Taiwan eases restrictions on outbound M&A

Taiwan’s stock exchange has scrapped a rule that blocks local companies from buying loss-making foreign entities, giving a boost to the country’s MA bankers.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange made the change on Monday. Taiwan’s listed companies will now be able to buy unprofitable foreign rivals listed on the main board of 14 separate stock exchanges, the exchange said in a statement.

Those foreign stock exchanges given approval include NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq, Deutsche Borse, London, Toronto, Australia, Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Johannesburg and Korea.

But the new rules go much further than that. The exchange said that even if a loss-making...