Labor
1.Amendment to Minimum Wage Increase to NTD$28,590
On 5 September 2024, the Basic Wage Commission has made a resolution that from 1 January 2025, the current monthly basic wage of NTD$27,470 will be adjusted to NTD$28,590, and the current hourly basic wage of NTD$183 will be adjusted to NTD$190.
Reported by: David Tsai / Scott Chuang
Third-Party Payment
2.Draft Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering and Registration of Service Capabilities for Businesses or Personnel Providing Third-Party Payment Services
On 16 September 2024, the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) announced the draft “Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering and Registration of Service Capabilities for Businesses or Personnel Providing Third-Party Payment Services.” We summarize below:
(1) To stipulate the positive qualifications for service capability registration applicants.
(2) To stipulate the negative qualifications for the responsible person, partners, or beneficial owners of third-party payment service providers.
(3) To stipulate the documents and materials required for service capability registration.
(4) To stipulate the review items for service capability registration.
(5) To stipulate the reasons for refusing or revoking registration.
(6) To stipulate that service providers may only offer services after obtaining a service capability registration certificate, which is valid for two years and may be renewed for two years at a time.
(7) To stipulate that the total amount of payment received or paid by the registered service provider as an agent shall be entrusted to the trust account or for which a full amount performance guarantee shall be obtained from a bank, and proof of a dedicated trust account for the payment or a full amount performance guarantee shall be submitted to the MODA for record within six months after the registration and then the services can be commenced.
(8) To stipulate that after the registration the service providers shall display their service capability registration certificate, business and service details, and other items announced by the MODA prominently on their website or in the manner designated by the MODA.
(9) To stipulate that after the registration the service providers shall submit relevant documents to the MODA for record in the event of changes to their name, responsible person, or business address, etc.
(10) To stipulate that after the registration if the service provider intends to terminate the services, it shall apply to the MODA for cancellation of their service capability registration and return the registration certificate.
(11) To stipulate the reasons for which the MODA may revoke the registration of service providers.
(12) To stipulate that the service providers already completing the registration before the implementation of these Regulations will be considered as completing the registration under these Regulations during the effective period.
Reported by: Stacy Lo / Joe Liao
3.Draft Amendment to Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing for Third-Party Payment Service Providers
On 16 September 2024, the MODA announced the draft amendment to “Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing for Third-Party Payment Service Providers.” We summarize below:
(1) The title of these Regulations will be amended to “Regulations Governing Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism for Businesses or Professions Providing Third-Party Payment Services” to align with the amendments to the Money Laundering Control Act.
(2) Since the Money Laundering Control Act does not differentiate between “buyer clients” and “seller clients,” these terms will be replaced by “clients.” A new definition for “risk-based approach” will be added.
(3) To add the requirement for review of beneficial owners, including obtaining relevant information and verifying identities.
(4) To provide the circumstances under which third-party payment service providers shall report.
(5) The effective date will be determined by the Executive Yuan in accordance with Article 6 of the Money Laundering Control Act.
Reported by: Stacy Lo / Joe Liao
Food Safety and Sanitation
4.Draft Amendments to Regulations for Systematic Inspection of Imported Food
On 11 September 2024, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the draft amendments to the “Regulations for Systematic Inspection of Imported Food”. We summarize below:
(1) In reference to the standards of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CODEX) and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), additional definitions for terms used in designated certification documents are provided, and it is clarified that such certification documents shall be negotiated between the inspection authority and the government of the exporting country (territory).
(2) The scopes of “Meat Products,” “Fishery Products,” “Dairy Products,” “Egg products,” and “Animal oil products” in the attachment mentioned in Article 3 are amended by adjusting the product categories subject to systematic inspection, in which the newly added product categories will apply for systematic inspection as of 1 July 2025.
(3) Temporary exemptions from the requirement to apply for systematic inspection are added in cases of urgent livelihood needs or circumstances specified in the amended draft of Article 8.
(4) For a product that has already been approved for import through a systematic inspection, the inspection authority may conduct further document reviews or on-site inspections; and the provisions for suspending the import of such products are added.
(5) The scope and method of bearing the cost of on-site inspections are added, which will be handled in accordance with agreements signed with the exporting country (territory).
(6) For the country (territory) in which there are previous import records but no applications for systematic inspection , the inspection authority may notify the countries (territory) to submit applications for systematic inspection in consideration of food safety and health.
(7) The inspection authority may issue a suspension of import from the country (territory) in failure of an application for systematic inspection following a notification in accordance with Article 8.
Reported by: Jolen Wang / Roy Liang
Intellectual Property
5.Amendment to Patent Act
On September 11, 2024, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) announced draft amendments to Patent Act for public consultation. The key points are summarized below:
(1) To expand the subject matter eligible for design patents to include an image generated by computer program or other digital technology which do not need to be applied to an article, and provide that exploitation acts of an image design patent shall include (i) making, offering for sale, selling, using or providing the image through the internet, and (ii) making, offering for sale, selling, distributing or importing a media containing the image.
(2) To introduce multiple similar designs filed in one design application system based on the international trends in the Hague Agreement, the European Union and the United States, providing that for two or more similar designs owned by the same person, the applicant may choose to file only one design application covering multiple similar designs where one of them shall be indicated as the original design, or file a design application and its derivative design application(s) as provided in current Patent Act.
(3) To extend the grace period from six (6) months to 12 months for filing a design application where the design has been disclosed to the public before patent filing.
(4) To relax the timing requirement for filing a divisional design application, providing that it can be filed within three (3) months after an approval decision is served for the original application at the first examination stage or the reexamination stage, while under the current Patent Act, a divisional design application must be filed before a reexamination decision on the original application is rendered.
(5) To remove the grounds for invalidation against a patent based on the circumstance when the patent applicant or patentee is not eligible due to ownership dispute because it is difficult for the patent authority as an administrative institute to proceed with investigation to verity the ownership dispute which shall be solved under the civil procedure; and add corresponding measures, including that the relevant parties who have disputes over the ownership of rights may request for suspension of the patent examination, re-examination and other procedures before the patent authority based on the evidential documents for applying for provisional injunction or provisional injunction maintaining a temporary status quo in accordance with the civil preservation procedure, whereby the patent authority shall suspend the prosecution for three months; after the suspension period expires, the patent authority shall continue the prosecution.
Reported by: Jolene Wang / Linda Cheng
Securities
6.Draft Amendments to Securities Transaction Tax Act
On September 12, the Executive Yuan passed the draft amendments to Articles 2-2 and 12 of the Securities Transaction Tax Act and submitted them to the Legislative Yuan for review.
The major amendment is to extend the securities transaction tax reduction measure (i.e., 1.5‰) for Day Trading to till December 31, 2017.
Reported by: Stacy Lo / Mandy Wu
Insurance
7.Draft Amendment to Regulations Governing the Supervision of Insurance Solicitors
On 12 September 2024, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced the Draft Amendment to Article 19 of the “Regulations Governing the Supervision of Insurance Solicitors.” According to the draft amendment, if an insurance solicitor is suspended to conduct the solicitation activity because of the violation of this Article, the suspension period will be amended from “between 3 months and one year” to “not more than one year”.
Reported by: David Tsai / Joe Liao
Labor
8.Amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Labor Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Act
On September 12, 2024, the Ministry of Labor announced the amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Labor Occupational Accident Insurance and Protection Act. We summarize below:
(1) A new provision is added providing that when an individual accused of sexual harassment is temporarily suspended from their duties during an employer’s investigation, the insured unit is not allowed to adjust the insured salary. (Article 27)
(2) A new provision is added providing that if an insured unit using a mechanism of pre-collecting insurance premiums has unpaid premiums accumulated for two or more months, the unit can no longer apply the pre-collection mechanism. (Article 36)
(3) Since disability identification manuals are no longer part of the current regulations, the term “disability identification manual” has been deleted. (Articles 60 and 66)
Reported by: David Tsai / Alex Li
SICE/SITE
9.“Certain Conditions” Specified in Paragraph 1, Article 27-2 of the Regulations Governing Offshore Funds
On 24 September 2024, the FSC announced the ruling to clarify the “certain conditions” specified in Paragraph 1, Article 27-2 of the Regulations Governing Offshore Funds, which is eligibility for report for effective registration of offshore funds, refers to:
(1) The offshore fund institution applies with the FSC for a recognition of Deep Rooting Incentive Plan and entitled to the favorable treatment of reporting for offering and sales of an offshore fund;
(2) The fund’s domicile has signed a memorandum of cooperation on securities supervision with Taiwan or is a member of a multilateral memorandum of understanding of the International Organization of Securities Commissions; and
(3) The master agent has not received a notice from the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association (SITCA) in the past six (6) months for the total number of deficiency points reaches fifteen (15) or more in accordance with Regulations on Defects in Master Agents’ Application for Offering and Sale of Offshore Funds in Taiwan or Compliance of Relevant Laws and Regulations. However, this requirement still be considered as having achieved for those who has been notified the total number of deficiency points reaches fifteen (15) or more and have been improved.
