Taiwan lifts forex trading punishment on Deutsche -sources

4:38 am Monday, February 07th, 2022

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s central bank has allowed Deutsche Bank to start trading Taiwan dollar deliverable and non-deliverable forwards again, three sources told Reuters, after it suspended them as part of a crackdown on speculation last February.

The central bank issued the two-year punishment to Deutsche following a case where it said foreign banks helped grain companies engage in currency speculation through deliverable forwards, affecting the stability of Taiwan’s foreign exchange market.

The Taiwan dollar has strengthened against the U.S. dollar as the island’s trade-dependent economy boomed on global demand for its tech products fuelled by people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters the central bank had quietly allowed Deutsche Bank to resume the forwards trading. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment, while Taiwan’s central bank did not respond to a request for comment.

One of the sources said the move was based on the bank cooperating on “improvement measures”, and because not only is it the only German bank in Taiwan, it has also operated on the island for many years.

A second source said the bank had responded to “motivation” to fix its processes.

Last July, the central bank lifted related foreign exchange trading curbs early on ING and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) for their involvement in the same case.

The central bank has been concerned that the strong Taiwan dollar could make exports from the trade-dependent island more expensive and possibly put it in the crosshairs of the United States as a currency manipulator.

Taiwan, along with Vietnam, again exceeded the U.S. Treasury’s thresholds for possible currency manipulation and enhanced analysis under a 2015 trade law, but the department in December refrained from formally branding them as manipulators.

(Reporting by Liang-sa Loh; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)