golden Rule Appraisal" To Collect Kickbacks; It Was Fined RMB 300,000 By The China Banking And Insurance Regulatory Commission And NT 3 Million By The Financial Supervisory Commission Of The Republic Of China.
Cultural Assets
- Former Chang Hwa Bank Headquarters: Taichung City Historic Site. Built In 1938, It Is Located At No. 38, Section 2, Liberty Road (Section 1 Of Taiwan Avenue And Liberty Intersection), Central District, Taichung City; After Chang Hwa Bank Moved Most Of Its Headquarters To Taipei, Only The Sales Department And The Company Were Registered Here.
- Chang Hwa Bank Jiguang Street Dormitory: Taichung City Historic Site. Built In 1935, It Is Located At No. 9 Jiguang Street, West District, Taichung City. During The Japanese Occupation, It Was A Meeting Place For Chang Hwa Bank To Entertain Political And Business Celebrities. After The War, It Was Also The Place Where Xie Dongmin, Speaker Of The Taiwan Provincial Assembly, Entertained Former Japanese Dignitaries.
- Former Tatsuma Trading Main Store: A Historical Building In Taipei City. Built In 1929, It Was Formerly The Tatsuma Trading Main Store. After The War, It Became The First Protest Point Of The February 28 Incident. After 1986, It Was Changed To Chang Hwa Bank Taipei Branch.