Reported by: Jeffrey Liu / Amy Su
10.Announcement on the Format and Required Documents of the Application/Report Form for Approval or Effective Registration in Accordance with Paragraph 1, Article 27 of the Regulations Governing Offshore Funds
On September 24, 2024, the FSC announced the format and required documents of the application/report form for approval or effective registration in accordance with Paragraph 1, Article 27 of the Regulations Governing Offshore Funds. The new versions will take effect on October 1, 2024, with the previous versions ceasing to apply on the same date. We summarize the key changes below:
(1) “Declarations of Eligibility and Sales Agreements from the Sales Agents” has been removed from the list of documents in the application form; and
(2) The checklist of the application has been revised to reflect updates to relevant laws and regulations. Additional documents are now explicitly required, including, among others, data on the fund’s month-end portfolio percentages for the most recent year to ensure compliance with substantive review principles, as well as a description of procedures and measures to prevent short-term trading.
Reported by: Jeffrey Liu / Jason Su
11.Draft Amendments to Regulations Governing Securities Investment Trust Funds, Regulations Governing Information to be Published in Prospectuses by Securities Investment Trust Enterprises Offering Securities Investment Trust Funds and Standards Governing Eligibility of Securities for Margin Purchase and Short Sale
On 30 September 2024, the FSC announced the draft amendment to “Regulations Governing Securities Investment Trust Funds”, “Regulations Governing Information to be Published in Prospectuses by Securities Investment Trust Enterprises Offering Securities Investment Trust Funds” and “Standards Governing Eligibility of Securities for Margin Purchase and Short Sale”. We summarize below:
(1) Introduction of actively managed ETFs and related regulations
(a) The actively managed Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is introduced. For this, the definition, investment scope, and the requirements related to the securities investment trust agreement for actively managed ETFs are specified.
(b) It is added that the term “active” must be included in the fund name of actively managed ETFs. Additionally, when investing in stocks or bonds, the relevant regulations for stock funds and bond funds, respectively, shall apply. The product characteristics must be fully disclosed in the prospectus, along with relevant explanations when performance benchmarks are set.
(c) Furthermore, it is added that once actively managed ETFs are listed or traded over-the-counter, they may be subject to margin purchasing and short selling regulations.
(2) When the index components of passively managed ETFs (i.e., Exchange Traded Fund, ETF) include both stocks and bonds, the index compilation rules must specify the allocation ratio of each type of component securities and the information must be disclosed in the prospectus. Additionally, the index name must include the term “balanced,” and it must follow the regulation that prohibits issuing leveraged or inverse passively managed ETFs based on such indices.
(3) In response to Article 156 of the Company Act, it is stipulated that the relevant regulations on margin purchasing and short selling for listed companies and OTC companies shall apply to companies with either no par value or a par value per share that is not NT$10.
Reported by: Jeffrey Liu / Winnie Su
| Editors: Mike Lu (Partner) Stacy Lo (Partner) Jeffrey Liu (Partner) Kang-Shen Liu (Partner) David Tsai (Partner) Angela Lin (Partner) Paul Hsu (Partner) | Counselors: Echo Yeh Sue Su Jolene Wang (Lexcel Partners IP Firm |