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Chapter Law Content

Chapter 2 Application and Permission
Article 5
A foreign migrant worker remittance company's paid-in capital, operating capital for Taiwan branch, and allocated operating capital shall comply with the following requirements:
1. For a specified foreign migrant worker remittance company that engages in foreign migrant workers remittance service only, its minimum paid-in capital or operating capital for Taiwan branch shall be NT$100 million.
2. A foreign migrant worker remittance company that concurrently engages in foreign migrant workers remittance service shall allocate operating capital no less than NT$100 million and exclusively for operating foreign migrant workers remittance services.
The competent authority may adjust the minimum paid-in capital, operating capital for Taiwan branch, and allocated operating capital in the preceding paragraph commensurate with socioeconomic circumstances and actual needs.
Article 6
The responsible person of a foreign migrant worker remittance company must not be in any of the following situations:
1. Conditions specified in Article 30 of the Company Act.
2. Having been sentenced to imprisonment for violating the Act, Banking Act, Financial Holding Company Act, Trust Enterprise Act, Act Governing Bills Finance Business, Financial Assets Securitization Act, Real Estate Securitization Act, Insurance Act, Securities and Exchange Act, Futures Trading Act, Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act, Foreign Exchange Control Act, Credit Cooperatives Act, Agricultural Finance Act, Farmers’ Association Act, Fishermen’s Association Act, Money Laundering Control Act, Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, or other laws governing financial activity, and the sentence has not yet executed, not been completed, or five years have not elapsed since the date of sentence completion, the expiration of probation period, or the pardon of such punishment.
3. Five years have not elapsed since been replaced or discharged from duties by the competent authority’s or related authorities’ order for violating the Act, Banking Act, Financial Holding Company Act, Trust Enterprise Act, Act Governing Bills Finance Business, Financial Assets Securitization Act, Real Estate Securitization Act, Insurance Act, Securities and Exchange Act, Futures Trading Act, Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act, Credit Cooperatives Act, Agricultural Finance Act, Farmers’ Association Act, Fishermen’s Association Act, or other laws governing financial activity.
Where the responsible person of a foreign migrant worker remittance company has any of the situations specified in the preceding paragraph after it has been permitted by the competent authority for operating foreign migrant workers remittance service, the competent authority may order the foreign migrant worker remittance company to replace such responsible person within a specified period. Where the company fails to replace the responsible person within the specified period, the competent authority shall abolish the permission for the foreign migrant worker remittance services.
Article 7
Where an institution other than a bank or an electronic payment institution applies for operating foreign migrant workers remittance service, it shall submit two copies of the following documents to apply for permission to the competent authority:
1. An application form.
2. Supporting documents of company registration, Articles of Incorporation, and list of directors and supervisors.
3. The responsible person's written declaration that he or she has no situations listed in the preceding article.
4. A business plan.
5. A CPA-certified description of settlement and clearing mechanisms for foreign migrant workers remittance businesses.
6. A CPA-certified description of safeguard mechanism for funds received from foreign migrant workers remittance services and trust agreement, performance guarantee agreement or templates therefor.
7. CPA-certified anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing mechanisms, customer due diligence measures, and continuous review mechanisms. The CPA’s opinion and examination report shall also be submitted.
8. Description of the information system and security management operations, supporting documents for passing the implementation and qualification tests based on the "Mobile App Basic Information Security Inspection Standards" of the Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and a third-party penetration test report.
9. Agreements or templates prescribing the migrant workers’ rights and obligations and mobile APPs presented in languages which migrant workers use shall be reviewed by a lawyer or certified by a notary to ensure they are consistent with Chinese version; A lawyer’s legal opinion is required after reviewing if the Chinese version of the agreement is in accordance with the principles to treat clients fairly.
10. Supporting documents for qualifications of proposed offshore remittance institutions, that the company plans to cooperate with, are in accordance with these Regulations.
11. Other documents required by the competent authority.
The format of the business plan specified in Subparagraph 4 of the preceding paragraph, and supporting documents specified in Subparagraph 10 of the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed by the competent authority.
Where an institution applies for concurrently engaging in foreign migrant workers remittance services under the Paragraph 1, it shall submit supporting documents for the allocated operating capitals in accordance with regulations set in Paragraph 1 of Article 5.
The foreign migrant worker remittance company shall apply for renewal of its business permission to the competent authority four months before the permit expires, providing along with the documents specified in Subparagraph 1 to 4 and Subparagraph 11 of Paragraph 1.
The competent authority should consult the Central Bank before granting permits under Paragraph 1 and the preceding paragraph.
The granted renewal of the business permits by the competent authority will become effective on the day next to the expiry date of the original business license. Nevertheless, where the expiry period of the renewed business permit is affected due to reasons such as incomplete required documents, the renewal shall still be effective on the day next to the expiry date of the original business license, but the competent authority may consider to shorten the validity period of the renewed business permit, depending on the submission of further documents required.
The competent authority may set a ceiling on the number of foreign migrant worker remittance companies based on domestic economic and financial development.
Article 8
Where an institution other than a bank or an electronic payment institution applies for engaging in foreign migrant workers remittance services, or where a foreign migrant worker remittance company applies for the renewal of its business permit, the competent authority may reject its application under any of the following situations:
1. Any of its paid-in capital, operating capital for Taiwan branch, or allocated operating capital does not meet the requirements in Article 5 herein.
2. The application documents make false statements or misrepresentation.
3. The applicant fails to provide further documents or complete corrective actions required within the period specified by the competent authority.
4. The business plan lacks specifics or its implementation is apparently difficult.
5. The applicant fails to apply for the renewal of the business permits within the period specified in Paragraph 4 of the preceding article.
6. The applicant violates related regulations herein but fails to complete corrective actions within the period specified by the competent authority.
7. There are other concerns regarding the applicant being unable to operate foreign migrant workers remittance services soundly.
Article 9
If it is found after a foreign migrant worker remittance company has been granted a permit that its application for business permit contains false information or misrepresentation a serious nature, the competent authority should revoke the granted permit and business permission certificate, and order the institution to turn in its business permit within a specified period, or cancel its business permit if the institution fails to turn in the permit within the specific period.
Article 10
After a foreign migrant worker remittance company obtains the permit and business permission certificate from the competent authority, it shall apply for changing information of its registration to the company registration agency and list the foreign migrant workers remittances service as its business before it commences operations. It shall also notify the competent authority in writing within three business days from the date it commences operations.
Article 11
Where a bank or an electronic payment institution applies for concurrently engaging in foreign migrant workers remittance services, it shall meet the following requirements:
1. A bank shall be approved for operating domestic and international remittances by the competent authority, or an electronic payment institution shall be approved for domestic and international remittances by the competent authority.
2. Where the applicant is a bank, it shall have not accumulated a loss which is more than one third of its paid-in capital in the most recent year; where the applicant is an electronic payment institution, it shall have not accumulated a loss which is more than one half of its paid-in capital in the most recent year, or where such situations occurred but have been rectified.
3. The applicant has not been penalized for violation of anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing regulations, or remittances discrepancies; or where such conditions occurred but have been rectified, and the remedial actions have been recognized by the competent authority.
Where a bank or an electronic payment institution applies for concurrently engaging in foreign migrant workers remittance services, it shall file two copies of the following documents to the competent authority for reference within five business days of the date of commences operation:
1. An application form.
2. A declaration of compliance with regulations in the preceding paragraph.
3. Resolutions of the board of directors or board of managing directors' meeting stating consent for concurrently engaging in foreign migrant workers remittance services.
4. The business plan.
5. Agreements or templates prescribing the migrant workers’ rights and obligations and mobile APPs presented in languages which migrant workers use shall be reviewed by a lawyer or certified by a notary to ensure they are consistent with the Chinese version; A lawyer’s legal opinion is required after reviewing if the Chinese version of the agreements is in accordance with the principles to treat clients fairly.
6. Supporting documents for qualifications of proposed offshore remittance institutions, that a bank or an electronic payment institution plans to cooperate with, are in accordance with these Regulations.
7. Other documents as required by the competent authority.
The format of the business plan specified in Subparagraph 4 of the preceding paragraph, and supporting documents specified in Subparagraph 6 of the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed by the competent authority.
The competent authority should consult the Central Bank before making reference to a filed application herein of the Paragraph 2.