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Article 1
These Regulations are enacted pursuant tothe front section of Paragraph 4, Article 7, Paragraph 3 of Article 8, and Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 10 of the Money Laundering Control Act(referred to as the "Act" hereunder).
Article 2
Termsused in these Regulations are defined as follows:
1. "Notary" shall mean court notaries provided in Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 3, Article 22 of the Notary Act, and civil notaries appointed in accordance with Paragraph 1, Article 24of the Notary Act.
2. "High-risk countries or areas" shall mean countries or areas provided in Paragraph 2, Article 11 of the Act.
3. "Beneficial owner" shall mean individuals who hold, directly or indirectly, more than 25% of the legal person's shares or capital.
Article 3
When a notary performs notarization or attestation service for transactions provided in Subparagraph 3, Paragraph 3, Article 5 of the Act (referred to as "specific transactions" hereunder), the notary shall verify the identity of the applicant and adopt enhanced procedure for reviewing the applicant identity review procedure in accordance with Articles 4 ~ 7 herein, maintain the identity verification data and transaction records in accordance with Article 9 herein, and report to the Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Justice (referred to as the "Investigation Bureau" hereunder) in accordance with Article 11 herein when the notarization or attestation service involves situations set out in Article 10 herein.
Article 4
When a notary performs notarization or attestation service for a specific transaction, the notary shall carry out risk-based assessment to verify the applicant's identity; if it is determined that the transaction involves higher risk, the notary shall also inquire the purpose of the specific transaction and the manner by which funds for the transaction are obtained.
The risk-based assessment mentioned in the preceding paragraph entails assessment of the applicant's background, the direct source or destination of funds, transaction amount and type of transaction. If the direct source or destination of funds involves or if the applicant comes from a high risk country or area, the transaction is deemed high risk.
Article 5
When a notary performs notarization or attestation service for a specific transaction, the notary shall verify the following information with respect to the applicant's identity:
1. When the applicant is a natural person: Name, date of birth, gender, identification number, residential address, contact information, nationality and occupation.
2. When the applicant is a legal person:
(1) Name, registered address, country/place of incorporation, contact information and business items; information on business items is not required if such information is not available due to the regulations of the host country; and
(2) Control structure and beneficial owner(s).
3. When the applicant is the trustee of a trust or trust-like legal arrangement: Name, contact information and residential address of the settlor, trustee, trust beneficiary and director(s), supervisor(s), trustee, beneficiary or administrator of the legal arrangement.
When the applicant requests service through an agent, the notary shall verify the identity of the agent.
The preceding two paragraphs do not apply when the applicant is
1. a R.O.C government entity or state-run enterprise;
2. a foreign government entity;
3. a R.O.C. public company or its subsidiary ;
4. an entity listed on a stock exchange outside of R.O.C. that is subject to regulatory disclosure requirements of its principal shareholders, and the subsidiaries of such entity;
5. a financial institution supervised by the R.O.C. government, or an investment vehicle managed by such institution;
6. a financial institution incorporated or established outside R.O.C. that is not from a high-risk country or area, or an investment vehicle managed by such institution;
7. a fund administered by a R.O.C. government entity; or
8. The applicant's transaction notarized or attested in the past year is deemed low risk following assessment in accordance with Paragraph 2 of Article 4 herein.
Article 6
A notary should verify the applicant's identity in the following manners:
1. When the applicant is a natural person, the notary shall check the applicant's Citizen Identification Card, alien resident certificate, passport or any other document sufficient to prove the applicant's identity, in original.
2. When the applicant is a legal person, the notary should understand the applicant's nature of business and control structure, and obtain the following information:
(1) Proof of establishment or incorporation;
(2) Articles of incorporation;
(3) List of directors and supervisors; and
(4) Document or statement that can prove beneficial ownership.
3. When the applicant is the trustee of a trust or trust-like legal arrangement, the notary should understand the nature and control structure of the trust and obtain the following information:
(1) Proof of registration or incorporation, unless registration or incorporation is not required by law;
(2) Trust agreement or legal arrangement document;
(3) Identification document of the settlor, trustee, trust beneficiary and the director(s), supervisor(s), trustee, beneficiary or administrator of the legal arrangement; and
(4) Document or statement that can prove ownership or beneficial ownership.
Article 7
If a politically exposed person (PEP) or his/her family member or close associate mentioned in Paragraph 3, Article 7 of the Act is determined as high risk by a notary following risk-basedassessment in accordance with Paragraph 2 of Article 4 herein, the notary shall inquire the purpose of the specific transaction and the manner by which funds for the transaction are obtained.
Article 8
The obligation of a notary to verify the applicant's identity ends when the case of notarization or attestation for a specific transaction is closed.
Article 9
A notary shall set up a file for cases of notarization or attestation for specific transactions it has handled, maintain copies or transcriptions of the identity documents and statements presented for verifying the identity of applicants and other related persons as required under these Regulations, and save copies, electronic files or transcriptions of relevant correspondence documents, records and certificates.
Article 10
A notary shall file a report pursuant to Paragraph 1, Article 10 of the Act in case the notarization or attestation for a specific transaction has any of the following circumstances:
1. The applicant fails to provide information for identity verification within the time period requested by the notary.
2. The notarization fee or the transaction amount is more than NT$500,000, and the applicant, without a legitimate reason, pays in cash, cash in a foreign currency, or by traveler's check, draft in a foreign currency, or other bearer financial instrument.
3. The notarization fee or the transaction amount is more than NT$500,000, and the applicant, without a legitimate reason, pays or demands to pay an amount slightly lower than NT$500,000 in cash, multiple times or consecutively.
4. The applicant asks to purchase immediately a real property or a business entity without a legitimate reason.
5. The applicant is a natural person, legal person or organization that has been announced and sanctioned by the Ministry of Justice pursuant to the Terrorism Financing Prevention Act, or a terrorist group or terrorist identified or investigated by other countries or international organizations as announced by the Ministry of Justice.
6. Funds for the transaction directly originate from, or will be paid to, a high-risk country or area, and arelinked with a terrorist activity, terrorist organization or financing of terrorism.
7. The notary discovers, after the notarization or attestation case is closed, that no such applicant exists, or that there are sufficient facts to prove that the applicant's identity was fraudulently used by someone else.
Article 11
A notary shall, within fifteen (15) working days after discovering any of the circumstances set out in the preceding article, report to the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice by entering the following information into the form prescribed by the Investigation Bureauof the Ministry of Justice and send the report by mail, fax, email or other manner.
1. Basic information of the applicant and his/her agent:
(1) When the applicant and his/her agent are a natural person: Name, date of birth, gender, identification number, occupation, nationality, residential address and contact information.
(2) When the applicant or agent is a legal person, legal arrangement or organization: Name, date of registration (incorporation) and registration (incorporation) number, and contact information and address of the agent, administrator or trustee.
(3) Whether the applicant is a PEP.
(4) The relationship between the agent and the applicant.
2. Matter applied:
(1) Type of transaction.
(2) Transaction start and end dates.
(3) Payment instrument and amount.
(4) Transaction account number.
(5) How and why any of the circumstances described in Article 10 herein is met.
3. Name, certificate number (or the employing district court) and contact information of the reporting notary.
Article 12
These Regulations shall enter into force on June 28, 2017.