Core Pacific group chairman Shen Chin-jin said the tie-upwould enable the nimble Taiwan minnows to swim with the big fish of the global securities business at a time when technology is opening markets and changing the rules for everyone.

"Through this merger, I think it is not a dream that we can be the Morgan Stanley of Asia," Shen said. In May 1998, Core Pacific became the first Taiwan brokerage to open an office in the Communist mainland, no mean feat in view of Taipei's continuing ban on direct financial exchanges with the island's political arch rival of a half century.

"Through the merger, we aim at not only the market across the Taiwan strait (China), but also the whole of Asia," said Yuanta chairwoman Judy Tu. Core Pacific said it also intended to branch out into electronic commerce.