Banking Bureau, Financial Supervisory Commission, R.O.C.: Laws and Regulations Retrieving System of the Banking Bureau

Articles 3, 5, 6 and 12 of the “Regulations Governing Qualification Requirements for Responsible Persons of Banks”

Article 3 Any person having any of the following situations may not act as a responsible person of a bank:
1. Having limited legal capacity or is legally incompetent.
2. Having been convicted of a crime under the Organized Crime Act.
3. Having been sentenced to imprisonment for counterfeiting currency or valuable securities, misappropriation, fraud or breach of trust and the fixed-term imprisonment has not been completed or ten (10) years have not elapsed since the date of the completion of the imprisonment, the expiration of the probation period, or the pardon of such punishment.
4. Having been sentenced to imprisonment for forging instruments or seals, offence against privacy, usury, impairing creditors’ rights or violating the Tax Collection Act, the Trademark Act, the Patent Act or other laws governing industrial or commercial activities and the fixed-term imprisonment has not been completed or five (5) years have not elapsed since the date of the date of the completion of the imprisonment, the expiration of the probation period, or the pardon of such punishment.
5. Having been sentenced to imprisonment for embezzlement and the sentence has not been completed or five (5) years have not lapsed since the date of sentence completion, the expiration of the probation period, or the pardon of such punishment.
6. Having been sentenced to imprisonment for violating the Banking Act, Financial Holding Company Act, Trust Enterprise Act, Act Governing Bills Finance Business, Financial Assets Securitization Act, Real Estate Securitization Act, Insurance Law, Securities and Exchange Act, Futures Trading Act, Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act, Foreign Exchange Control Act, Credit Cooperatives Act, Agricultural Finance Act, Farmers’ Association Act, Fishermen’s Association Act, Money Laundering Control Act or other laws regulating financial activity, and the sentence has not been completed or five (5) years have not elapsed since the date of sentence completion, the expiration of the probation period or the pardon of such punishment.
7. Having been adjudicated bankrupt, and rights and privileges have not been reinstated.
8. Being the responsible person of a legal entity at the time such a legal entity was adjudicated bankrupt and five (5) years have not elapsed since the closure of the bankruptcy or the terms of the bankruptcy settlement have not yet been fulfilled.
9. Having been denied service by the bills clearing house and the denial status has yet to be removed, or there remains a record of dishonored check(s) due to insufficient funds in three (3) years since the denial status has been removed.
10. Having an ongoing event that seriously damages his or her credit worthiness or five (5) years have not elapsed since the closure of such an event.
11. Five (5) years have not elapsed since he or she is replaced or discharged from duties by order of the competent authority due to a violation the Banking Act, Financial Holding Company Act, Trust Enterprise Act, Act Governing Bills Finance Business, Financial Assets Securitization Act, Real Estate Securitization Act, Insurance Law, Securities and Exchange Act, Futures Trading Act, Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act, Credit Cooperatives Act, Agricultural Finance Act, Farmers’ Association Act, Fishermen’s Association Act or other laws regulating financial activity.
12. Having been ordered to enter a reformatory or having been ordered to perform compulsory labor due to the offense of larceny or receiving stolen property and the said sentence has not been completed or five (5) years have not elapsed since the sentence completion.
13. Acting as the responsible person of another bank, a financial holding company, a trust company, a credit cooperative, a credit department of a farmers’ (fishermen’s) association, a bills finance company, a securities firm, a securities finance company, a securities investment trust enterprise, a securities investment consulting enterprise, a futures company or an insurance company (excluding insurance agencies or brokerages). This provision however does not apply to the following circumstances:
(1) The responsible person of a bank may act as a director or supervisor of another bank or the responsible person of another entity as mentioned above, provided that there is an investment relationship between the bank and the other bank/entity and the chairman or manager [of the bank] does not concurrently serve as the chairman or manager of the other bank/entity; the approval of the competent authority shall be obtained for the purposes of acting as a director or supervisor of another bank;
(2) For the purposes of merging or administering needs of a distressed financial institution, the responsible person of a bank may serve as the chairman of such an institution with the approval of the competent authority. However, in order to serve as the chairman of another bank, an investment relationship must exist between the bank and the said distressed financial bank;
(3) When a bank, as a judicial person, is a director or supervisor of a holding company, the responsible person of such a bank who concurrently serves as the responsible person of such a holding company may also serve as the responsible person of a subsidiary of such a holding company. However, such a person may only serve as a director or supervisor if such a subsidiary is a bank.
(4) If a bank is a shareholder of a financial holding company, its responsible person may serve as a director or supervisor of a subsidiary of such a holding company concurrently; or
(5) The responsible person of a bank that is a subsidiary of a financial holding company may serve as the responsible person of such a financial holding company and its other subsidiaries; provided that a manager of the subsidiary bank may not act as a manager of another subsidiary [of the financial holding company] and the responsible person of the bank serves concurrently only as a director or supervisor of the other banking subsidiary of the financial holding company.
14. Factual evidence shows that the person has engaged in, or been involved in, other dishonest or improper activities which indicate that she/he is unfit to serve as a responsible person of a bank.　
A chairman or general manager of a bank or any person who works in a bank and holds a position in the rank equal to a chairman or general manager shall not service as a chairman or general manager of a non-financial enterprise. This provision does not apply to any person who serves in a judicial person or non-profit judicial person.
In the event that the government or a juristic person is a shareholder of a bank, the preceding two paragraphs shall apply mutatis mutandis to its representative or another individual(s) designated by it to serve as a director(s) or supervisor(s).
Article 5 A bank’s vice president, assistant vice president, head office manager or personnel holding a comparable position shall have good moral character, the ability in leadership and efficient banking management, and in the same way, meet one of the following qualifications:
1. Having graduated from a domestic or foreign college or higher, or an equivalent and with at least five (5) years of experience working in a bank(s) and having served in the position of assistant manager or higher or similar position in the head office of a bank(s) with good performance record.
2. Having at least three (3) years of experience working in a bank(s) and having served in the position of manager or higher or similar position in the head office of a bank(s) with a good performance record.
3. Having other experiences sufficing to evidence the possession of professional banking knowledge or banking management capability to effectively manage the banking business, and having received a prior approval of the competent authority for such appointment.
The branch manager of a foreign bank in Taiwan or an officer in a comparable position shall possess the qualifications specified in the preceding Paragraph; he/she may not hold office unless the competent authority has examined and approved his/her qualifications.
Article 6 A bank’s branch manager or personnel holding a comparable position shall have good moral character, the ability in leadership and efficient banking management, and in the same way, meet one of the following qualifications:
1. Having graduated from a domestic or foreign college or higher, or an equivalent and with at least three (3) years of experience working in a bank(s) and having served in the position of junior manager or higher or similar position in the head office of a bank(s) with a good performance record.
2. Having at least two (2) years of experience working in a bank(s) and having served in the position of assistant manager or higher or similar position in the head office of a bank(s) with good performance record.
3. Having other experiences sufficing to evidence the possession of professional banking knowledge or banking management capability to effectively manage the banking business, and having received a prior approval of the competent authority for such appointment.
The manager of a foreign bank branch in Taiwan or an officer in a comparable position other than the personnel mentioned in Paragraph 2 of the preceding Article shall possess the qualifications specified in the preceding Paragraph
Article 12 If the responsible person of a bank has taken office prior to the amendment of this Regulations, and if such a responsible person is also the responsible person of another institution not complying with the amendment to Subparagraph 13, Paragraph 1, and Paragraph 2 of Article 3 herein, such a responsible person may continue to concurrently serve in such a position, or as a chairman, general manager or an officer in a comparable position of a non-financial enterprise until the expiry of the term of office or the date of the discharge. The maximum period of serving in one of the aforesaid positions is three (3) years.
If the responsible person of a bank receives a promotion or takes office after the promulgation of these Regulations, the responsible person shall possess the qualifications set out herein. A responsible person who takes office without possessing the required qualification shall, ipso facto, be discharged.
If any of the events under Article 3 herein occurs after a responsible person takes office, the responsible person shall, ipso facto, be discharged from the office.