Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation

TDCC just added Cathay Life, a leading insurer in Taiwan, as a new customer. The two companies signed a contract that allows Cathay Life to carry out the settlement and custody of overseas securities and dissemination of shareholder notifications via TDCC. Cathay Life hoped that the collaboration with TDCC will help strengthen the development and competitiveness of Taiwan’s international custody industry.

Under the supervision of the Financial Supervisory Commission, TDCC rolled out cross-border custody services for local institutional investors in August 2015, providing a localized platform with connections to the global market. Since then, more than 20 professional investment institutions, including Yuanta Securities and Mega Bills, the largest brokerage and bill dealer in Taiwan by market share, have signed up for the services and have been moving their overseas securities back to Taiwan for custody.

Cathay Life is a leading insurer in Taiwan, while TDCC is a professional local central depository institution, with connections with the world's top two depository peers, Euroclear and Clearstream. Both Cathay Life and TDCC have been committed to supporting the government’s policies. TDCC notes that the addition of Cathay Life as a cross-border custody customer will likely attract the other insurers, banks, bill dealer and securities firms to utilize TDCC's services, creating a multiplier effect and eventually leading to substantial growth of the market.

TDCC Chairman Sherman Lin said the company has received positive feedback from financial institutional customers since the launch of the cross-border custody services. TDCC is proud to provide real-time cross-border settlement and custody services that are safe and efficient. Notably, in addition to large insurers, local mid- and small-sized financial institutions are also among the beneficiaries as they can access quality custody services from TDCC, regardless of the sizes of their overseas investment positions, at relatively lower costs.