Chapter 1 General Provision |
| Article 1 |
These Regulations are promulgated in accordance with Paragraph 2, Article 117 of the Banking Act (referred to as the "Act" hereunder). |
| Article 2 |
A foreign bank, which meets the following requirements, may apply for the approval for the establishment of a branch within the jurisdiction of the Republic of China (ROC):
1. The said foreign bank shall not have committed any major regulatory violation within the last five years;
2. The said foreign bank shall be ranked, in terms of capital or assets, among the top five hundred banks in the world within one year prior to application, or shall have conducted transactions with the banks and enterprises in the ROC in an aggregate amount of more than one billion U.S. Dollars in three calendar years prior to application, of which no less than one hundred and eighty million U.S. Dollars shall have been in the form of medium or long term credits. Where there are special provisions in an economic and trade agreement signed by the ROC and the home country of the said foreign bank, such special provisions shall prevail;
3. The said foreign bank shall engage in international banking business with a good credit rating, a sound financial structure and the ratio of its capital/risk-weighted assets complying with the standards prescribed by the competent authority;
4. The said foreign bank shall designate a branch manager who has sufficient experience in international finance and the management of international banking operations;
5. Both the banking competent authority and the head office in the home country of the said foreign bank shall have the capability to supervise all of its foreign branch offices on a consolidated basis; and the bank shall have obtained the approval of the competent authority in the home country to open a branch in the ROC and agree to cooperate with the competent authorities in the ROC in the supervision and management of the foreign bank's branch in the ROC; and
6. No other facts indicate that the sound business operations of the said foreign bank may be hindered.
A foreign bank, which has established branch offices within the jurisdiction of the Republic of China, may assume all or major portion of the assets or liabilities of another foreign bank. The said foreign bank planning to establish a new branch concurrently in the ROC shall be subject to Article 8 [of these Regulations].
Where a foreign bank that does not have a ROC branch, and, as a result of its head office merging with another bank, or where a foreign bank acquires more than 50% shares of another bank, thus acquires the assets or liabilities of a ROC bank branch, and said foreign bank meets the requirements of Article 2 Paragraph 1, then Article 6 shall apply to the concurrent establishment of a branch in the ROC. |
| Article 3 |
A foreign bank that has been approved to establish a branch in the ROC shall allocate a minimum operating capital of NT$250,000,000 if the said foreign bank plans to accept deposit of less than NT$1,500,000 from individuals and will have more than five hundred such accounts, and the total amount of deposits of less than NT$1,500,000 from individuals exceeds 1 percent of total amount of New Taiwan Dollar deposits accepted by the said foreign bank. A foreign bank shall allocate a minimum operating capital of NT$200,000,000 for its branch if the said foreign bank does not plan to offer retail deposit business or if its retail deposit business will not reach the thresholds set forth above.
For each additional branch a foreign bank has been approved to establish, the said foreign bank shall allocate a minimum operating capital of NT$250,000,000 for its new branch if the said foreign bank plans to accept deposit of less than NT$1,500,000 from individuals and will have more than five hundred such accounts, and the total amount of deposits of less than NT$1,500,000 from individuals exceeds 1 percent of total amount of NT Dollar deposits accepted by the said foreign bank. A foreign bank shall allocate a minimum operating capital of NT$200,000,000 for its new branch if the said foreign bank does not plan to offer retail deposit business or if its retail deposit business will not reach the thresholds set forth above.
The operating capital referred to in the preceding two paragraphs shall be booked on a consolidated basis in the account when the bank first establishes and registers a branch company in the ROC or any other branch of such foreign bank approved by the competent authority.
A foreign bank's branch which intends to increase the amount of operating capital shall obtain the prior approvals of the competent authority and the Central Bank. |
| Article 4 |
The term "representative office" as used in these Regulations shall mean the representative office of a foreign bank established in the ROC in accordance with Article 117, Paragraph 1 of Banking Law and Article 386 of the ROC Company Law.
The permissible activities of the representative office of a foreign bank are limited to collection of commercial and market information and business liaison.
The competent authority may revoke its approval if the representative office of a foreign bank violates the regulations in the preceding paragraph. |
| Article 5 |
A foreign bank which meets the following qualifications may apply to establish a representative office in the ROC:
1. The said foreign bank shall not have committed any major regulatory violation within the past three years;
2. The said foreign bank shall be ranked, in terms of capital or assets, among the top one thousand banks in the world within one year prior to application, or shall have conducted transactions with the banks or enterprises of the ROC in the aggregated amount of more than three hundred million U.S. Dollars during the last three calendar years prior to application. Where there are special provisions in an economic and trade agreement signed by the ROC and the home country of the said foreign bank, such special provisions shall prevail;
3. The said foreign bank shall have a good credit rating and sound financial condition, and the competent authorities in its home country have approved its establishment of a representative office in the ROC.A foreign bank shall be limited to establish only one representative office in the ROC. |