Deutsche opens new Taipei office

Deutsche Bank has announced the opening of a new branch in Taipei. The bank's new Taiwan operations, which will carry the name Deutsche Securities Asia, will include an equity brokerage service to international institutional investors based in Taiwan.

Deutsche has also secured a Taiwan dollar underwriting license, which will allow the bank to originate domestic debt issues for local and international borrowers.

Although the initial focus will be on the brokerage and debt capital markets business, there are plans to expand the business to include proprietary trading.

Over the last few months, Deutsche has been building up the securities team in Taipei, which now employs around 20 professionals. The bank also employs more than 100 staff in Taiwan in its offices bearing the 'Deutsche Bank' name.

The bank believes its new venture gives weight to its claims to be a fully-fledged pan-Asian securities broker. "The commencement of our Taiwan brokerage and underwriting operations is a crucial step towards becoming a comprehensive pan-Asian securities broker," says Ed Peter, head of equities for Asia Pacific at Deutsche. Despite recent drops in market turnover volumes, we consider Taiwan as one of the key securities markets in Asia."

"Through this TWD debt underwriting license, Deutsche Bank group is able to provide an enhanced service to its domestic and international clients, with increased funding opportunities in a wider range of debt products," adds Cynthia Chan, head of global markets for Deutsche in Taiwan.