Newsletter
GUIDELINES FOR LICENSING OF FOREIGN FINANCIAL HOLDING COMPANIES
Article 23 of the Financial Holding Company Law (FHCL) provides that with the approval of the competent authority, a foreign financial holding company that meets the conditions set out in Article 23 need not establish a new finan-cial holding company within Taiwan. A foreign financial institution other than a financial hold-ing company, that already operates in multiple financial sectors in its home country, may also be licensed in the same way as a foreign financial holding company. To implement Article 23, on 7 January 2003 the Ministry of Finance issued the Guidelines on Application Documents and Review Criteria for the Licensing of Foreign Financial Holding Companies. The guidelines also apply mutatis mutandis to an application for licensing under Article 23 of the FHCL made by a foreign financial institution that already con-ducts multi-sector operations in its home coun-try.
The guidelines require that, when a foreign fi-nancial holding company applies for licensing, it must submit the following documents to the competent authority in triplicate: (1) a license application form; (2) a business, financial and investment plan for its proposed operations in Taiwan; (3) financial statements and consoli-dated financial statements, audited by an certi-fied public accountant, for the most recent three full financial years and the current financial year up through the most recent quarter; (4) an au-thenticated statement of capital adequacy cov-ering the period of six months up to the applica-tion date; (5) a review checklist documenting the review of the license application by a lawyer or an account; (6) documents showing that the fi-nancial regulatory authorities in the applicant’s home country consent to its applying for a li-cense to operate in Taiwan as a foreign financial holding company, and to its control over a sub-sidiary in Taiwan; (7) documents showing that the financial regulatory authorities in the appli-cant's home country are willing to assume jointly with the regulatory authorities in Taiwan the duty of regulatory supervision of the company, and documents showing that the company is fi-nancially sound; (8) if the application is handled on the applicant’s behalf by a lawyer or an ac-countant, a power of attorney issued by the re-sponsible officer of the applicant company; (9) documents evidencing corporate status, and a notarized and legalized copy of a license to op-erate as a financial holding company issued by the regulatory authority in the applicant’s home country, or other evidential documents; (10) a notarized and legalized power of attorney ap-pointing an agent in the ROC for litigious and non-litigious matters; (11) declarations by such designated agent in the ROC for litigious and non-litigious matters; (12) if the license applica-tion constitutes a business combination within the meaning of Article 6 of the Fair Trade Law, documents showing authorization by the Fair Trade Commission; and (13) any other docu-ments required by the competent authority.
When the competent authority reviews a license application, it should also consider the following criteria: