萬國法律事務所

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has recently reiterated that the reason behind the offshore company listing OTC policy is to encourage and attract Taiwan-invested offshore companies to return to Taiwan to apply for listings on Taiwan's primary and OTC exchanges.

While enforcing the above policy, the FSC will take into account the cross-strait relations between Taiwan and China and safeguard the interests of Taiwan investors.

The FSC initially permitted listings for companies in which shareholders from the People's of Republic China (“PRC”) held no more than 30% of the shares and which were not controlled by PRC shareholders. The FSC has since then progressively moved to relax said 30% shareholding restriction and currently permits companies with PRC interests exceeding 30% but less than 50% to apply for listings on the OTC, provided that such companies obtain a special approval from the relevant authorities, which approvals are granted by the authorities in their sole discretion and on a case-by-case basis.

The above shareholding and controlling power restrictions are authorized and regulated by the “Act Governing Relations between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area” and by relevant accounting standards and interpretation by Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs.