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Offshore Overseas Chinese and Foreign Investors

Offshore overseas Chinese and foreign investors should appoint a domestic agent representative(custodian bank) to apply to TWSE for registration. Only after registration, the domestic agent representative, with related documents, shall apply to the securities brokerage firm for account opening and securities trading.

Documents Enclosed

  • 1. Offshore overseas Chinese and foreign investors applying for registration should enclose the following documents:
    • 1.1. Power of attorney to agent or the appointment letter to representative.
    • 1.2. Identification documents in compliance with the provisions of Section 2, Article 3 of the Regulations.
      • 1.2.1. Offshore Overseas Chinese and Foreign Investors: passport, identification card or other document with photo attached, sufficient to prove the nationality and status.
        1.2.2. Offshore Overseas Foreign Institutional Investors:
        • (1) Type of Non-fund
          • I. Company Establishment certificate issued by the local government such as company license; if there is no company license, the following documents may serve as replacement:
            • (I) Articles of incorporation of which the governing authority has the record.
            • (II) Qualification certificate issued by the tax bureau of the country where it is located.
          • II. Other organizations established according to the laws such as government investment institution, non-profit organizations, foundations and academic organizations.The certificate or the letter from the governing authority approving their establishment should be presented;if there is no such certificate or letter, the following documents may serve as replacement:
            • (I) Articles of incorporation of which the governing authority has the record.
            • (II) The regulations or rules enacted as the basis for the establishment of the applicant.
            • (III) Qualification certificate issued by the tax bureau of the country where it is established.
        • (2) Type of Fund
          • I. The certificate or the letter from the local governing authority approving its establishment should be presented; if there is no such certificate or letter, any of the following documents may serve as replacement:
            • (I) The record published in the web site of the local governing authority showing that the fund has completed its establishment registration.
            • (II) Document, such as an offering prospectus, trust contract, or memorandum for private placement, that can serve to show that the local governing authority has accepted the filing or has created a record.
            • (III) Qualification certificate issued by the tax bureau of the country where it is established.
            • (IV) If a fund established by an international organization that is not regulated by any country, the minutes of the establishment of the fund by the international organization and the statement of the resolution to invest in the Taiwan market should be presented.
          • II. In the case of an applicant for registration in the form of a subfund, if it is unable to provide documents as provided in point (I), it shall substitute the following documents:
            • (I) Document in compliance with point (I) for the parent fund.
            • (II) Document specifying the legal or regulatory basis of the establishment of the subfund, and sufficient to prove the relationship between the parent fund and the subfund.
    • 1.3. Where necessary, TWSE might require the offshore foreign institutional investors of the fund type which ticks “hedging” or “investment” and “hedging” to provide its articles of incorporation or the establishment contract, or documents explaining the investment or transaction strategies.

Flow of Processing

  • 1. The agent/representative of the offshore overseas Chinese and foreign investors applying for registration should transmit the registration application form on line to the TWSE's system and obtain the followings:
    • 1.1 Transmission of the Registration Application Form:
      Once the agent (or the representative) of the offshore overseas Chinese and foreign investors applying for registration transmits the Registration Application Form on line in TWSE's system, TWSE will, after on-line review of information transmitted through computer has been completed, issue “the Certificate of Registration Completion”to the agent (or the representative) for account opening.
    • 1.2 The Relevant Documents will be preserved by the agent (or the representative):
      These relevant documents, including registration forms and required application documents for offshore overseas Chinese and foreign investors, will be preserved for future reference by the agent (or the representative). TWSE will review the registration contents periodically.
  • 2. Registration not permitted: According to Article 11 of the Regulations, TWSE may not permit the registration when the offshore overseas Chinese and foreign investors applying for registration have any of the following situations:
    • 2.1 The contents or items of the registration documents are found to be false.
    • 2.2 The registration documents are not fully prepared or the items that should be stated are not adequate, and after TWSE notifies applicant to make supplement within five days, after which the application will be rejected.
    • 2.3 There is a serious violation of these Guidelines or the laws and regulations concerning securities administration.

Account Opening in Securities Firm

  • The agent/representative opens an account for the applicant with a securities firm shall enclose documents as follows:
    • 1. Copy of the identification card or the residence certificate of the domestic agent or representative, or the copy of the documents proving the company establishment.
    • 2. The Certificate of Registration Completion.
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