The approval means that the UK-based bank can establish a subsidiary in Taiwan – subject to clearance. It is due to start full operations in the third quarter of this year.

Barclays has won a regulatory green light from Taiwan.

The bodies granting approval are the Securities and Futures Bureau, the Financial Supervisory Commission and the inistry of Economic Affairs. 

The approval enables the UK-listed bank to establish a subsidiary to provide brokerage and underwriting services to the firm’s global and Taiwanese corporate and institutional clients, it said in a statement. 

The wholly-owned subsidiary is called Barclays Securities Taiwan Ltd, or BSTL.

Subject to obtaining the relevant licensing approval, BSTL is expected to be fully operational in the third quarter of 2022. It will be led by Shella Wang, who is head of macro distribution, North Asia. She has also been appointed as chairman of the subsidiary.

“The buildout of our platform in Taiwan demonstrates our commitment to growing our Asia-Pacific franchise,” Jaideep Khanna, head of Barclays, Asia-Pacific, said. “The Taiwan subsidiary will enable us to further engage with our Taiwanese institutional clients and help them gain access to our suite of world class corporate and investment bank product offerings and solutions.”

The bank has been expanding its presence in key markets in Asia-Pacific, including Australia, China/Hong Kong, India, Japan and Singapore. Most recently, the firm was granted a licence to operate as a foreign authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) in Australia.