The story
Cathay United Bank was formerly the United World Chinese Commercial Bank (UWCCB; Chinese: 世華聯合商業銀行), which was founded in 1975. In December 1982, NT$14 million was stolen from UWCCB in the largest Taiwanese bank robbery at the time.
In 2003, UWCCB merged with the Cathay Commercial Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holding Company; UWCCB was the surviving bank but the merged bank was renamed to Cathay United Bank.
In September 2012 Cathay United Bank with the National Bank of Cambodia's approval, acquired a 70% stake in Singapore Banking Corporation (SBC). SBC was founded in 1993 and has 6 branches and 10 exchange offices in Cambodia. A year later in September 2013, Cathay United Bank reached an agreement with the remaining shareholders of SBC to acquire the remaining 30% shares. In January 2014, the name was changed to Cathay United Bank Cambodia (CUBC).
To expand its banking operations in Asia, in December 2014, CUB through its sister company and life insurance arm of Cathay Financial Holding, Cathay Life Insurance, acquired a 22% share (approximately US$179 million) of Philippines' Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). RCBC is owned by the Yuchengco Group and is the country's eighth largest lender with a consolidated branch network of over 430 branches. RCBC is connected with the $81m Bangladesh Bank heist; and as a result, the bank's president resigned in May 2016.
In January 2015, Cathay Life Insurance announced a plan to acquire 40% of Indonesia's PT Bank Mayapada for approximately US$272 million. Bank Mayapada, founded in 1989, is a mid-sized commercial bank focused on corporate lending with 175 branches and offices and owned by Indonesian billionaire Dato Sri Tahir.
In May 2017, Cathay United Bank and its sister company Cathay Life agreed to purchase the Bank of Nova Scotia Berhad Malaysia from Scotiabank. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval by Bank Negara Malaysia.
From Wikipedia’s article on Cathay United Bank, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5